Dirty Laundry, Part 2

I know you're all waiting anxiously to hear what I have to say about dirty laundry (sure you are), so I have an interesting idea for you. When I first heard about this (first from Lisa, then from sister Kim), I wasn't convinced, but now I'm a true believer.

The secret is, I don't completely dry our clothes. Yep, that's right. Every time you let your clothes dry all the way in the dryer, you are shrinking them. Now I put each load of clothing in the dryer on the shortest, most delicate cycle and remove each piece while it is still damp. I shake each piece out and hang it to finish drying in the laundry room. For pants, I use clothes pins to attach them to a pants hanger, then fold and hang them over the hanger when they are dry. I keep the dryer going between pulling out each piece of clothing so they don't wrinkle. For towels, socks and underwear -- those loads I let dry all the way in the dryer.

Your laundry gets done more quickly with this system, but you do have to go back later to put away the clothes when they're dry. Still, it does work to keep your clothes from shrinking and I also think it makes them last longer.

What convinced me? I have 2 pair of pants I bought at the same time -- same pants, same size, but 2 different colors. The brown pair I wore a lot and washed and dryed a lot. The purple pair didn't get worn much because I didn't have a shirt that coordinated with that color. Therefore they also didn't get washed much. Now, I still have both pairs of pants, but the brown pair is at least a size smaller because of all those trips through the dryer.

Maybe you're not getting bigger...maybe your pants are getting smaller!! Hallelujah!

Bonus hint from Dear Hubby: He had me buy a dozen plastic hangers with a distinct color for his use only. When he has clothing he's only worn for a short while, he hangs it on one of those hangers and knows it's ready for a "second-wear".