Frugal Tip: Pay attention to washing instructions


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Frugal Tip: Pay attention to washing instructions

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I like to help around the house. Mrs. Frugal Law Student is busy preparing history lectures, so I try to do things that will alleviate pressure on her to do housework. But, usually when I try to help, I just ruin things.

This morning I got up early and thought I would put a load of laundry in. When I was single, I never had clothing that required hand cleaning. I would just dump everything in the washing machine.

My wife, however, has several items of clothing that should not be machine washed. They all happen to be her favorite articles of clothing. Well, when I put the laundry in this morning, two of those non-machine wash pieces went in with the t-shirts.

Result? A very mad Mrs. Frugal Law Student. One blouse is all frayed and the other one is pilly. They’re pretty much ruined. I’m going to try to salvage the pilly shirt by following the instructions on this website. Mrs. Frugal Law Student gave me quite a tongue lashing on how if I really want to be frugal, I need to more careful about how I treat clothes. We’re probably going to have to go buy a new shirt for her. In the words of Mrs. FLS “That’s just money going down the paper shredder.”

Lesson learned: Being frugal not only means saving money on stuff you spend, it also means taking care of the stuff you have so you don’t have to replace it as often. Learn from my mistakes. Check the tags before you put something in the wash.

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Brett McKay | 04 Nov 06 | Progress, Clothing

8 Comments

Not Crunchy on 06.11.2006 at 00:57 (Reply)

Poor guy - I’ve given my husband a few tongue lashings too and he learned to not touch my clothes. But now I’m in law school and he works at home and does the laundry, so he must touch my clothes again. He hasn’t ruined anything in a while, though there were a few synthetic items that would now fit a Barbi doll nicely. But ultimately, he learned to READ THE TAG.
The Frugal Law Student » Blog Archive » links for 2007-09-24 on 24.09.2007 at 00:25

[…] The Frugal Law Student » Blog Archive » Frugal Tip: Pay attention to washing instructions Frugal Law Student Retro: Hell hath no furry like a wife with a ruined new shirt. I’m a putz. […]
Mike on 24.09.2007 at 07:16 (Reply)

Wow, how did I miss this one before?
I can totally see Mrs. FLS getting mad over this. Did she end up getting a new shirt she liked? Were you able to fix the pilling?
1. Brett McKay on 26.09.2007 at 22:01 (Reply)
  
  We were able to fix the pilling, thankfully. It wasn’t the last time I’ve ruined a shirt. A few weeks ago, I turned a white blouse pink, but we were able to fix that, too.
strange bird on 25.09.2007 at 22:09 (Reply)

I sometimes think men do things like this intentionally so that they can say, “See? I’m just not good at laundry, so you do it!”
1. Brett McKay on 26.09.2007 at 21:59 (Reply)
  
  Hahaha!! That’s what my wife says!
rob in madrid on 05.10.2007 at 01:43 (Reply)

My sister in law complains about the same thing, in spite of working very long hours she refuses to let her husband touch the laundry, he pretty much does everything else but he knows better than to do the laundry!

To save valuable clothes for the washing machine consider getting washing bags, they are bit expensive but pay for themselves in less wear and tear on clothing. And more importantly have your wife put the dirty clothes right into the bad when it goes in the hamper.

As well when it comes time to replace the old washing machine get a front loading one, much easier on the clothes, just don’t forget to leave the door ajar so it can dry out.
Glasswasher guy on 30.06.2008 at 06:01 (Reply)

Goog tip Rob - its not just looking after the clothing that you wash, its also a case of looking after the machine itself if you want to be frugal - leaving the door open after using the washing machine helps. Its also worth running a bit of bleach through the washing machine every now and again - this cleans all the scale off and means that the drum etc will last much longer.

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The Frugal Law Student is for anyone trying to mitigate their crippling debt. Me? I'm trying to mitigate the tens of thousands of dollars I've taken on in student loans. Join me on my quest to avoid taking on more debt, paying off some of the debt I have, and trying to survive law school while doing it. Read more about The Frugal Law Student, check out some of the best articles, or become a subscriber via RSS feed or via email

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