AIBU, My clothes stink and I blame DH?

[Jojimoji]

DH took early retirement and as such is now responsible for almost all household tasks as I still have to work.

This is mostly marvellous, as I come home to clean house, dinners made, dogs walked .......and clothes washed. Herein lies the problem.

I workout almost every day. Intense workouts and I sweat a lot and my gym wear ends up pretty wet. I did the washing for almost 30 years in this family and never had a problem, but DH insists on not doing a load until there is enough dirty laundry to fill the machine stuffed to the gills. No half or three quarter loads permitted on his watch. And worst of all, he washes everything at 30 degrees. This just doesn't cut the mustard with my gym clothes.. often they've been rotting in the basket for a couple of days and then they are put through a coldish wash, bacteria remains, I put them on again, start to sweat and then I STINK. Or rather the clothes stink.

I've told him they need washing at a higher temperature. I've no problem separating my washing and doing my own. DH says that this is completely unreasonable. He pointed out the label on the clothes ( which does inexplicably actually advise to wash at 30!! ) says that it's unreasonable to separate my clothes for separate washes as the machine won't be full and then he reckons washing at 40 is worse for the clothes, and even reckons 30 degrees is more environmentally friendly and he is saving the planet.

YABU..let him wash the stuff at 30 and just put up with stinking out the gym

YANBU ..those clothes need washing at least 40 degrees. DH is wrong and you must wrestle the responsibility for the laundry away from this mad man.

This is such a non-problem, just put the wash on yourself. What's he going to do, stop the machine mid-cycle?

I can't get away with 30 for those sorts of clothes either. It's your clothing OP, wash how you want.

Just wash your own gym gear. Why do you care what he says about it?

A non problem?
You haven't smelt my gym wear.....

I was going to answer that obviously he wouldn't stop the machine mid cycle, but I'm not actually sure that's true. 🤣

He says IABU.
My question is am I?

Just stick your gym gear in the machine when you get home. What's the issue with doing that?

Who cares what he thinks? He's not the king of the washing machine.

Is this a lighthearted AIBU where you can agree to disagree and do your washing yourself? Or will he be really rather put out by it?

He says this is unreasonable because the machine isn't full.

And there is my quandary.
AIBU to not fully load the machine and use higher temperatures???

I’d just stick it on myself. Somethings need washing hotter or colder and can’t wait.

I agree OP it’s annoying when my DH does the washing it’s pointless he won’t separate the towels - everything on a 30 and stuffs so much in I’m sure some of it comes out dry!

Could you chuck in some towels? In my experience there's always a towel that needs washing.

My girls wear period pants. If we had to wash on a full load I think my son and dh would have a fit having a bucket of period pants in with their clothes.

Washing machines are perfectly capable of part loads.

King of the washing machine 🤣🤣🤣

I love that

Yes after gym shower towel gym clothes, pre gym clothes. That’s building up. Add in any towels, the bath mat.

Why is it “inexplicable” that the clothes say to wash at 30?

gym clothes tend to be Lycra or stretch fabrics . Washing above 30 will significantly shorten their life, or even potentially damage them.

perfectly explicable.

however if you are fine with that and feel they need a hotter wash then that’s up to you.

my washing machine has a “sportswear” setting which only allows up to 4kg- so a half load.

it also helps not to let them sit so the bacteria can get hold.

start throwing that days outfit in on a quick wash as soon as you get home.

Yes!
This is a great tactic.

Keep a bucket by the machine and put your gym gear in water with vinegar or some powder stuff. He can add it when the machine meets his requirements.

Honestly that’s a horrible job and he’ll soon be begging you not to. At which point you sadly say you have no choice. The normal wash doesn’t get them clean. He’ll probably find a solution himself to avoid the bucket issue.

I have a similar issue with DH. He’s convinced that if he goes through the motions of the chore, the chore has been done. No actual assessment of effectiveness.

Use dettol in wash stuff

Dettol laundry cleanser is great for washing clothes at colder temperatures and getting rid of any smells that have the potential to linger. It's used instead of fabric conditioner.

But yeah, just stick a load on yourself. My ex was hopeless at laundry too.

It will depend on the detergent too
I spray gym top armpits with dr beckman spray and use bio detergent and add zoflora to the fabric softener compartment to help combat bad smells. I wash at 40⁰C too. I do wait for full loads but with dh, me and ds all going to the gym/gym classes that doesn't take long to mount up.

Not a bad idea. Nappy bucket, soak in biological detergent. Add to the main wash when ready.

better for your gear, and probably better at getting rid of smells than a 40 wash.

As someone who has used reusable nappies so knows their fair share about laundry clothes don’t get clean if the machine is FULL. 3/4’s full is optimum for agitation but allowing enough space between items and yes 40 minimum for dirty items. 30 is for lightly used things.

I think the main issue here is not the temperature, but the fact that he's overloading the machine. There needs to be some space at the top.

Also, many of the cycles on the machine are not designed for a full load, including mixed, synthetic and quick washes. What cycle is he using?

This is fantastic.

I get to prove my point.
My clothes won't stink
And I won't have to actually do the washing myself!!

Genius

Didn't I just read this thread recently?