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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:
suedonim · 18/12/2002 11:09

Scuse me, my towels are never in a heap on the floor so don't cast nasturtiums!! They are alawys folded tidily over a rail on the radiator but they still lose their freshness after a couple of days. DH says I have an oversensitive nose as I often complain in hotels etc that the linen doesn't smell fresh enough.

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 11:10

Well SueDonim - lucky you having three staff and clean linen/towels really much too often ! I'm sure we'd all have that if we could afford it - not sure I'd be boasting about it though !

RosieT · 18/12/2002 11:12

What else I'd like to know is (if we're allowed to discuss such things in the light of our sponsors) are we all Persil Non-Bio girls?
My biggest prob with DS is his sleeves ? not only used for snot, but as a napkin between every mouthful. By the end of the day, they're always crusty and I have to say, I'm afraid the Persil Non Bio doesn't always get it all out.
(By the way, DH showers twice a day and is still a bit smelly. I think some people just are)

Bozza · 18/12/2002 11:18

Sorry Suedonim, didn't mean to throw any nasturtiums around.....I have a floor standing towel rail in front of the radiator and like I said I do change them twice a week anyway. Even so I still end up with three full loads of towels a week.

suedonim · 18/12/2002 11:30

Scatterbrain, if you'd read my post properly you'd note that I usually live in Jakarta, where it's a social obligation to employ staff. It's a fact of life, not a boast and not something I apologise for. In a country with 40% unemployment and where some people exist on 75 US cents a day I can assure you that we provide our staff with excellent pay as well as a health care package and lots of other perks. So do check your facts first before criticising.

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 11:45

Suedonim - I did read your post perfectly correctly thank you !

Social obligations apart - it's you who is implying that we're all dirty compared to you - and I found that offensive - what I said - if YOU read MY post correctly is that we could all be as clean as you if we had THREE STAFF !

Your reasons for employing staff are incidentally as irrelevant to me as the fact you have superior hygiene values.

Bobbins · 18/12/2002 11:51

Hey you two....break it up!

Calm down, calm down

Demented · 18/12/2002 11:55

I'm an Ariel girl me, but none of that non-bio stuff, it just doesn't work.

Enid · 18/12/2002 12:33

I can't help thinking some of the strategies employed to keep towels etc fresh must be more hassle than chucking them in the washing machine. Scatterbrain, this thread is about all our washing habits, not just the slobby ones.

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 12:37

Who're you calling slobby Enid ?

WideWebWitch · 18/12/2002 13:00

Pleeeease can a fight not break out here? It's not GF or smacking or MMR, it's Dirty Knickers for goodness sake!

RosieT · 18/12/2002 13:05

My colleague here has just told me that you can't beat a Vanish action ball for stubborn stains. Perhaps I'll give that a try on ds/s sleeves.

Enid · 18/12/2002 13:07

Sorry Scatterbrain, didnt mean you personally, what I meant was that it is interesting and funny to hear both sides of the 'story' - the very very clean ones and, er, the other ones

GeorginaA · 18/12/2002 13:12

And don't forget the ones who don't quite live up to their aspirations of getting more organised any day soon

Mum2Toby · 18/12/2002 13:16

My boyf and I work full-time, so any free time we do have we spend with ds. I'm not going to spend my weekends doing nothing but washing and ironing!! I wash clothes as and when they are dirtied. The only clothes I iron are for ds! As for towels they are kept perfectly clean as long as you put them over a radiator to dry imediatley after you've used them. I must admit I don't change the bed sheets as often as i should (however often that is???), but it's just me and boyf sleeping in it anyway!!!
I'm always clean and tidy, so is my ds (well he is arriving at nursery....he leaves coated in EVERYTHING!!!!).

I believe that as long as you are clean and well presented who cares how many times you change your bed or wash your towels!!

I'm with you Dirtygirl! Lifes too short and your children gorw up too fast to be laundry fanatics!

Scatterbrain: I don't think Enid was calling you slobby!!!

bundle · 18/12/2002 13:20

Mum2Toby, I don't even iron dd's clothes...

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 13:29

Hmmmm - well whilst fuming and banging around (should have gone and had a rant on the rant thread - would have been kinder to kitchen implements !) it occurred to me that towels should not even get dirty !!

Surely we shouldn't be using a towel on any part of us that has not just been washed ! So - why do towels get smelly in the first place ! I suspect the smell is from the dampness - which I don't get as we dry ours on radiators each day after use. A similar discussion took place recently with dh about why the kitchen towel was black when his hands should have been spotless before touching it !

This reminds me of that sketch in Pulp Fiction where John Travolta get's Harvey Keitel's towels all bloody !!

What do you reckon ? I guess exfoliation is a factor - but would it make towels smell ?

Mum2Toby · 18/12/2002 13:30

Bundle.... confession time... I only iron them if they REALLY need it!

I love the smell of wonderfully fresh clean clothes, but I have precious little time! I don't have a tumble dryer so my radiatiors, chairs and clothes horse all have clothes draped over them constantly. I used to be house proud!! Having a baby put an end to that, for the moment anyway......perhaps one day I'll be able to have some staff to help. >sigh

Bobbins · 18/12/2002 13:36

I have met Scatterbrain in person and have to testify...she IS slobby, she just needs to face up to it

Merely jesting shweedie!

Bobbins · 18/12/2002 13:36

Scatterbrain....fresh as a daisy I'd say

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 13:37

Crash....Bang......Booooooo Hoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bobbins · 18/12/2002 13:44

Scatterbrain..Stop it and TIDY UP

Scatterbrain · 18/12/2002 17:44

OK - I've tidied up, cooked Boxing Day's dinner for 8 ready to freeze and iced my blooming Christmas Cake ! Not to mention 4 loads of washing - 3 of which were towels and sheets thanks to this blinking thread !

Now have a kitchen coated lightly in icing sugar, a sticky floor and a large puddle as I've finally killed off my poor old washing machine in time for Xmas ! Hooray !!

Have concluded that cleanliness is yet another form of snobbery - but I am now officially a clean girl - so can hold my head high in the presence of you domestic goddesses out there.

Yes - I am officially having a bad day and all my staff are off sick (Ho Ho - as if I have ANY staff on my salary, with my mortgage etc etc blah blah blah ......)

Bobbins · 18/12/2002 17:56

This thread actually shamed me into washing my bed clothes and cleaning to bathroom yesterday. They both really needed it.

I'm an easily shamed slob

Katherine · 18/12/2002 18:44

Agghhh. The washing machine repair man finally came to repair the machine and ..... it worked perfectly. How can this be? It has refused to spin for me all week. Only positive thing is we now have a lovely clean kitchen floor from drip drying DH shirts - but also 3 laundry baskets full of washing to plough through. I swear it wouldn't work for me. How embarrassing. And I waited in all day. Oh well at least it has taught me to recycle clothes. 3 laundry baskets full of washing just from 4 people in a week is ridiculous - and that doesn't include towels or bedding. I've pledged to go greener for the new year and it never really occurred to me before that all this washing is non-ecofriendly. Perfect excuse to slob now .

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