One thing about me is that the longer you know me, the weirder I get. Every so often I will reveal shocking little facts like that I am related to my husband both by marriage and by blood. Or that I like disc golf. Or that the only TV show I watch is the Bachelor. It’s time for me to peel off another layer and tell you the truth about something I am not always quick to share:
I love laundry.
Now before you get all annoyed with me, let me be clear that I do not love vacuuming, washing windows, dusting, making beds, cleaning toilets, or being the only person in my house who appears to be capable of washing dishes (although Maybelle is showing some promise in this area).
So that pretty much covers everything in the housekeeping department.
Except laundry.
At one point in my life I seriously considered opening a laundromat. But that would be like a money crazed person wanting to work in a bank. Sure, you’re surrounded by what you love, but it’s someone else’s. And they might not treat it right.
I took my love to a deeper place. A greater commitment, if you will. I participated in Gift of Green’s Clothesline Challenge two years in a row. But now, I’m ready to go even further.
I’m going to give up bleach.
It pains me greatly to say that, because bleach is big for me. I am not sure I can do it. My first step (after admitting I have a problem) is to stop bleaching the towels. Well, the bath towels anyway. The kitchen towels – that’s going to take some work. There are an awful lot of germs on the kitchen towels and I’m not sure I can ever stop bleaching our undergarments. Anyway, that’s too much detail for now.
I can’t ignore the environmental impact anymore. Up to this point I have justified it by saying that at least I don’t use the dryer, so I have some carbon-footprint space to spare. But after spending some time in coal-mining country looking at blown-off and listening to the oil “spill” (if that’s what they call a spill, then, Katrina was a light breeze) nightmare, I have to step up. I don’t want to be part of the next big man-made disaster, if I can help it.
So how am I going break up with bleach and clean my clothes without killing the planet? Well, first I am trying out an environmentally sound, locally made detergent. You will absolutely hear more about that. I am going to invite a friend to teach me (and you) how to make our own detergent. And I am going to hope that I still love laundry… even if I am not 100% convinced that it is really clean.
This post was submitted to Things I Love Thursday.
Doing laundry is a okay by me.
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please come fold my laundry if you love it so much. the washing part i don’t mind. the folding part is for the birds. giving up bleach? crazy! i was JUST thinking about this last night as i lay on my freshly bleached bedsheets. i’d like to quit but need to do some research. like you, i like my laundry to come out germ free.
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Big Binder Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:41 am
Oh… you temptress!! I love freshly bleached sheets. Well, keep reading, I will take you along on this journey. You know what is strange, is that since I line-dry my clothes they are either already on hangers or just have to be taken off the line and folded. The whole folding thing is way easier than dumping out a basket and starting from there.
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I never got into the habit of using bleach. Strange, eh?
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Big Binder Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:39 am
The goodness of bleach was bred into me as a young child. I am glad my Grandma doesn’t read my blog, because she would be very upset about this whole thing.
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I LOVE laundry too! I annoy all my friends because I talk about how I love doing it all of it and if I had a clothes line I would hang the out every day!
I must admit I am a clothes sniffer….I have been caught several times by my sweetie holding a freshly washed/dry shirt to my nose…LOL!
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Big Binder Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
It’s aromatherapy for some of us, isn’t it?!
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Um, get out of my head. I mentioned you on my blog today. Weird!! I…gulp…went back to bleach after some unsavory dishtowels. Please help me quit!
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Big Binder Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:50 pm
That is weird!! But also, awesome. I will try and help… I will… I just can’t handle the thought of un-bleached germy towels wiping up my kitchen counters.
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I also love laundry (so easy, so rewarding, just like emptying — not loading! — the dishwasher). I gave up beach a while back, even though I wash cloth diapers. Not like I was addicted to it before, but my husband maybe was. But I’m going to confess that when my sister and her 6 kids visited, and there was some diarrhea involved, I did feel the need to use some bleach. But I can honestly say that I’ve used bleach less than 5 times in the last 5 years. I like to celebrate the small victories.
And I dream of using a clothesline. But I haven’t gotten my act together yet. I sometimes put the cloth diapers on the drying rack outside.
Thanks for your comment. And I do make beans. In a pressure cooker. And we love love love them. But I haven’t posted about it yet.
P.S. Your blogger profile has the link to your old blog page.
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Big Binder Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Well, that’s a good way to look at it – maybe I can cut down on the bleach usage. I have a clothesline in my basement – in Michigan we have about 16 days we could actually dry clothes outside when it’s not raining, snowing, so cold the clothes would freeze, or so hot they would never dry in the humidity. I’ll post some pictures – it’s nothing fancy at all, but maybe it will inspire you
I had my husband put it up so I could hang the cloth diapers on it! That’s really how I got started – about 7 years ago (!)
Here is my ridiculous dried bean post
Thank you!! I just switched a few months ago and I couldn’t remember where I had a profile, I appreciate it!
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Dear Big Binder,
Would you like to come to my house to do laundry? I would totally be willing to feed your habit. In return I would be willing to do dishes as I, too, hate vacuuming. However, I don’t know if I want to take away the opportunity from Maybelle, so maybe we’ll have to come up with another plan.
Love,
dutchbeingme
PS- I only do laundry once every two weeks now… so it would be fun social time too.
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Big Binder Reply:
July 25th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Dear dutchbeingme,
Yes! I would! Except I have a better idea. Let’s hire maids and sit around and drink wine instead.
Love,
Big Binder
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If you are ever in need, I have tons of laundry just waiting for you over here.
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*small voice* I never really use bleach. Except on my white lace tablecloth.
I guess that’s….good?
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