Open Thread

I know people who throw their clothes into the laundry if they worn it for 2 hours- Americans do overclean, and overuse chemicals to do it. I saw a news report a while back that said the rising numbers of asthmatic children may be tied to the overuse of cleaners. Kids can’t build up any immunity to bacteria and such. On the other hand, have you ever spent a few hours with those Europeans who don’t believe in deodorant? They used to come to the SoHo antique clothing store I worked at years ago and try on dresses. After 20 minutes everything stank and had to be rewashed or drycleaned. After awhile we either told them they couldn’t try them on or they had to wash their underarm area first.

Ark – I use a concentrated detergent, one with the ‘he’ label.
It’s odd watching the cycle cause it doesn’t really fill up with lots of water and get sudsy.

I grew up going to a laundromat; where you poured in a pint of detergent. Sometimes there was much suds it would ooze out the side of the machine and you pretended it wasn’t yours.

Sorry, folks. As always, it was set up for 9:15-ish but was left in draft form so it didn’t automatically publish. More detail than you probably need but bottom line it was a simple clerical oversight, not a conspiracy to derail the OT.

Posted by: brownstoner at October 8, 2009 9:55 AM

You mean you actually have to “draft” the OT post?

I have one of those front loading ‘environmentally sensitive’ machines. I think I’m still putting too much detergent in. I haven’t figured out the right formula yet.

Posted by: brownjokester at October 8, 2009 9:55 AM

Use an HE formulated detergent and put in half of what the bottle recomments. I’m serious.

Love, love, love the quote from Ray “…and that’s the bottom line.”

That song was played at our wedding, sigh. I’d always assumed it to be about a woman, even while easily allowed to mean the state too. And Georgia, despite its many flaws, is utterly lovely and lovable.

Laundry: I am a firm believer in lotsa water, the hotter the better, and not over-stuffing. I also use more detergent than I should, and more fabric softener than I should. I’m a sucker for that Downey smell.

But Rob, just from your average sweating throughout the day, skin cell sheddage, body oils and sitting all over the city, including subways and benches, even WITH a good ol’ pair of underwear, pants need to be washed every few wearings. IMHO. Otherwise they start to get stinky. To others anyway, you might not smell your own smells.