Laundry Woes

So, the washing machine here is on its last legs. It's been like this since before I moved in but it isn't my job to repair or replace it. Although, I did look up the initial issue and found out that one of the stabilizer parts for the washing drum definitely needs to be replaced. But it was still usable. But for the past few months it has stopped agitating during the wash cycle. I didn't realize how much it would affect actually cleaning clothes, but yeah.

Last night I decided to handwash all my underwear with laundry detergent and a cap of bleach. Why? Because now that I don't have the head cold from Hell, I can actually smell things. And I was NOT liking how my underwear was smelling. I knew that *technically* my clothes were laundered, but I got the distinct feeling that they weren't actually getting CLEAN. Yes, all caps intended. Which meant it was time to do an experiment.

I took all the handwashed clothing and put it through the washer this morning. It was largely to spin out the excess water and to rinse off the soap that was left on it. I knew last night that this is what I was going to do so I didn't bother hand-rinsing any of it. It also meant that I didn't add more soap to the washer because it didn't need it. Even just a cursory sniff of the clothing just out of the washing machine was a good clue that finally things were CLEAN. I had even hand-washed all my jeans and leggings so that I would have enough for a full load of laundry - I don't have THAT many pairs of underwear. At least not pairs that I wear all the time. EVERYTHING came out smelling a million times better. Yes, I even threw a cap of bleach in with my jeans and leggings, figuring that if the smell was partly caused by bacteria or whatever from things not getting washed better that the minute amount of bleach would help kill it without discolouring anything. And it appears that I was right!

Which means I washed another load of laundry the same way this morning. Hand-washing my things, focusing on the smelly armpits of my polyester work-shirts, but no bleach this time. Experiment, you see. If I can get my things smelling just as good without the bleach, then that's what I'll do. Why? Because I really don't like using bleach if I don't have to. It doesn't help that I don't wear gloves when I'm handwashing anything, but that is because I like to feel the fabric as I'm scrubbing, rubbing, swishing, whatever. I'm weird, I know.

And...I just took that load out of the dryer. Looks like I'll be needing a cap of bleach in with some of the items. My tops and bras are fine without the bleach, but anything that comes in any sort of contact with my crotch will need the bleach. Well shit. But such is life.

Either way, handwashing everything makes my clothes even *feel* much cleaner in the end. And it's not something that is all in my head. I'm very particular about how fabric feels when I touch it, and I'd always figured there was something off about anything I had just stuck in the washer to 'clean'. I thought it was all in my head, but obviously not. So, from now on, I know how I'll be doing my laundry until the washing machine is replaced. If it completely dies before my landlady can get it replaced, I'll either give into manually rinsing everything and wringing it out before tossing it into the dryer, or figure out where the nearest laundromat is and go there on my days off. Ugh. Neither option is really something I want to do, but sometimes you just have to do whatever works. Unless you actually like wearing dirty, smelly clothing.

In the meantime, I'm off to go play some more 'Dragon Age: the Veilguard' for a bit! And check on the turkey I just put in the oven.