Argh!

For the past 7 months, in particular, I have been trying to get into some mangeable household routines. I've done pretty good in some areas---I make my bed most mornings---and some areas are still a bit of an issue. One place where I've made improvements (progress; not perfection) is laundry. She's not called Messy Meg for no reason!

Two summers ago Rob re-vamped the laundry 'room' while I wasn't home. I put in my input, but he said it wasn't do-able. I think if I had had the chance to study the area before he started anything it could have been improved. A much bigger project involving plumbing, LOL, but the result would have been 'why wasn't it like that in the beginning?'

Here's my set-up. Washer on the right, dryer on the left. It used to be a closet, but when it was converted, they didn't think through the clearances needed for the shut-off taps (on the floor, behind the washer), the drain (not high enough to clear the washer, where it goes through the wall), and the exhaust. So, the machines stick out from the back and sides quite a bit. Big black holes where things drop, missing for months....above the washing machine is a rod. I wanted it lower but Rob said it'd be too close to the controls. I can barely reach it. On the left is a cupboard. I wanted it lower, but then there'd be nothing to attach the rod to. I used the top of the washer/dryer to fold the laundry. It's a top loader, so laundry has to get put away to do more. Except.....Rob won't put his away. His dresser is a mess and it can't fit more clothes in (his sock/underwear drawer looks more like a workbench drawer). He leaves his pile on the dryer, and there is always clothes hanging on the rod (I can't reach his rod in the closet either).

So...today, I'm doing a load of whites, including some towels and dishcloths. I thought perhaps it's time to brighten them up a little with a splush of bleach.

A brand new dishcloth and an old one in the SAME yarn!!!

I rarely use bleach. I had put a few things in the machine, and the water was filling in, so I carefully aimed the bleach for where the water fills in as there were no items there. The bleach hit the stream of water and splashed. Uh huh, onto Rob's pile of clothes, onto the cuffs and hems of items hanging from the rod....Of course, it wasn't a light coloured load that had just been folded. It was navy (I say black) shorts and dark moss green shorts, his two best pairs;

a nice brown t-shirt with red trim we bought for Father's Day, moss green pants, his best, most expensive light blue plaid dress shirt, even a few specks on a brown shirt of mine.

The black shorts I will just re-die black; I do that every so often with his black jeans. The green pants and blue shirt....it's on the sleeve cuff where it buttons and the leg cuff and not too noticeable. The mossy green shorts....I got them into some cold water quickly, so instead of distinct spots, there is a slightly discoloured area on the front thigh. It might re-dye. The brown t-shirt (my brown shirt is barely noticeable)....it looks like he got splattered with bleach. Not a lot, but on the front. I can re-dye it...but the trim is all red. And, given my past experience with trying to dye brown....

I haven't taken the load out yet....but it better be BRIGHT WHITE!!!