DH and Laundry Accident

[TerribleCustomerCervix]

I feel very silly for being so upset about this.

DH pulls his weight round the house, but can be really careless and a bit of a Half a Job Bob at times.

I was emptying the dryer and found my favourite item of clothing in a crinkly ball amongst all the kids stuff.

A dusky pink pair of Lucy and Yak cord dungarees- I fucking love them. They make me feel cool and fashionable and I just feel great in them.

I tried them on once I’d managed to uncrinkle them and it was like trying to step into a condom. They’re out of stock so I can’t replace them.

I’m so (unreasonably?) upset at DH. He’s in a senior management position, smart and capable but somehow won’t or can’t follow washing instructions? He’s very apologetic but I’m fucking RAGING. I know it’s just “stuff” but it’s even the fact that the little 1950s housewife in the back of my brain is saying “Ah sure, at least he’s trying to help.”

RIP dungarees

@TerribleCustomerCervix: that's pretty annoying

Possible rescue for your dungarees (if the shrink is less than 1 size): soak in a bucket of cold water with a generous amount of fabric conditioner

Then - soaking wet - pull out, gently stretch, let drip dry (I've done this with jumpers, riggging up drying rack of a kitchen chair on some towels). I hope it works... otherwise, I suggest pre-sorting basket for laundry, & that your DH learns to be more careful...

@candycane222
£54 for those old things? I'm sitting on a fortune!

Very annoying but I’ve done it by accident. I don’t let DH do my stuff as I don’t trust him (ironically).
Call you keep checking eBay ?

My DH is great at so many things and pulls his weight equally around the house and elsewhere but laundry is under strict supervision only and that's because what is washed I really would like to wear again! Been there, no big deal, just a load of pale pink towels and underwear and an unwearable jumper (unless you were an Action Man) and so an agreement reached amicably which has worked since.

I think it's unreasonable to expect someone to read the label of every item of clothing. Things that aren't bog standard should be in a separate basket so the owner can take care of them themselves. Saves all this palava.

I live alone but everything I own goes in one wash at the same temperature. I will hot wash my sheets and handwash my bras though (because £30 a pop).

I don’t know if it’s just years and years of experiencing doing laundry, but I do feel like I now have a sixth sense for what will be okay in the wash and what won’t, and what I can tumble and what I can’t.

My DP doesn’t appear to have this in built sixth sense and I suspect that is a lack of experience or men just not really wearing clothes made of anything except denim or cotton or jersey. Who knows?!

Yes, I’d be really fucking annoyed about the dungarees too OP.

Maybe some people on here have never had a laundry disaster, but I am sure most people have. I have shrunk his stuff, he has shrunk mine, both very rarely. It's annoying but just a mistake. I think not too much should be made of it. Mistakes happen and in the end it's just a piece of clothing.

Because I am better at the washing stuff (fewer mistakes) and he is better at the dishwasher (I always seem to break the little wheels on the pull out shelf) we have just agreed that I do the one and he does the other.

@3Britnee

I think it's unreasonable to expect someone to read the label of every item of clothing. Things that aren't bog standard should be in a separate basket so the owner can take care of them themselves. Saves all this palava.

If you give a shit about your partner’s things, you err on the side of caution. Anything not obviously “bog standard” stays out of the drier. Simple.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

that was supposed to be a

I rather liked the chuckle 😊

I was going to say that ywnbu, but then I've clicked the link and actually him ruining them is surely an act of true love.

My ex washed my favorite, beautiful, cashmere hoody on a hot mixed wash and turned it into felt. Thing was he did it deliberately. So glad to be divorced. I hope your dungarees come good OP

This would enrage me. Partly because of spoiling nice things through carelessness and partly because I only appreciate help that is actually helpful.

I wash all clothes on 30C delicate / mixed fabric with either a 600 or 800 spin. Sheets go in on a 40C cotton wash and towels go in a 60C cotton wash. Only sheets and towels go in the tumble dryer.

So many posts on various groups from WOMEN asking for help after ruining their male partner's favourite item of clothing...

YANBU to be annoyed

YABU to blame it on him having a penis.

What size are you OP? I have a small pair I was just about to put on eBay - happy to sell to your DH if you want them

There are various pink L&Ys on Depop. Might be worth a look.

Sounds like he did you a favour really
Pink dungarees?!

This is why we only wash our own stuff in our house!

It puts my teeth on edge when he washes his light shirts in with darker ones but I stay out of it.

I used to hide my washing from my mother when I was home from uni (she used to hunt for it in my room) because she shrank my favourite jumper and a couple of hand wash only tops!

I never read labels unless it's something I really love or it very obviously looks like it should be checked. Otherwise I just chuck it all in. In my defence, the majority of our things can be tumble dried so it's just habit. I tend to avoid wearing any "fussy" stuff because I can't be arsed with the faff. OH makes sure I know if something isn't, or just does it himself.

Anything not obviously “bog standard” stays out of the drier. Simple.

What's obviously not bog standard about corduroy dungarees?

Anything not bog standard stays out of the laundry basket IMO.

@TerribleCustomerCervix

I hope the great unshrinking works!! Do let us know.

I'm pushed off with you though!!! I've just spent time looking at all the cute dungarees wishing I wouldn't look like a bloody umpa lumpa in them. 😥

Meh, it happens. It's shit that it's your stuff but I couldn't get angry about it. I don't read the washing instructions on every label and wouldn't expect most other people to either.

Ex used to do this; would wash everything on hot and tumble dry everything without reading labels.

Tried everything over the years; if I mentioned yet another shrinkage he would invariably deny he had put it in the machine and would try to say I'd done it.

A few times I would start the conversation with establishing who had put the wash on, so he couldn't then try to say that it was my fault. On a memorable occasion he blamed the shrinkage of a cashmere jumper which he'd put in the washing machine at 60° on our youngest who had "helped him" load the machine. Child was 18 months old at the time.

His other favourite response was to yell that he'd never do any washing again "for me". I used to wholeheartedly agree, only to catch him doing the washing a month later and washing all my bras, cashmere, silk etc on high and tumble drying it.

Tried teaching him what the labels meant but he couldn't be bothered to check.

Funnily enough he never ruined anything of his, ever. And the one time I did (he left a yellow duster in the washing machine stuck to the roof and I didn't see it and put his expensive white work shirts in there for the next wash) he blew his top.

@Shoxfordian

Sounds like he did you a favour really Pink dungarees?!

Stop being so nasty. There are some realky nice ones, but even if they're not to your taste there's just no need for bitchy comments.

I've only got me to rate at- yesterday I machine washed a pair of black out curtains that specifically said 'dry clean only' on the label. The blackout lining is all stuck together. Pulled it all apart so now the curtains are only blackout in some places. Ruined. First time washed.