To hang my bl**dy MIL...

[Lunar270]

.....for re-hanging my washing on the line.

It was a nice(ish) day for hanging out the washing so there I am, pegging it all out. MIL pops round, sees me finishing the last of the washing and precedes to unpeg and hang it out again.

Now, a question for MN. I honestly don't spend much time thinking about it. However, I tend to peg garments using the strongest part of the garment. So for a tee shirt I'll peg the seam at the arm/shoulder as this also minimises peg marks. But nope, MIL turn the tee upside down and pegs the bottom seam, which results in the tee drying out of shape as it then droops (plus peg marks 🙄).

So I call her out on her ludicrous behaviour. First why the hell she's re-hanging my washing and also that she's doing it incorrectly (for me). I should bite my lip but no-one can ever do anything right in her eyes.

"Oh I've been a housewife for over 30 years so know what I'm doing". I could've hung her out with the washing too. AIBU?

It really doesn't matter how you hang washing, but you don't go and rehang someone else's, that's batshit. MIL needs to get a life.

I made my mine up as l have a degree in textile science.

T shirts are unstable and to keep their shape need stability. They are the same as jumpers really, both knitted.

To reduce stress/force on my t shirts, I fold them over at the armpits. This spreads the weight of the garment more evenly and stops it going out of shape.

^ This! I mean you're right, your washing your business, live and let live, but oh my God^ I'd be itching to do likewise.

@Untitledsquatboulder why? Does it really matter how people hang out their washing? Is your life that empty that how people hang their washing comes up on your radar. Can't remember ever looking that closely at someone's washing line!

@Olinguita

Thanks and likewise, I'm sorry to hear about your MIL. Personally I just don't get it. They must revel in the drip, drip of criticism and undermining. In isolation people could think you're being petty but when taken as a whole it's exhausting.

But it's not just me as everyone around her get the same. My poor FIL gets told what to wear, what he can eat, drink and how useless he is for all the things he can't do, instead of focusing on what he can (which is a lot).

So I take some comfort in the fact it's not targeted at me only.

Regarding this thread, I did kind of ask the question and in truth the responses have added some much needed humour!

Nope. This cannot stand @Knittedfairies.

You need to nip over the fence & put it right. Once all is on order, take extensive pics to show your neighbour, & give her a colour chart of various allowable peg/clothing combo's, making it very clear that this faux pas is never to happen again. Not on YOUR watch!

I’m with you OP. T-shirts are better hung by the shoulder, or near the top, with a bit hanging over. Hanging by the bottom will ruin them.

T-shirts, shirts, tops etc...unless wool or cashmere...always from the bottom.
Go MIL!!!! 😉😂

I'm always moaning at my other half for this but it's

Tops from the bottom
Bottoms from the top

Annoys the hell out of me the way he pegs my clothes on the line and don't get me started on him not using matching pegs on each item or not pegging all the tops together, shorts together, socks in pairs etc
(I'm autistic and I just have to go out after him and do it right, plus he admits he sometimes does the non matching pegs because he knows how much it'll eat my brain)

If I was your DH @firef1y I wouldn't be touching the laundry and leaving it to you. Does the stuff dry even if you use different pegs?

DH and I are you and your MIL. Luckily it was always good natured but we used to rehang each other's washing all the time. One day I went to rehang his T shirts on the line and found he had re-strung the actual washing line higher so I couldn't reach the pegs How tall is your MIL?

Seriously though, tell your DH to have a word with her. Things like this are always part of a wider attitude and indicative of a lack of disrespect for you in general. Your DH needs to have your back on this.

No idea if it dries any other way. The matching pegs is just something my brain needs, some with ASD need to line things up, I need things to be in sets and matching.
But the way I sort the washing as I hang it may mean it takes a couple minutes more while hanging out, but it saves plenty of time when it comes to bringing it in and putting away. I also fold everything in to the wash basket, all sets of clothes together, all socks in pairs etc (unlike him who just throws it in the basket). Which means I cam bring it indoors and put everything straight in its place instead of having to hunt for socks etc

I also need to match the pegs - matching pegs for each item and ideally picked to match the item itself too! I know it’s daft but it’s therapeutic for me and I enjoy it.

I also can’t hang anything upside down, even if it would dry quicker/better. Because I can’t look at it without feeling weird and uncomfortable, like I feel upside down like the clothes must feel

Not quite the same but I once has someone visit while I was on crutches due to a broken foot and offer to hang out my washing. I had a few shirts belonging to dh and they hung them up at the 2 side seams whereas I hung them up at each corner. I realised their way was better and took up less room on the line. But your mil was very rude. If she had said have you ever tried hanging tee shirts this way and said why you might have been more amenable to it.

I was taught tops-from-bottom and bottoms-from-top but my preferred method is "let someone else do it whichever way".

If she is local enough to drop in unannounced let her know next time you are doing the washing so she can come and demonstrate hanging skills whilst you put your feet up.

@ThatCheeseIsMine how do you feel when the washing is going round the washing machine!

I peg jeans from the ankle too. This puts the heavier part of the jeans to the bottom and helps pull the material straight and unnwrinkled.

This!

Sorry @Lunar270 - probably not what you wanted to read but on this matter your MiL was right.

Are you saying that your tshirts have peg marks on the shoulder seams when you take them in from the line?

There is no 'right' way to hang clothes, only what's right for you, and to repeg in front of you is just plain rude and intrusive.

Oh no tops get hung by the bottoms and trousers/jeans etc by the waistband (and they do dry). I always put the peg at the seams. I was tempted to climb into my neighbours garden to sort her washing. Nothing was hung right and she had about 6 inches over the line so her peg marks would be around about where your ribs finish…it made me antsy.

Why would you give any kind of fuck how someone else hangs their own washing out? Hang your own out how you want and let others do the same!

Because I am sad I have just goggled 'the right way to hang your washing'. There are all sorts of tips, not all of them accord with the "wear it on the top, hang it from the bottom etc', so OP can carry on hanging her washing the way she does, and everyone repeating that quote just makes you look sad not correct.

My ex's mum used to do this and it made me so angry. She would also try to rearrange things in the house 'to work better' and continued until I started doing it in her house. She was really controlling though and very much believed there was a right and a wrong way to do something.

To me, it's like seeing a picture on the wall hung squiffy. I get an overwhelming desire to straighten it (and no I dont do that either). Really bugs me.

In other areas of domestic life I'm really laid back.

I do it that way, smooth things out, put on hangers and you probably don't need to iron and if you do it is a quick smooth over.