Laundry Day

I needed to do my sheets. I stripped every sheet, blanket, and pillowcase from my twin-size bed, not something I usually do since it’d take two loads, but I figured, what the heck. Exams are coming up, your physical space is a reflection of your mental state, yadda yadda yadda. Fine, I’ll do all the sheets.

So I huffed and puffed and brought my laundry down the flight of stairs. Naively, I had thought that maybe, just maybe, I could fit it all into one washer. Extremely loud incorrect buzzer. I took another two trips up and down to grab more stuff, forgetting the laundry room key, then forgetting the Tide Pod for the second load. Out of sheer habit, I grabbed a white knit sweater I wear quite often to add to the second load. It felt like a waste since the red blanket I was washing didn’t fill it up.

As you may have guessed, my whites got stained. It was like something out of a cartoon. The red blanket was loaned to me from my partner, and he swore it’s been washed a million times since they’ve had it since he was a kid. The offending culprit stained a hand towel, some undergarments, the knit sweater I threw in last second. I was devastated. I don’t know why that pink-tinged sweater filled me with such despair. Maybe it’s because my mom gave it to me. Not that it has sentimental value, but it felt like such a waste, it’s even from Ann Taylor. She knows I like turtlenecks, so she bought it for me online, along with a red version. Ironically.

We rushed to Target and stood in the laundry aisle for what felt like hours. No-splash bleach, disinfecting bleach, low-splash bleach. Powder, liquid, pods. Can you use bleach on wool blends? The sweater only has 6%. The words on the ingredients lists began to run together as the fluorescent lights above glared. Hydrogen peroxide, optic brighteners. Why does everything need to be so multipurpose, I complained. The things that are for whites claim to work on colors, and the things for colors claim to be fine for whites. So is the effectiveness down on both ends?

He bought me a flower-shaped egg holder to make me feel better. It sat in the cup holder as we drove, and I cried thinking about capitalism and everything I can’t seem to get right. Why is it so much easier to replace things than fix them? I couldn't help but notice how pricey all the laundry items were. Why does a silly egg holder make me so happy? I thought of all the dingy socks and towels people try to brighten with a scoop of OxiClean while many probably just replace theirs with a tap on Amazon. Free shipping and all. It’s all so pointless.

Needless to say, the OxiClean didn’t work, and the sweater is tinged pink now. Forever. Luckily, spring is here, and I won’t be wearing that sweater for long. It’s a shame. I’ll think about what to do about it later. I have exams to worry about.

March 18, 2024