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

Worst thing I washed was my daughters blazer I didn’t check the pockets as was in the wash basket so thought she would of as was a teenager🙈🙈 she had tissue in her pocket which was stuck all over that washing load not only that had her bus pass in also so that one load of washing cost me £58 as had to replace bus pass. I always check pockets now 😂😂

An amethyst crystal, I used to sleep with one under my pillow as its meant to help with sleep problems.

I bundled up the bedding and put it in the machine on a hot wash.

It was not until I took the bedding out and started to wonder what all the glass like shards were did it register what I had done.

Had to clear out machine, shake bedding off outside and then rewash everything.

I no, I never did get another crystal.

The old style paper savings books from the bank don't wash very well, I have now found out.
Fortunately they are backed up by a computer system so all was not lost...

Honestly some sort of tissue from hell was the worst thing to go in our washing & it was fairly recently. The fluff would not come off my DH's shirts. It took 2 hours to de-fluff one shirt & I got so depressed seeing the shirts & the socks! Oh Lord, the socks, that I hung them out on the line where they stayed for a month in the rain, snow & ice until I built up the emotional resilience to do the final de-fluffing. If they hadn't been nice new stuff I would have considered binning them. If I hadn't dealt with them they would still be sitting in a corner of the bedroom on dh's to do list.

It was an awful time & I'm still traumatised by it so bring on the non disintegrating tissues!

A pocket full of foxes glacier mints - not only was my laundry full of sticky paper - after washing again it still smelled of mint (note to self - check pockets)

My very expensive one tooth flexi denture...in the pocket of my shirt.
Oddly enough it hasn't fitted since (the tooth that is, the shirt was fine!)

The pure wool tunic that I'd only worn once and washed and accidentally tumbled didn't do too well either.. it was small enough to fir the dog afterwards!

My DS threw a nappy in the washing machine when he was a toddler. The mess it made was unbelievable.

Swimming goggles at least three times

Bus pass

Bank card

Earphones four times

I rarely check anyone's pockets.

My DP once accidentally washed a lovely dry-clean only skirt of mine. I loved that skirt 😢

This evening, a battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm that was in the utility room next to the washing machine (and boiler). It screamed and screeched for a surprisingly long time before finally conking out. It took us ages to work out where the unbearable noise was coming from and then I couldn't get the washer open to retrieve it!

My favourite woolly jumper which was irreversibly shrunk. I was very sad about that one

My remote .. it was a new tv and had to pay for a new one a week after buying the tv 😭😭

Sister is a choc monster so we could never have choc in the house without her finding it as she knew all the usual hiding spots. Got given a box of celebrations that we didn't want her scoffing thought I know lets put it in the washing machine drum she'll never look there! Of course she washed it when she washed some of her clothes the next day- Retribution for all the times she stole our choccies!!

I accidently put a trainer in the wash which is normally fine but for some reason the sole of this one just crumbled and blocked my washing machine flooded my kitchen and once my cat was cat in the drum but I saw him in time !!!

Couldn’t find my mobile, so rang it from the landline. I could hear the ringtone from inside the washing machine...

I’m also forever washing pens by accident. I’m a midwife and often my uniforms get a bit gross at work (if you stand in the wrong place when someone’s waters break, you’re soaked right through...) so I tend to chuck them straight into the machine without checking. If you wash pens, the ink stains the entire laundry load 🤦🏼‍♀️

Two Pandora rings that had been taken off at school and put in the inside pocket of a blazer! Luckily they turned up inside the rubber bit around the door. One very relieved teenager!

I washed AND tumbled my sons hearing aid. When he woke up the next day and shrieked that he'd left it in the pocket of his school trousers, there was a frantic scrambling through the clothing to assess the damage.

It had switched itself on during the tumble cycle and was merrily whistling away in a pair of DH's pants. Not a disaster in the end, but a hairy moment/lesson learnt for my boy!

This is a fantastic conversation starter! BUT WHERE DO I BEGIN?

I'll start from the beginning , Christmas 2016. A massive washing parcel arrives for me from my father, a white washing machine and when i call to thank him he say "now you are an real adult, everything shall move fast from here on". Foretelling words as neither of us know i am 4 months pregnant! Yet it doesn't have a childlock

I always feels like my now dear son can sense the love and pride that my dad meant to express with this machine as he is always always gets into it.

Things my son has put into the washing machine and have been washed, to-date 12 bank cards, his dads mobile, his dads play-station controller, toys, nappies, a banana, money, a cat, cat food, an umbrella and countless toys, a tin ( i dont know what was in it because the label was ruined).

Despite the devastation he has caused on my pets , our wallets and our clothes his obsession with the machine does come in handy. The machine goes on at 4:30 and a plop him in from of it and he sit peacefully whilst i study or cook dinner. This does however make me worry about his intellect a considerable amount.

For those of you who are wondering about our poor kitten he was fine! I heard him meow and figured it out just as my son pressed the start button and switched it off at the wall and got him out. Bless him, he doesn't even hold a grudge about it and once i even saw him go to the machine and watch it spin as well.

But all this was sort of besides the point. Everyone knows the worst thing to go into the wash is a used hanky.

Passport 😩

No matter how many times I check pockets I seem to wash at least I hanky a week and have to spend ages rollering clothes with a sticky roller to get rid of the bits!
2 other washed items stick in my mind;

1. When I was about 9 I had a brand new clear, fruit flaboured lipgloss. I put it on and it felt and tasted weird, next thing I knew my lips had swollen up and were itchy! Turns out my mam had washed it and thought it looked fine as the lid was on properly so had just put it back in my pocket!
2. I once washed a used sanitary towel, I had no idea about those slimy water beads they had in and some of my clothes were ruined despite me trying to salvage them! Luckily the washer itself was fine!

A beautiful hand knitted baby cardigan got chucked in with all the other baby clothes and came out tiny and ruined - I was so hormonal and sad!

When I was exhausted after the birth of our second child, I managed to wash my mobile phone. It was an expensive iPhone. But that wasn’t what upset me. It had been a very fast birth (less than an hour) and my only photos of my new baby girl were on the phone. Turns out that putting a phone through a wash with the sheets doesn’t do it much good. I never saw those pictures again. The phone was very nice and shiny though.

hands down its gotta be cash. Withdrew money from the ATM and but into my back jean pocket which I never do. Only to get home to put a wash on and go 'oh I might as well wack my jeans in as well' Opps

I accidentally put one of my large quartz crystal points in with my washing. This would not have been a disaster in itself, but unfortunately the point shattered the glass of my washing machine door. The resulting chaos was messy and expensive. The quartz point survived well though.

Tissues tissues and more bloody tissues. Oh plus melted lip balms !!