Were you taught to use a washing machine

[Justreadingtheforum3]

Please settle this argument between my husband and me.

Were you taught/shown to use a washing properly as a child? On how to not overload it, setting, temperature etc?

He said "no child in the history of the world has been taught to use a washing machine" his exact words.

I said its basic life skills.

Yabu = no I wasnt taught
Yanbu = yes I was taught

Ps he does use the washing machine and regularly washes. It's not a husband bashing thread.

No.

@Ninkanink Oh, I've had word with her about it but it all falls on deaf ears or gets turned around to make her the victim. I won't derail this thread with any more on this matter - I could fill a book, really.

@CreaturefromtheDeep I had a feeling there might be more to it. I sympathise!

I don't think I was taught to use it. But if I was, it was put clothes in. Put powder in. Press go. Don't mix darks and lights. And when I went to uni the launderette at the halls had top loaders, so they were quite different from the automatics at home anyway.

I am always surprised how much MNers think that kids need to be taught everything. After all, youtube exists now. And washing machines do come with manuals.

No I wasn't. I went away to university totally clueless. I've made sure my own children know how to do their own laundry

I wasn’t taught, I started doing my own washing quite early because I was sick of my stuff getting discoloured or shrunk/melted in the dryer. Figured it out by looking at clothes labels and just paying attention

No but it's pretty easy to work out. I struggle more with knowing what clothes I can put in together and on what temperature so pretty much everything goes through on a mixed 40 degree wash, apart from bedding and towels on a hot wash!

Much to my embarrassment i realised yesterday ive never shown ds how to do a wash. I'll show him tonight.

I don't think I was every formally taught/shown but I'd seen my mum and dad use the washing machine enough times to be able to work out how to use one when I moved out of home.

Yes I was shown how to do washing - and ironing and cleaning and cooking etc - child of a single parent in the 70's - she worked - we all had to do our share of jobs - I am also teaching my kids the same.

not taught but shown by my mum.
I have also shown my dd (10) how to put a wash on, where soap goes and how to separate coloured and whites etc. I think it is something that you can show your child how to do.

My dm didn't have a washing m/c, I was born after WW2. There was a boil wash at the laundry for sheets and towels but our clothing was hand washed or later at the launderette. My dm kept clothes spotless.

I don't have my dm's skills but my dh was useless, you had to check through everything. I still use cotton sheets and iron everything.

Yes, because I was doing the family laundry so my mother had a clean uniform (she worked two jobs most of my life ) and my sister as well since she had school and work.

My mother was big on having financial independence and wanted to make sure we had every life skill she could think of so we can support ourselves and save money. It was shocking to me how many parents sent their kids off to uni hours away and didn’t teach them how to do their own laundry.

I don't think I was TBH but I did show DD before she went to uni and talked her through temperatures, loads etc

I was shown how to use it and I made sure my brother 14 months younger than me was shown too. "Why is brother not being shown, is it because he's too stupid...??"
My mother looked at me for a moment and then shouted for my brother to come and join us.

We were treated equally for nearly everything else , so I knew it was because he was a boy .
The feeling of injustice was strong with me that day

My mother had a series of twin tubs
A whole morning of boiling water sloshing around, once a week
Dangerous when she was older
Would not swap to a new style washing machine
First thing I did when she passed, was get my Dad a new washing machine
Press the button anytime 24x7x365

Taught to separate whites and woollens out. Which setting to use and how much detergent(which has obviously changed over the decades).
And what not to put in the drier(something my 71 year old father still gets wrong now and then).

The best thing I discovered is colour washing powder
You can wash all colours together & the colours don't run

I don't think so...

But also, it's not rocket science.

My Mum also used to boil small white laundry items in a metal bucket on the gas cooker
Also dangerous !

no taught as such but from about 6yo one of my chores was hanging up smalls (and folding/putting them away)
from about 12yo one of my chores was the dark wash basket. woe betide if one of my parents ran out of clothes.

No, my parents didn’t show me but I did explicitly teach my own children when they were pretty young (about 8?) and expected them to be able to do it from then but with some guidance (eg put in uniforms only, or wash these 4 towels and hang them etc.) I wouldn’t expect/trust them to just take it upon themselves to do it properly. They’d probably turn my whites pink.

I taught my DD (9) how to do laundry about 2 years ago. Other than ironing, which I do, she now has overall responsibility for washing, drying, sorting and putting away all laundry. With my DD I find it’s much easier to get her to do chores when she has the total responsibility for the task.

I was also taught how to do laundry as a child, I remember being about 12/13. I was really lazy with it though and hated doing it, I can remember being nagged a lot about it. This isn’t the same with my DD. She’s not like me at all!

My Grandparents had a white metal mangle in their kitchen, but I never used it