[Curious Mew]

I hate doing laundry with a passion, but I have to do it because I need clothes to wear and towels to dry off with. I have very strict standards about the cleanliness of my laundry and seal off access to the laundry room because I don't want any interference. NOOOOOOoooooobody messes with my laundry or they must pay!

I do laundry about once every month. This week I have been taking the laundry one step at a time because I dread it so much:

• towels/socks on Tuesday
• clothes/undies on Wednesday & Thursday
• bedding/blankets on Friday

Well, last night I could not get happy with the initial wash job to my beds' comforter. I am unable to sleep without it, although I was getting very tired.

I was kept up well into the night hours totally dependent on the washer and dryer to hurry up washing this stupid comforter so that I could finally go to bed. I ended up washing this comforter 3 additional times because it was not getting the exact clean I wanted; it either felt too soapy, or it wasn't getting enough rotation in the drum.

Each attempt to wash this comforter squeaky clean ripped into my heart. Aside from the madness, I'm sitting in this half-lit laundry room all alone, no one in my life to help distract me from the chaos.

[eskielover]

I hate doing laundry also.....but not for the same reasons. I bought my new washer & dryer a few years ago...those new front load ones & had them put into my basement. Last year after breaking my back, I couldn't carry my cloths down 2 flights of stairs...couldn't lift more than 5 pounds at a time & needed cloths washed badly.

This reminds me....I have a load in my dryer & I had to put some extra cleaning stuff on a bunch of my cloths because the last few weeks I was volunteering on the decoration crew at the Horse park & got my cloths covered in dirt from the mulch & sitting on the ground placing the plants in the mulch for decorating the jumps. I have that pile of laundry sitting in my bathroom. I have 2 more loads of darks that I have to get around to doing also. It sure would be nice to have a house that has a laundry shoot in it. It boggles my mind how just me, one person can create so much laundry. As the warm weather hits, I can't stand to keep on sweaty cloths....end up changing cloths several times a day....so no wonder I have so many dirty cloths.

I am sorry that doing the laundry is such a process for you....I can understand. If something comes out of my dryer not smelling good, I end up running it through the wash again, trying to get rid of the smell. Getting used to this new kind of washer was a challenge....not only that, but it gets clogged up & then won't wash.....& one time, the washer broke (even though it was new) & the water didn't come in to wash the cloths. Didn't realize that was the problem for quite awhile. The cloths felt dry, so I knew something was wrong, so I tried it again & again. I would set it & let it go & forget to check & same thing. I finally figured out that there wasn't any water coming into the washer on any of the wash settings....had to have the repair come out & fix the washer before I could do the laundry & I was already piled up so deep in dirty cloths....that's what I get for waiting so long to do launday....until I don't have any more clean cloths....ugh.

Living along can be a bit of a challenge....but after 33 years of a bad marriage, for me, the living alone is a wonderful breath of fresh air. I do have my 5 dogs.....which are good at keeping everything in a mess around me.

[GypsyRosalie]

Laundry stresses me out quite a lot, too. I can only do it about once a week since my apartment has no washer and dryer. I only have one day per week to get clothes done and only about 4 hours during that day, during which I have to wash my husbands work clothes, my clothes, and my sons' clothes. I cannot let my husband help in any way or it's wrong and doesn't feel right when I wear it. I have to make sure the soap level is just right and the dryer gets hot enough.
There are so many rules that my mind has forced in. I fear the day when I have my own machines... It will allow room for redoing what's wrong rather than forcing me to live with it....
Good luck. I want you to know you are not alone.
I understand what you mean about something not being the clean you need. I cannot reach that clean with the laudromat that I am forced to use on occasion due to lack of finances to travel to my mothers to do laundry there.
Rosalie

[tinkey2]

I hate doing laundry too. I have to do laundry everyday because I NEED my clothes to be washed, dried, and then worn right away. I can't have them sit in a closet or drawer. I hate it because it takes too much time out of my day and I know that this obsession is ridiculous. I'm working on it, but this is one of my very ingrained obsessions/compulsions. I also have to do my own laundry, in my own dryer every time because I don't want other people touching my clean clothes. I know what it's like to be doing laundry and all the while wishing you could go to sleep because it's like midnight, but you can't sleep until it's done. I'm also deathly afraid of the laundromat...so I pray that my washer and dryer don't suddenly break anytime soon.

[nushi]

Curious Mew, I feel for you. I've got other POs, but not the laundry compulsion.

I'd really like to be of help I don't know if you tried that before, but what do you think if you put a strict rule that you wash your laundry only once & never put it again in the washer/dryer even if it turns out not clean enough. You may try to comfort yourself by the idea that it might get cleaner in its next wash next week/month Why don't you try also to have a book/novel with you in the laundry room & read in it whenever the machine is doing its work, so you would engage your thoughts in the novel events more than the laundry obsessions

[Seshat]

I don't hate doing laundry, but it has become a pain in way because:

-My mom will sometimes nag me, saying that "I never do laundry", just because I choose to do it only a every other week or once a week at the most, and she likes to do laundry at least once a week.

-Sometimes my mom will try to do my laundry without my permission and I end up furious because I want to do it myself, my way. I want to choose the cycle, the amount of detergent, the way I put the clothes to dry, and she criticizes everything. It's not as if I didn't know how the washer works and I'm not a kid. It has become a constant source of stress.