Strange Things in the Laundry

Author and Richmond mom, Suzanne Sherif

I was taking a load of swimsuits out of the washing machine yesterday, when I pulled out a strange little blue thing that looked like a deflated balloon. Puzzled, I gently tried to un-crumple it, to figure out what it was.

Then I realized, to my chagrin, that it was a swim cap. Argh! I must have thrown it in by accident when I pulled my son’s swim jammers out of his swim bag. I examined it carefully. Was it possible that I had shrunk it? Even in the delicate cycle with cold water? It looked even smaller than it normally did.

I decided that I would hide the evidence and quickly go get him a new one. He would never know.

This isn’t the first time weird stuff has wound up in the laundry. This is just the first time it was my fault. You see, no matter how often I remind my husband and kids to empty their pockets before they throw things in the laundry, they never do.

The worst incident was the time someone left a piece of chewed gum in a foil wrapped in a jeans pocket. It survived the wash okay, but then tumbled out in the dryer and melted! I spent a couple of not-very-fun days getting gum out of clothing and scrubbing it off the inside of the dryer.

Another time that could have been a disaster, had the laundry gods not been watching over me, was the time my husband left a pen in his shirt pocket. When I pulled the shirt out of the washer, I spied the pen still sticking out of the pocket, so I gently removed it. Then I peeked inside the washer. Everything looked fine. Perplexed, I examined the pen. I gently removed the cap, then… watery blue ink all over my laundry room floor! We had narrowly escaped having all of our clothing turned dark blue. That’s the day I told him the cleaners could deal with all of his shirts going forward.

Speaking of pens, one of my friends, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. One time she had a ballpoint pen leak in her washer all over her kid’s basketball jersey — right before a big game. Not even Oxyclean could save the day that time!

And, believe it or not, there are even worse things than stains or things melting in the dryer. Another one of my friends pulled a pair of jeans out of the wash and an MP3 player fell out! Apparently they don’t wash very well.

What was the strangest thing that ever wound up in your washer or dryer, and how did you deal with it? Tell us! We’d love to hear your stories!

Suzanne

A professional “trailing spouse” and mother of two, Suzanne has lived in several different countries. Her fifth corporate relocation (yes count ‘em, five!) brought her family to Richmond VA in the summer of 2011, and she is really excited about exploring all of the possibilities that Richmond has to offer! Also, she in not moving again. Really. She means it!