Stopping Doing Pointless Traditional Things

74jax

I don't pair my socks but only have black or grey trainer socks anyway. 

I don't separate washing, just throw it all in... 😂 

I don't iron anything.

Brie

One of the things I loved (though thought completely mad) when we shared with the inlaws years back is my MiL ironed everything. And I mean everything.  Should I ever win the lottery (unlikely as I don't buy tickets) I will hire someone to iron for me.  

Washing laundry has been on my mind......over the last nearly 2 years socialising has been minimal, in fact leaving the house has been minimal.  So showering has been a bit less than when I was going to work daily.  So why bother to wash clothes??  (stick with me on this for a bit) 

And there was a thing on radio where they were discussing how much damage washing clothes does to the environment (chemicals from soap into the ocean as well as all those polyester fabrics) as well as the clothes (bleaches the colour out and wears down the threads to say nothing of shrinking).  Clothes will last longer if washed less often which is a great thing.  Then again there was another programme where the experts were saying that you should replace all your underwear at least once every 6 months.  Hmmm.  I did wonder if they actually were employed by M&S or similar.

OK - so I do shower regularly and wash my clothes when they need washing but not after every single time they get worn as one very particular friend of mine does.  (well actually her husband does it for her).  I'd agree with knickers but jeans??  Jumpers that are worn on top of a couple of other items??  No - waste of time (& the rest)

And a side bar to this.....cleaning one's house.  Again - I'd love to hire someone to do this.  But it's not going to be in the budget any time soon so I'll keep slugging away.  But my brother was told off by neighbours years back for clearing the cobwebs in the house he took on - particularly those around the windows and doors.  Not only was it cruel to the spiders but it meant there was less pest control for flies and mosquitoes.  See - everyone has a different opinion.

strawb_shortcake

My iron has been used more  for Hama beads than clothes. It only gets used for its original purpose on special occasions or when something is badly creased. 

Over the pandemic I hav eked out my clothes a little longer than when I left the  house daily. The teenagers can't get away with it so easily as the adults in the house though.

kippers

annabanana82 said:

My iron has been used more  for Hama beads than clothes

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

MovingForwards

My OH doesn't separate colours before doing the washing, as we don't own enough 'whites' to justify it. Clothes are hung up to dry and creases drop out.

We own an iron, no ironing board and I've not used one for about 30 years, can't say I've ever seen OH use it in all the time we've been together. 

We do pair socks up as we have numerous different ones. I guess we could start wearing odd socks 🤔

OH cooks from scratch, no ready meals or microwave in our home. I also grow fruit and veg.

Provided we are happy, why should anyone care what we do.

Bogof_OAP

I swear by colour catcher sheets, which I cut in half and put a half in every mixed wash load, especially new things that I'm not sure about the chance of the dye running.  Often don't have enough lights/darks at a time to merit a load otherwise.

Savvy_Sue

Bogof_OAP said:

I swear by colour catcher sheets, which I cut in half and put a half in every mixed wash load, especially new things that I'm not sure about the chance of the dye running.  Often don't have enough lights/darks at a time to merit a load otherwise.

Now there's an idea! I usually use them twice ... 

Gave up ironing so long ago that when DS1 went to nursery and saw a toy iron, he thought it was a boat. I explained I wouldn't iron while he was around because I didn't want to risk an accident ... he wasn't fond of the noise of vacuum cleaners either, mind you! 

I would still want to pair socks, even if I only had one colour, because they do all end up slightly different / wearing unevenly etc. But my tip is to have lots of very different socks: I've knitted some of mine which are obviously very distinctive, but all my other pairs are quite different too. 

sillyvixen

I chuck all clothes into the machine together (unless I am washing a new item that may discolour lighter items - in which case the lighter clothes will wait in the washing basket for the next wash) i have very few light coloured clothes. I use my iron on Christmas Eve for the table cloth, again the only time I use a table cloth as the table is easier to wipe up food spills than wash a piece of fabric!

Hubby irons his work shirts when he is in the office, but working from home 2-3 days a week has cut down as the creases don't show on online meetings.

When my mum died, my dad had loads of household questions about the things my mum did that he never had done, things like washing and ironing featured strongly. He was questioning why she separated washing and he didn't know how to iron but hadn't needed to do while he was caring for mum and the creases fell out naturally. I told dad not to worry about ironing unless he had a posh event and I would do it for him, I also advised him to separate washing if he buys new jeans or something dark or coloured for the first wash . I did iron his shirt for mum's funeral service. 2 years later he called on my services again as he had been invited to a royal garden party and needed his good shirt ironed correctly (no way would I let him turn up in an unironed shirt) I ironed his shirt and he met the queen! That was the last time I ironed clothing over 3 years ago!!

Ironing 2 shirts in 6 years is hardly a rod for my own back.

Kim_kim

I live alone, I separate whites from colours/darks.  I often separate colours & darks too.  

All my towels & bedding is white, so with that I have plenty of whites.  

olgadapolga

The most pointless traditional thing to do, in my opinion, is sending Christmas cards. Why send them to people you never see? Why only get in touch with people once a year? To let them know that you're still alive? To ensure that you get s card back? Total waste of time and money, bad for the environment and the cards only end up binned (recycling or otherwise) anyway. Far better to ring or email more frequently.