It's in the bag

We've been married for 43 years in December, and for most of that time, Peggy did the laundry, but by dint of some clever maneuvering, I managed to wrest away that chore from her, and now I get to do it all the time.  

I love everything about doing the wash. The very idea of taking some dirty clothes and putting them into a machine, opening the water valve, tossing in some liquid soap and pushing a button, and then coming back in exactly 35 minutes to find clothes with all the dust and dirt agitated out, and then tossing the whole wet soggy pile into the machine next door for drying (40 minutes) appeals to me terrifically.  I like it when things are supposed to take an exact amount of time and then they do it.  The washing machine never says, "Oh I need five more minutes more to get this iced-tea stain out of your polo shirt!" and the dryer does not come up with pallid excuses for still-damp handtowels.

And my little laundry secrets - using blue Dawn as a presoak for tough stains, tossing in a capful of Pine Sol to give the whole wash that piney outdoorsy scent - I got from friends online.  And so did the solution to the only problem the laundry ever gave me.

Socks were the bane of my laundry.  I wear socks and Peggy wears socks and somehow, between the two of us, we can go through 6 or 8 pairs of socks in 2 or 3 days.   And you know what happens when you put that many socks in with a pile of kitchen dishtowels, hoodies, cargo shorts, t-shirts, and undies...you get a pile of dry laundry that smells just ever so of the woods, and mismatched socks

I fought it for years.  I would have to trudge back to the machines to find the missing pink sock for Peggy or the one with the A for Alabama (mine) lying there all forlorn and missing its partner. Sometimes, the elusive sock was in the sleeve of a sweatshirt or the pocket of Peggy's robe or who knows where else?  Then, valuable time is lost while I unfold all the folded clothing and look for one stupid sock.

There's the answer up above! Sock Sacks! Got 'em from IKEA. One for Peggy's socks, one for mine...just put in your socks, zip up the sacks, and run them through the cycles.  When you're putting away the dry clothes, just take the socks out and pair them up like lettuce and tomato, or brown and serve. 

I tell you, if I had figured this out years ago, I would have saved enough time that tomorrow would be today already!