Husbands and laundry...beware -trivia.

Totally agree with you Notso. Convinced it was deliberate.

I refuse to iron anything which was put in the basket still buttoned up, don't know why it is so difficult to unbutton a shirt before taking it off.

I find all sorts of things in the washing including money. All money found anywhere in the house goes in the charity box but nothing deters him.

One of the tests for ESA is ' can they do perform a more complicated task such as using a washing machine?'

Yes whenIwas that's why we couldn't do our own washing- not enough to make a load. My H does a lot in the garden and in the kitchen, but sabotaging my sorted washing .........grrrr

DH doesn't do washing because since he retired he does all the cooking. I hate cooking but enjoy washing and hanging it out - (nowadays, without the daily shirt, I even quite enjoy ironing, mainly for the smell!) - so it works out quite well. I also do the dishwasher because nobody else can fit everything in correctly. Nobody else, including DH and DC, can hang out washing correctly either, IMO, but I know what you mean about the face if you re-do it, KatyK.

I've never divided whites form coloureds unless there is some new dark item which I don't trust not to run. With my ancient top loader I can put it with a dark load and watch the water running through to see if the colour runs, and if not, it just goes in with everything else next time. With only 2 of us now, I'd wait for weeks to get a load if I couldn't put it all in together.

A lady I worked with years ago said to me once 'Don't men peg washing out in a funny way'. On the rare occasions mine has put some out, I have the urge to re-do it but don't want him to have the 'I can't do anything right' face on.

Bellanonna I think we are married to identical twins! You could be describing my DH except mine doesn't iron. I do that if needed.

He also cleans the bathroom and loos and sees to the bins and helps me in the garden. He's a treasure and I wouldn't be without him!

kitty where did you get it? I'd buy one!

I've got a fridge magnet GK, that says 'Every mother is a working woman!' - I bought it myself, just to emphasise the point.

DH irons everything because he says it relaxes him. Fine by me. He also does his own washing plus household stuff and any odds and ends to fill the machine. Pegs out and brings in. As Nina said, I hate the way he pegs it out, e.g. Shirts hung from shoulder, sheets folded over the line, but never mind, at least he deals with it. He won't cook though, and I feel that's fair as he does the boring bits whereas I quite enjoy putting a meal together. He clears and fills, then empties th d/w

My DH has never put washing in in almost 46 years of marriage! He does lots of other stuff so I can't complain (really).

PS Any tissue washes are down to me

My DH is well trained now (had to start from scratch though!), but he always asks me to check any white loads and if any whites can go in with colours. Watching him iron is torture, talk about slow. He only irons a shirt occasionally, but now I don't watch and let him get on with it. Does a good job in the end!

Ah yes the tissue wash[blush ] I've also done the phone in the pocket wash. That was very very expensive ( in time and tears)

Oh that's a great story, Grannyknot! "But you don't work" . Reminds me of a story a teacher friend of mind told me many years ago. She taught the reception year and was talking to them one day about what they wanted to do when they grew up - this was in the days, you understand, when it was more the norm for women to stay at home and raise their families. So when she said, in the course of the conversation, that she wasn't a housewife, that she went to work, one of the little ones asked "what work do you do, Miss?"

Indi good for you (handing over household chores to other adults in the home).

I have a friend who never liked cooking. She has 5 children and was a stay-at-home mum. Once they were all grown up, some still living at home, she announced her "retirement". People would ask "But you don't work" - "what are you retiring from?" And she would respond with a list of household tasks, with cooking for the family first on the list. She stuck to her decision too.

I used t be fastidious about sorting the laundry, but realised that most of the time it wasn't necessary. If DH ever does it, he just bungs everything in together. I'm now used to looking a bit fluffy.

DH does the laundry, I never asked him to but just sit back and enjoy! There was an incident of The Shrunken Sweater, questions were asked, but I forgave him in the end !

My son is a great ironer too - not because he was in the services, but simply because I told both my DC in their late teens that i wouldn't be doing their laundry henceforth. It had suddenly dawned on me one day that we were all adults, all working full time, and yet all the household chores were still falling to me. The DC were great, completely understood my POV and both took over all their washing and ironing from that point. When various girlfriends adoringly offered to iron for DS, he always ended up re-doing it, as he became quite a perfectionist

I was taught to seperate as even if the colours don't obviously run they do a little and gradually your whites go grey.

Like a previous poster's, my DH is a brilliant ironer due to the army but he takes soooooo long to do each item because it has to be perfect.

notso,

Atqui re the major tantrum and 'I can't do anything right' comments.

Please be reassured that inside his head he will have been jumping up and down with joy at 'Mission Accomplished' status.

We do our own washing. Makes sense given that we have separate rooms and therefore a linen basket in each room! It means i can take care of my whites/lights and if DH wants to chuck all his together in one washload, well that's up to him . Most of his things are on the darker side anyway - he doesn't seem to have any whites (or maybe they're just no longer white )

Have to say I'm guilty of doing a tissue wash sometimes.

Lucky Luckygirl!!