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Why I Love Laundry
What is your favorite household task?
As I folded cloth napkins and soft bath towels last night, I thought about how laundry has always been my favorite household task, except for maybe in preschool when I got to use a kid-sized carpet sweeper when we’d clean up toward the end of class.
The carpet sweeper made a satisfying but muted noise as its wheels rolled back and forth and its brushes swept over the thin carpet at school. Thinking back on this memory, I wonder if I should buy an adult-sized carpet sweeper now as it seems much more pleasant than the noisy vacuum cleaner.
When we had thickly braided rag rugs on top of hardwood floors at home when I was little, I remember my mom using a carpet sweeper, too. Later on we had wall to wall carpet, and a vacuum took over. Sometimes I think how nice it would be to learn to make rugs like those, but let me stop myself here before I follow another tangent.
If I had to choose an all-time favorite household task, laundry would definitely be it. Laundry is such a constant for me. I remember helping to match socks as a little girl, then folding washcloths. We used to fold and then roll the bath towels and stack them like logs on shelf above the hot water heater in the bathroom.
I still find comfort in the warmth of laundry. Though I air-dry many items on my drying rack or on hangers lined up along the shower curtain rod, I do use the dryer somewhat and love the feeling of warm clothes. It relaxes my hands as I fold them.
On warm days, I move the drying rack outside, and then I enjoy folding the clothes at the end of the day when they feel slightly crisp. They carry such a lovely smell then, like the fresh air and sunshine has gotten into the fibers of my cotton t-shirts.
I also like when I can do laundry for someone else. I do my girlfriend’s laundry regularly now that we live together, and in the past, I liked to help her out by doing a load or two when she left for work and as I waited out the traffic to drive home.
When my dad was hospitalized for a few weeks before and after his heart surgery, I did his laundry and took him fresh clothes. I think laundry is close to food when it comes to ways that we can care for our loved ones and offer a true comfort of home.
And what’s better for self-care, as well as caring for others, than washing all the sheets and pillowcases to prepare a cozy bed for the end of the day — or whenever we might need a rest? I had the pleasure of washing my flannel sheets just this morning and will put them on later today.
Do you have a favorite household task? Are there aspects of cleaning that make you feel good? Do you enjoy organizing your closets, dressers, desk drawers, and more? Is cooking a way that you celebrate the everyday pleasures and connections of life?
Your friends at The DIY Diaries would love to publish your reflections on what you most like to do at home, and why. The format is open: your piece can be meditative, practical, how-to, or anything in between.
Let’s recognize some of the many things we do in our daily lives to make ourselves, our loved ones, and our homes more comfortable on a regular basis. I specifically didn’t say “chores” here because I wanted to think of our activities in a more upbeat kind of way — and maybe because I want to be convinced that cleaning the bathroom can feel like something more inspiring than a chore…
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Thanks as ever for your time in reading this,
