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Original poster

Am I Dirty?

189 replies

DirtyGirl · 16/12/2002 14:54

Not as exciting as the title suggests, I'm afraid, but wanted to get your advice/ views on this...
I like to think I keep my family reasonably clean and healthy, but think I am realistic, and am not a 'laundry fanatic' - particularly since dh & I both work full time and we have a toddler and a baby.
Anyway, had a 'debate' with dh the other day, when I asked him whether he really needed to put his shirts into the laundry after just wearing for one day.
I should point out that we're talking about the thick, checked,Timberland-type heavy cotton sort, which he always wears open-necked with a white T shirt underneath (his company has a casual dress policy)
Well basically his response made me feel as if I was being accused of being a slovenly bitch who didn't wash....
My other general principles include:

  • only wash tops/shirts/jumpers (when worn over T-shirts etc) after 2-3 wears, or if visibly dirty/ smell of food/smoke etc
  • kids PJs/babygros (bedtime) get worn for 3-4 nights(unless accidents occur)
  • kids trousers worn twice (unless visibily dirty, or wet etc)
  • kids jumpers/tops - changed daily (always dirty/messy)
  • all underwear/ socks changed daily

Is this unreasonable? Am I dirty?
(Have changed my name in case the verdict is a resounding YES, in which case I can safely skulk away in shame..)
P.S. Seemed an appropriate thread, given Persil's sponsorship of Mumsnet?

OP posts:
emsiewill · 17/12/2002 22:03

Just remembered that I, too, had that "grey head area on the cot sheet" experience.
But as babies are quite small, you can just turn the sheet round and use the other end. Can't you?

prufrock · 17/12/2002 22:04

Don't think I needqite taht big susanmt, but thanks for suggesting I am beyond help

Chinchilla · 17/12/2002 22:05

Ooh...6 times...I daren't think about that! Do your knickers find their own way into your laundry basket?

susanmt · 17/12/2002 22:08

Or turn the baby round, and use the other end of the cot??
Prufrock, even I am not beyond help And I am one of the biggest people I know

SoupDragon · 17/12/2002 22:11

Oh no! The cot sheet!! And DS2 has had a hideously snotty nose all week. Aaaagghh!! Should I wake him up now to change it or should I take a chance that I'll remember it tomorrow? I never stay in there longer than it takes to retrieve a wide awake/screaming child, I never notice the sheet.

Oh the shame of it!!

aloha · 17/12/2002 23:03

Ah yes, the shameful snotty sheet. Been there.

Eulalia · 17/12/2002 23:21

Lucy123 - where in Spain do you live? We go there most years on holiday (near Almeria).

I also wash nappies with clothes but have a system where I put them in on half load on high temp for one stage then move dial forward to rinse and switch off before it spins, then open door and fill with clothes at a lower temp and allow to run the cycle. Saves time, water and money.

sobernow · 17/12/2002 23:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WideWebWitch · 17/12/2002 23:34

This thread is really making me laugh! I hate g strings and think they're really uncomfortable so wearing one the odd time when I haven't any other underwear clean yes, but SIX TIMES PRUFROCK???!!! BTW my sister once wondered why her thong was painful until other sister pointed out she had it on the wrong way round

kkgirl · 17/12/2002 23:39

phillipat

Can you give me any more info on the carpet beetles, apart from spraying chemicals everywhere, having a good turnout and washing all clothing and hanging it up and hoovering like mad, what else can we do.

Tinker · 17/12/2002 23:42

What about these people who never wear underwear? Do they wash their jeans after each wear? Or do they just stick a tampon in to plug up all their (WWW - avert eyes) mucus?

WideWebWitch · 17/12/2002 23:46

oh Tinker, Doooooooooooon't!!! ugggghhhh! But good question, what do they do?

sobernow · 17/12/2002 23:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clarinet60 · 18/12/2002 00:24

I once knew a bloke who claimed never to wear underwear. He said it saved all that washing and thought he was ever so clever. Eew.

(By the way, I didn't know him in the biblical sense. EEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!)

susanmt · 18/12/2002 02:08

I dunno. Bloke in Levis with no underwear somehow attractive - if you knew it was the first wear! But, given what people have said about men on this thread, including my own knowledge of how often dh would wash his jeans and .... well, EWWWWWWWWW!

Enid · 18/12/2002 08:01

Yes, I rinse my bras and fancy knickers out in water rather than putting them in the machine, not because I am obsessively clean but because I am thrifty and it makes them last longer. I own 8 feeding bras because I can't bear to wear one once its had milk leaked on it. I've got about 10 more non-feeding ones, including the underwear that Nicole Kidman wore on Eyes Wide Shut (my sister is a costumier) - they were washed before I got them though. Unfortunately I can't fit into them anymore so I expect they will go in my huge New Year clothes recycling frenzy.

bells2 · 18/12/2002 08:06

Enid - do you mean you could actually fit into Nicole's underwear???

SoupDragon · 18/12/2002 08:47

It took me ages to work out the 6 Wears From A Thong but here goes... a thong is a triangle plus 3 strings, one each side plus the uncomfortable one up the back. So I presume that you can wear any of the 3 strings up the back and turn inside out for another 3 goes?

I find it a sad reflection on my life that I couldn't get to sleep until I'd worked this out...

And I've STILL not changed the snotty sheet!! I'm off to do it now...

SoupDragon · 18/12/2002 08:50

Aaaahhhh... DS2 can sleep cleanly tonight. I'll even treat him to a clean pair of PJs. It wasn't actually as bad as I'd imagined

JanZ · 18/12/2002 09:43

Oh I'm feeling so much better!

I'm now feeling less guilty about not changing ds' cot sheet until it is VERY obviously going grey/snotty at the head end - or in other words, after a number of times (and I only put ds down every other night) of telling myself "I must change his sheet".... but I'm always doing other things in the morning and only remember again the following night!

Ds only gets a bath once a week on a Sunday (unless he's been for a swim) - which he shares with one of us (so we'll no doubt get a story like Star's!). He's generally a clean wee boy, and I subscribe to the "it's good for his immune system (and I've got better things to do)" appproach.

I also won't have any of the anti-bacterial wipes/washes in the house (except for the one I got in the Bounty bag).

I had tried to get into the habit of changing the bed linen once a week, but having decided that I was putting too much pressure on myself, am now trying to get OUT the habit and only change them once a fortnight. The problem is I like to iron the bed linen (and have you ever tried ironing a super king size duvet cover?!) - but I have compromised and no longer iron the sheet (they are easy iron, but I don't use the tumble drier).

Towels are done when I remember or they look like the need it - usually every 2-3 weeks - but as they're white, by that time they REALLY need it.

Do you think Mumsnet will use this thread for one of their books?! It could be called "You're not a slut, you're just a normal mum"!!!

Enid · 18/12/2002 09:50

bells, yes, once upon a time...pre children...sob...

SoupDragon · 18/12/2002 10:16

What is all this I hear you talk about "the head end of the cot sheet"??? Am I the only one with a child who puts his head up this end, that end, sleeps across the sort length of the cot with his legs hanging out etc etc... Maybe this is why I can get more use out of one sheet - the grey and mucky bit is spread more thinly all over.

suedonim · 18/12/2002 10:17

How do you make towels last for a week or longer?? Don't they go smelly and frowsty? I think I err on the side of hygiene as nothing gets worn more than twice and undies only once. In Jakarta everything gets washed after one use but then we do have three staff to look after us.

Anyway, this is a brilliant topic. My mum is coming for Xmas and I know she'll complain about my poor housekeeping standards. When she starts tut-tutting I shall serenely point her in the direction of the computer and this thread, tee hee!

JanZ · 18/12/2002 10:31

Towels are kept on the radiator, so they don't go foosty. The nice fluffy white towls that I got last year (before I had dark blue ones, which could last for ages before I remembered to wash them) are bath sheets - so nice and big to "hold" more dirt!

I do like the feel of clean towels - but I only got one set of bath sheets and we don't like using the smaller towels, so I need to remember to put the wash on straight after we've had our shower in the morning - and it's not at the top of my priorities! I must buy antoher set of bath sheets (next time The White Company has a sale!)

Bozza · 18/12/2002 10:35

I don't think towels will smell if you hang them to dry properly rather than in a smelly heap on the bathroom floor. The main reason I do mine twice a week is because the white hand towels wouldn't come clean otherwise - obviously our handwashing skills are a bit below par. But bath towels no problem. Gym towels only get one use because I have a shower and then leave the towel in my bag all afternoon, swimming towels only once because of the chlorine.