why didn't mother use lux?

You know, I'm actually not very good about some aspects of laundry. I loathe handwashing. To my mind it doesn't get clothes very clean and it requires that I get my hands wet, something I dislike intensely. I could go and get the kitchen gloves, kept for those times when I really have to pull my finger out and do a load of washing up. Which perversely, I don't mind once the gloves are on and the dishes sorted and stacked neatly. Grace loves to stand on her little stool right in front of whoever's doing the dishes and swish her bare hands in the warm soapy water. Ugh. I love that she does this, it's not that awkward and she's good company chattering away, but half of me wants to tell her about dishpan hands and sensitive skin. And how working in hospitality will ruin your hands far quicker than gardening. And how you'll never be able to pip olives or handle tomatoes without wincing. Or enjoy handwashing. Not that I ever did. If the truth be told.

As a consequence, my jumpers don't last that well. Because I machine wash then. In cold water, on a gentle cycle and in a bag. But they still shrink and felt. And attract lint, because our washing machine, which we bought when the old one broke down, doesn't have a lint filter. I remember leaving Grace with my mum and going out to a second hand washing machine place with G. Somewhere near a big ravine. Because the first time the washing machine repair man visited, I was at home, probably about seven months pregnant with Grace and he talked to me about getting babies to sleep and how he didn't think our old machine had legs. He left a card for a place that sold cheap second hand washing machines. Just in case. So anyway, when the old machine carked it and we went to buy a new one, all I was thinking about was being able to do big, big loads of nappies and vomit covered clothes. Not about wearing black, going to work or about lint filters. So maybe now the time has come when I should think about one of those new fangled washers, you know the sort that have hand wash cycles and gently swoosh your clothes around.  Or I could keep some gloves in the laundry? Or just keep going the way I am?

p.s. Picture from one of my mums old knitting books.
p.p.s Next post is my 100th post about laundry. I feel I should celebrate, but how?