July 11, 2025

I Think I Went Semi-Viral on Threads About, Of All Things, Laundry

 Well, I guess I should correct that to "semi-viral for ME."  Below is verbatim what I posted...

Just put the husband's wallet through the wash.  He asked me if I checked the pockets.
I reminded him, again, that I do not.
That it is my belief that emptying pockets is the responsibility of the person
who was wearing the pockets.

As of right now there are 3.7k likes and 363 responses!!  Oops, now up to 397.

The majority of the responses are in agreement.  Of course, there are a few that are not in agreement (people saying things like, that is part of doing laundry (no, it is NOT), or that we should do these little kindnesses for our loved ones (believe me, I do.  And doing his laundry IS a kindness) or mentioning children and crayons - yes, I agree when mine was small I DID check his pockets...) but in my mind a grown adult needs to be responsible for their own things.

It goes without saying that any cash that comes through the laundry is MINE; it's called a laundry tax.  Luckily for my husband, he rarely has cash on hand.

By far, the GREATEST response I've had so far was from @feycrafter_guildmistress,

"With great pockets comes great responsibility.  
SIR are you aware most clothes for women
don't have this luxury?!  RUDE."

So what say you, my fellow doers of laundry.  Who is responsible for checking the pockets?  

20 comments:

  1. The wearer is responsible. I have washed my own wallet by mistake, and once my cell phone. Everybody makes mistakes now and then.

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    1. I knew you'd agree with me. And yes, we are human - mistakes happen.

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  2. In our home the wearer and the washer are both responsible for checking the pockets. We know we can both be absent-minded so we have established this protocol. Sadly we still miss things in our pockets and wash them.

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    1. I have a strong feeling that after this he will be more vigilant about his pockets. Thankfully, we caught it before the wallet went through the dryer - I think it would have been a much bigger deal then.

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  3. I don't do my husband's laundry, so I think that you are doing him a huge kindness! But yes, agree, with great pockets come great responsibility! I love that commenter! I don't actually remember if the kids had much in their pockets when they were little. Maybe the occasional rock?

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    1. That commenter made my day! And yes, he knows that I'm doing him a kindness by doing his laundry so he wasn't terribly upset. But based on some of the comments from that post (which may mean I will never post anything again), I am a horrible human being and that I did it on purpose. Sigh, some people are terrible.

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  4. I never check pockets and my husband gets so frustrated. Here's the situation, he does his own laundry and is responsible for checking his own pockets. And I almost never leave things in my pockets so even though I don't check them before tossing them in the washer, it usually works out. Our son is the wild card. I do still wash his clothes and he's not great about checking his pockets, so sometimes a Kleenex or rock goes through the load. I just deal with it and move on, but it irks my husband to no end. He thinks I should check all the pockets and I say life is too short for that nonsense.

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    1. Thank you! Life IS too short for that nonsense.

      Delete
  5. That is so funny that your laundry comment is getting noticed. People are passionate about these things.

    I agree 100%. Check small children pockets. Adult males- on their own. Now tell me how to instill in teens the importance of having their wallet when they drive. This one is a mystery to me.

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    1. It's wild how passionate people are about this topic. I just posted it as a throw away and was gobsmacked by the attention. Let one of your teens get pulled over and not have their wallet; that will instill the importance in them, I would think.

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  6. I love the "with great pockets comes great responsibility"! I definitely think it's on the wearer, and even children can be trained, once they're old enough. My mother used to call my brother down from the third floor to the laundry room in the basement to turn a shirt inside out (her pet peeve, he put them in the hamper all tangled), let him get back upstairs, then called him down for the next one. He learned not to do it!

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    1. That comment has to be the single greatest comment I have ever witnessed. Yes, if even children can be taught to empty their pockets, so can grown adult men.

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  7. I can't believe that some people took you to task for this. They must be tradwives and men. My sons started doing their own laundry at age 8. My husband does his own laundry. I do my own and the house linens. It's really not that big of a deal.

    The pocket comment is stellar. (And my daughters-in-law/love are thrilled that my sons are Laundry Literate.)

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    1. Oh Nance, you should have SEEN some of those comments; yes, mainly from men. Telling me he should divorce me, that I'm a bitch, etc. Unbelievable what people feel emboldened to say to a stranger who just posted a throw away comment.

      That pocket comment made the whole experience worth it.

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  8. Good for you I say! I don't empty pockets either "I ain't your mother" . My mother would go through the pockets - and keep what she found. That solved that right away.

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    1. Oh, any cash/valuables are mine - that goes without saying (it's called a laundry tax). Unfortunately, my husband never carries cash so the most I usually collect is a quarter.

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  9. Ditto everything Elisabeth said, except switch "son" for "daughter" and "Kleenex" for "dog food." I don't utilize pockets very often, so I don't think to check them. Love that this struck such a chord with the Threads community!

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    1. This went wild on Threads; honestly, I was shocked.

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  10. This is hilarious! Yes, the owner of the pockets (an adult) is in charge of emptying the pockets.
    That being said, I've made quite a bit of my income on Laundry Tax as my husband always has cash on hand.

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    Replies
    1. Sadly, my husband rarely carries cash, so my Laundry Tax income is almost nil.

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