It's the Little Things that Help

SCL had this huge, practically lifelong supply of powder laundry detergent his parents had bought for him from Costco when he went to Yale. We're talking more than 2 years ago. This stuff was crap, and I hated washing clothes with it--but it was there and seemed wasteful not to use it. Begrudgingly I'd scoop out the powdery, dusty, fragrance-free stuff and throw it into the machine, never quite sure if it was actually doing any good. The side of the container says it's also good for oil spills, so you know, I never felt too confident about it.

Let me back up a bit. I am what you might call a laundry fascist. I get this from my mother who washes jeans inside out (so as not to fade them prematurely), meticulously adds fabric softener as soon as the rinse cycle begins, and hang dries nearly every single article of clothing, including plain white tees and underwear. Needless to say, our clothes lasted a very long time, and I grew up with a fear that the dryer was evil and would eat my clothes.

So, when SCL and I moved in together, I agreed to take over the laundry duties. I didn't mind it for the most part, despite the millions of white t-shirts in the pile. Not sure about you other women, but I hardly have any whites--a few things here and there, but I'm usually in colors. Before moving in with SCL I was used to going a few weeks between washing them. But then it was always a big smelly pile of dank undershirts that I'm guessing were at one point white but now were yellow/gray grossness, and they were stinking up my closet where we kept the hampers. It never ended! So one of the first things I did after we broke up was split up the laundry and stick all of his in a laundry bag, waiting for him when he got home 'cause I'd be damned if I continued to do his laundry. Aren't I so nice?

Today I went to Target to pick up underwear* and picked up a few things for the apartment: a new lamp, some air fresheners, and a big bottle of Tide. No more crappy Costco detergent for this woman. I don't care if it costs $12 a bottle. It smells good and gets my clothes clean. And the scent doesn't remind me of him, which is a plus.

*FYI, the underwear were not for me. I bought them for a fundraiser benefiting the DC Rape Crisis Center. One of the thing they always need is clean pairs of underwear, so next time you're visiting Victoria's Secret, add a few pairs to your purchase and drop them off at the nearest rape or domestic violence center in your area.