From: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Things you do to save time
Date: 28 Jan 1993 15:37:53 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu
Originator: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu


I'm surprised to realize that a lot of people waste time on chores that are
entirely unnecessary. So, here's my entry into ways to save time at home:

Don't sort laundry. Keep each individual's clothes together, empty the
pockets, and wash in cold water. (Obviously baby whites and diapers
get hot water and must be kept separate, so they have a separate
hamper.) Purples and reds cannot be trusted in warm water, and must be
washed only with darks at first, so sometimes sorting into two loads, a
dark and a light, is worth the trouble, but my mother's complex system
of sorting everything into eight different piles is unnecessary.
(You can pretend that you're washing in cold water for environmental
reasons.:-) 

Never iron anything. If you hang it up right out of the dryer, it
won't need ironing, even if it's cotton or silk, unless it's a
defective garment, in which case it gets removed from circulation.
(Note that a dryer that's too hot may wrinkle clothes, and so will
leaving clothes in the dryer without turning. If the dryer stops and 
you can't deal with the clothes for a while, turn it on to the "air" 
setting.)

Never fold clothes. Hanging on hangers takes less skill and less time,
and results in fewer wrinkles. Socks, underwear, and sweatpants don't
need to be folded, anyway, if you have drawers to hide them in instead
of shelves to display them on.

Breastfeed your baby instead of using formula so that there are no
stains to worry about--especially useful if your child spits up all
the time, as mine did up to about 8 months of age. (Not a very useful
hint, I know, as the decision to breastfeed or not is based on other
factors, but it is a time-saver nonetheless.)

Never dryclean silks or rayons. Throw them in the washer and the dryer
on permanent press. They come out fine, and don't need ironing this
way. When buying, avoid garments that don't look like they'll stand up
to this--but most clothes labeled "dry clean only" will stand up to
this just fine. If not, well, I wasn't destined to wear that garment,
anyway. (Suit jackets must be drycleaned, but they need it much less
frequently than blouses and dresses do.) Dry cleaning is
environmentally unsound, anyway, and effectively doubles the cost of a
garment. The money you save will more than make up for the occasional
failure. (Warning: apartment complex dryers are vicious and ruin
clothes, unlike the home sort of dryer.) 

All dirty dishes go right into the sink and have water run into them
immediately. Basic rule of homebrewed beer: As soon as a beer bottle
is emptied, before a sip is taken from the glass, the bottle must be
filled with water so nothing can ever dry on the inside, making
clean-up a chore.

And then of course, most shopping undertaken for reasons other than 
baby-amusement (how did I ever get a child who loves to shop?) can
be done by catalog.

Paula Burch
pburch@bcm.tmc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids