It's not easy to keep things clean when you're busy keeping track of two active little boys. Supermom Megan Stortz shares some of the more interesting, and sometime scary, non-laundry items that have made it through the washer and dryer in her home.
A list of laundry surprises
All in a day's work
When asked to share her strange tales from the laundry room, Megan was quick to recount a particular sticker story.
"One of my favorite laundry-related stories is when my oldest son went through a sticker phase. When my littlest was a newborn, his older brother would put stickers on everything. I can't count how many times I left the house with stickers all over my back. His love of surprise stickering resulted in many washed stickers that would inevitably melt into clothes in the dryer. In fact, one of my favorite shirts now has permanent Clifford stickers on the buttons. One of his shirts was thrown into the hamper inside out, which resulted in my putting it through the washer and dryer before realizing it was completely covered with probably 100 or more stickers that melted into one giant sticker ball. I had to throw that shirt away."
Here's Megan's list of other random objects she has found in the washer:
- Giant live spider
- Crayons
- Sidewalk chalk
- Hot Wheels
- Screwdrivers
- Jump drives
- Business cards
- Rocks
- Acorns
- Birdseed
- Sticks
- Seashells
Megan says, "I need to start checking pockets, but since I'm usually changing laundry while trying to keep my youngest from climbing in the dryer, I tend to shake and throw."
Laundry tips for busy moms
If you get to a point where, like Megan, you find yourself throwing out clothes due to sticky stowaways, here are four quick tips that may help save you a few bucks in the future.
- Pull out all pockets during the sorting process. This will help you to discover your kids' treasures before putting them through the spin cycle.
- Clip pairs of socks together before you wash to save yourself from having to find matches during the folding process and to keep the lost-sock total to a minimum.
- Take your clothes out of the dryer as soon as they are done, to eliminate the need to iron .
- Use a mesh bag to wash delicates and avoid the need to hand wash completely!
More real mom laundry stories
Better with bleach: 3 Generations of moms share their stories
Real-life laundry: What's that smell?
Real-life laundry: Conquering drool