Mumsnetters share their stories of the most disastrous things to end up in the wash by mistake with Cushelle

[LucyBMumsnet]

This sponsored discussion is now closed. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories below.

We've all experienced that sinking feeling when you open the washing machine door and realise all is not as it should be, which is why Cushelle have created new Facial Tissues - designed to not fall apart in the wash. Beyond just a rogue tissue, Cushelle want to know - what's accidentally made it into your machine and ruined the whole load?

Here’s what Cushelle has to say: “Cushelle, the irresistibly cushiony soft toilet tissue brand, has launched facial tissues for colds, hay fever and messy kids! Cushelle Facial Tissues are soft, strong and also washing machine resistant, meaning they won’t break up in the wash if accidentally left in a pocket.”

Have you realised a phone or wallet was inside the machine when it was too late because of unemptied pockets? Or maybe you’ve followed cliche and accidentally washed a new red shirt along with the whites, leaving you embracing a new found love for pink? Whether it was some spare change, a felt tip pen, or your monthly train ticket that ended up in your wash, Cushelle want to hear your stories below.

All who share their stories on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

A tissue in the pocket is a great way to ruin a wash. I then spend hours trying to get the clothing fluff and paper free

My son as a toddler put an open bottle of bubble mix in the washing machine when the door was open. He was fascinated with pressing the buttons and watching the spin cycle so I just thought he was getting ready to watch it while I firked out the wash tablet.

It had only been on for about ten minutes and the bubbles that poured out were unbelievable: all down the door, all across the kitchen floor, absolute disaster, me desperately trying to mop up what had effectively become an ice rink and keep my son The Culprit away from the slippery mess is something I will never forget!!

A gorgeous red baggy mohair jumper hand knitted for me by a dear friend when I was pregnant with my second child.

I wore it long after I'd given birth. For almost 20 years in fact. It had lost its fluffy mohair feel and was a bit threadbare in places but still looked great in a hippie boho way worn over vests and leggings.

Then inexplicably I managed to wash it at 90 degrees and it came out shrunken, misshapen and unwearable. I was heartbroken.

I couldn't bear to throw it away so what's left of it remains in my drawer.

Always washing bank notes, which I am used to by now but once the Mr put a wet nappy in the wash basket which I never noticed! Gross and white bits all over the clothes too!

All my lovely white underwear (in the days before children when I had nice underwear), put it all in together on a delicate wash not realising that my boyfriend (before he was hubby) had chucked a duster in the drum to be washed with the next load. I had a lovely range of very expensive lemon and mustard coloured underwear even after 4 kids my most devastating and expensive washing mistake ever.

Of course tissues which are hell on earth to clear up!
But also multiple lipbalms thanks to my daughters. Some come out like mush, some come empty which means the clothes are now all greasy, and some come out surprisingly fine!

For me the worst thing I ever put in the wash was my phone as it was before cloud backups, and a week after my mum passed away. I lost all of the messages she ever sent me.

In terms of ruining a whole load though it has to be recently with a red sock in with all my partners white work shirts!

The TV remote was once thrown in by a little helper

I put a load on and realised a nappy was left in (unused thank the Lord) and we had small little bits floating around the machine.

Since then, every pocket is checked and I load the machine one item of clothing at a time!!!

Is there anything worse than washing a tissue and finding all the bits everywhere when the wash has finished? I hate that! Thanks Cushelle for bringing out these new stronger tissues!
I regularly find my husband's plectrums in the wash and occasionally £5 or £10 notes (handy that they don't dissolve in the wash anymore too!)
but the weirdest was probably my dd's extremely lifelike cat toy. That really scared me as the washing machine was in the garage at the time and a cat from the neighbourhood could have easily got in.
I still remember the fear I felt when I saw it's face against the window of the washing machine!

This one is totally DH's fault for not checking his shirt pockets. He left a couple of ballpoint Bic pens in the breast pockets of one of his better shirts. They left nasty indelible blue blotches on his shirt and an entire week's worth of my work blouses. Which meant I had to go out on an emergency clothes-buying trip. Luckily this was about 20 odd years ago and most things looked reasonable on me then.

I still remind DH of this if he ever dares to preach at me over tissues in pockets.

A disposable nappy 😫

Our tv remote so we now can't change any of the settings on the tv and a nappy which was a nightmare

Not long after my son started school I put his school trousers in the wash and didn't realise there was some tissue in the pocket, I was picking bits of white tissue off of these black trousers for months!!!

I put a navy blue thick cotton jumpsuit in with other dark washing for its first wash thinking that would be fine. Everything came out dark blue and I was gutted.

Sanitary towel - disaster - snowstorm

I washed DH's jeans without checking all of the pockets... was horrified to discover a phone in there (afterwards). He was incredibly good about it - less so, though, when I did it again with his replacement phone 2 months later .

I now don't wash things that he hasn't put in the wash - that way he's to blame if pockets aren't emptied...

after booking a holiday abroad, when i got home i put my coat in the wash, not only with all our passports in but our tickets too. had to apply for four new passports :(

DS's beloved card collection that he'd collected from Yo Bear packs over many months. All were stuffed in a pocket that he had put in the wash. He was about 8 or 9 and was devastated. He apparently had all sorts of rare cards. He's 11 now and over it

So many things.

• disposable nappy
• disposable sanpro
• purse
• one dark item in a light wash - so many times
• blue tack
• bubblegum
• pens
• iPod
• android phone
• chocolate

Am bored of writing them now but to be honest I think the worst is that our machine has stopped turning on now, and I can't wash eff all, laundry or not.

putting a red garment in the white wash wasnt the best idea, loads of pink garments

I don’t have a tissue problem because I use hankies, washing nappies and sanitary towels is very normal here because I use reusable for both.

Worst thing was the cat. It decided to sleep in there and the door got closed somehow. The DC noticed and tried to get it out, but we had one of those machines where you need to press a button to release the door, they didn’t know which button to press and accidentally turned it on. The cat was fine, it was only in there for seconds after the water started, the DC started shrieking and I performed an emergency stop! It was wet, and it didn’t sleep in the washing machine anymore, but otherwise fine.

Our single most disastrous wash was when dh's passport and mobile went in on a full cycle and then a rinse + spin...

Although dh's phone or earphones often end up in the washing machine, so we now have a routine of asking everyone where their phone is before putting the wash on!

A tv remote! It was in my ex-H jeans pocket - miraculously it was dried out and worked a few days later.

The remote for the garage door
Unable to get a replacement so we still can only open from inside many years later
Ooops!