Laundry 101 class needed in all schools

[jaytag]

Ok, so this is my pet peave, due to the amount of washers that I take in and clean up/ fix and sell. Two most common issues. 1. People use way to much fabric softner. It turns to wax and clogs and is hell to clean. I had a lid switch fall apart on a 3 yr old KA. Picked up a Kenmore and the lady was putting it in the bleach dispenser. Oh LORD.
2. When selling, people call back because they say the unit is off balance. I go out and OMG they cram it full of clothes with no room for wash action and yes it does throw off balance its not my fault they overload. There should be a line that says no clothes over this line. LOL.

 

[rayjay]

I agree with you. I think some of this problem is due to the manufacturer also. WHen Sears first came out with the HE machines, they claim you can wash 22 towels. Now this is ridiculous. If you towels are papr thin, maybe, but on the average a good size towel and thickness is what matters. They should say no clothes above this line.

 

[whirlcool]

And just lately for some reason for a variety of things, I have been hearing this excuse " Oh, it's OK, I didn't know any better".

What gives with THAT? They let themselves off the hook for being too lazy to find out information about what they are supposed to be doing". My usual response is "It's NOT OK that you don't know any better, why didn't you take the time to find out or educate yourself!"

Here is an example. We had a dog at the shelter that had heartworms. We treated him and later adopted him out to a family that looked pretty good. We gave them lots of information about heartworm disease and how to prevent it. We even gave them a pack of Heartgard to take home with them. One year later the dog comes back with heartworms AGAIN! Did they use the heartworm preventative? All I got was "Oh, it's OK, I didn't know any better"

See what I mean?

 

[westie2]

My brother and two sisters and I were all tought how to sort clothes out and wash in the wringer washer. I was the last child at home in 1964 when my folks bought a washer and dryer (Maytag A700 washer and matching dryer). About 8 months later mother got sick and was in the hospital and gave dad some night gowns to take home and wash. Well to say the least he nor I could get the automatic washer to work. Had to call one of my aunts and she came to the house and showed both of us how to twist the dail and pull the knob. She wrote down the instructions for us so we could wash while mother was getting better.

My wife on the other hand had never washed clothes when we got married. Her mother had always done it and folded and ironed eveything. It was a learning experience for her not only from me but my mother and aunts. At first we used our folks (my parents Maytag set) or her parents (Frigidaire Rapid Dry Imperial set) then we got a BOL AMP 1956 Maytag with timed fill when the first baby came. Used cloth diapers so washed every day. Had to show my wife how to fold them. We had cloth diapers for all our kids and I did most of the presoaking and washing of them. She still says I did better at it than she ever did. I still do almost all our laundry.

 

[paulc]

I am constantly astounded at the state of my neighbours washing when they hang it out on the line!! They obviously chuck everything in the one load.

I had a friend round the other night, he wanted to borrow a shirt for going out, he asked why all my clothes looked new and his were knackered after one wash......need I say more!!

Laundry lessons for all is what I say!!!

 

[westie2]

Laundry 101 Calss

From my above post we started at age 12 all our children to doing their own clothes. Showed how to sort, wash, dry, fold and put away. Of course there were days that one would come up and say. I have nothing to wear!!!!!!!!!!! I would go through their dirty clothes and pick out the cleanest and spray with room spray (this was pre Frebreze) and run in the dryer. After the school day was over and homework done they could not do anything until their laundry was done.

I guess some folks think it was too hard on kids but at least they know how to do laundry and keep house and cook. My wife and I both worked and with children over a 14 year span (1967 to 1981)had to get them involved. They are doing the same with their children.

 

[polkanut]

This thread applies to my 2 sisters also. Very little sorting, pre-treating etc. They also comment on how my whites look so nice and theirs look so dingy. I've told them and showed them how to properly use bluing for whites and the benefits of line drying, but they can't be bothered with such tedious tasks. They cram their washers and dryers full and use the highest temp setting, "so it won't take so long".

 

[neptunebob]

My niece goes to the University of Dayton and when she first came there they had a representative from Maytag do a class on how to use the laundry machines. This was one reason why when she was trying to decide where to go to college, I pushed Dayton.

Maybe I should suggest a laundry class for the new high school we are going to build but by the time they build it, won't it all be Whirlpool Duets and no agitator machines?

 

[butch-innj]

LIFE LESSONS

YES !
EVERYONE that goes to school should be taught things they need to know to get along in life after school.

1. The proper way to write a check.
2. How to cook a meal and read a recipe.
3. How to clean a house
4. How to do laundry
5. How to put out a fire
6. How and where to shop
7. How to balance a checkbook
8. Home remedies and what to do when you get a cut or a boo-boo and when you should go to the doctor or ER. Not every cut or boo-boo is worthy of an ER visit.

I'm sure I'm missing some here.
What really drives me insane is the penmanship and spelling ability (or lack of) that kids in school posses today.
2 days ago a college kid handed me a paper (no I'm not a teacher) that I could barely read but did make out that he spelled the word 40 as ...fourtey.
This guy is in his 2nd year of college !
He told me it was ok, when he was ready to type the paper up on the computer he'd use spell check. Spelling wasn't a concern.
I wanted to put him over my knee !!!

When I was in school, penmanship was a BIG issue.
One of my teachers said to us....why bother to do your homework if I can't read it when you turn it in?

I guess because everything is done on computers today that penmanship isn't much worried about either.
I ask....what if your computer breaks down and you have an assignment due tomorrow?

How about if your calculator breaks down while your doing your math assignment tonight?

And to think....one of these kids that are in school today will someday be President of the USA.

 

[maytagbear]

Great idea,

but try to get it past the curriculum committee of your local school board!

This is a pet peeve of mine, a big one. My mother taught Home Economics for over 30 years. In the 70s, Home Ec was viewed as irrelevant and anti-feminist. Even with a name change, to "Family and Consumer Studies," it is still not as popular as it once was, and still struggles with the (extremely) outdated notion of just being "stirring and stitching."

A well-conducted Home Economics programme also includes: Family Life Cycle...from child development to elder care. Home financial management...credit, mortgages, taxes, budgeting. Other courses include World Food and Nutrition, Sports Nutrition, Career Options......

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[ronhic]

Home Economics

...was something that I did at high school...

Our course elective was either 'Cooking', 'Sewing' or a combined course....cooking for me thanks. There was at least a 40% representation of males in the classes AND some of the males were more 'hard core' too....(think footballers) who were doing metalwork or woodwork on one line and cooking on another...

Now back to the laundry...

My mother started work part-time when I was in 2nd grade and went back full-time when I was in 5th grade (10-11yrs). From the age of 9, my sister and I were expected to take the laundry off the line and fold it before we did anything else. If it was winter and still a tad damp, we had to hang it on an airer.

And then the lessons started.

- How to sort
- How to load the machine
- How much powder to use
- Which cycle and WHY
- and how to hang things up to minimise any creasing (and ironing)

Both my sister and I are better at doing washing than any of our friends and I have had compliments even in this day and age about how white my sheets are (and that's without bleach)....People ask 'How do you get them so white?' Simple...I reply 'Hot water wash and a good detergent' They then baulk at using hot water....

I know cold water washing is cheaper, but I have never liked it and, to be honest, things eventually start looking a little grey

 

[mixergal]

When I was in school in the 80's...

Everyone HAD to take a home ec class - boys and girls. We learned basic cooking skills and basic sewing skills. We also all has to take woodshop. There we learned how to use basic tools, how to read a plan, and basic wood joinery. From there we had a class that I don't remember the name of, but it was sort of a "life lessons" class. We learned how to balance a checkbook, how to make and balance a budget, how to plan meals to make a shopping list to buy groceries. Again, boys and girls had to take all of these classes. There was a fourth class too - art. In art we learned basic material manipulation and got to experiment with a variety of mediums. This was all in Jr High. At the time Jr high was only 7th and 8th grades in our school district. The four classes were broken up into four semesters. So semester one half of the 7th grade class would be in art while the other was in the life lessons class, and in the middle of the school year we would switch. The same schedule happened in 8th grade - half of the year was spent in woodshop, half in home ec. It was a great system, and I learned a lot from them. When my hubby and I got married I was absolutely shocked that he had no experience writing out a shopping list or balancing a budget - he didn't even know how to balance a check book! I had assumed that all schools taught this stuff, and I was so surprised to find out it wasn't true.

I hope our schools still have this system - I think it was really useful!

But then again, is this really the responsibility of the schools? My mom also taught me how to balance a check book and how to budget. Money was tight, so we learned to be happy with what we had, and how to compromise. She taught me how to do laundry properly so I could get the most wear out of my clothes. My mom was not a great cook, but she taught me how to read a recipe and to respect the range/all of the household appliances. Again, we were very poor, so the understanding was we should be grateful for what we have, because it was not easy to come by; and if you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you.

I also learned the value of the thrift store

-Sherri

 

[j2400]

"I also learned the value of the thrift store "

A lesson that recently paid off, in the form of a KitchenAid dishwasher!

 

[j2400]

Ideally, I think people would learn skills at home. Although, there is the question of whether or not that will happen. An argument in favor of sex education in schools is that at least kids will learn something, while at home they may never learn anything. Basic skills like laundry, cooking, etc are probably easier for parents to talk about...but one is assuming that the parents have the needed skills...

But there is one problem with schools doing this--the graduation requirements (in my state, at least) are higher than they once were. It's become important to prepare for standardized testing. And then, for those on the college track, the classes needed for entry into even a modest college makes the load even worse. Unfortunately, something has to give...

 

[autowasherfreak]

I had home-ec in high school, but they never taught us how to do laundry. There was a nice Maytag set there that was used for washing towels, dish cloths and other school realted stuff.

I learned to do laundry by watching my mother and reading the instruction manual from our first automatic washer. I was using a laundromat that was a few blocks from a college, and it was fun to watch the guys trying to do their laundry. I helped a group of about 3 or 4 one afternoon. They were going to washing everything without sorting. They went across the road to McDonald's once everthing was washing, even brought me back a cheeseburger and fries

 

[ronhic]

It is one thing to suggest that parents should be doing it, and I agree that they should, but the reality is that many of them don't.

In an age when we some of us complain about a machine that takes 'an hour' to do the laundry is too long (even though it hold more = less loads), people are crying 'time poor' at every stage.

People state 'I don't have time' at almost every opportunity, but the reality is, parents have an obligation to the children to teach them some of the 'adult-hood' basics as mentioned above and it ultimately shouldn't fall to the school system to do it for them.

As for the work load at college being high, it is no doubt about it, but it would be interesting to see what it would do for the student population if there was a compulsory 10xhourly course run weekly on basics such as:

- Cheque book balancing for beginners
- 'How to work within your student budget...and still have fun'
- Laundry room basics including 'How to shift that stain!'
- 'Food for thought' How to cook simple, inexpensive and balanced meals to help you power through the days.

In the first few months of college life, students are finding their feet, meeting new people etc...this is the perfect opportunity to run a course such as this before the workload does get astronomical and the stress levels too high

 

[mrb627]

Clothes Hamper

Someone I know uses the washer like the dishwasher. When it gets full, add soap and start it. Yuk!

MRB

 

[ronhic]

eeewwwwww

 

[jamman_98]

I'm sorry but...

Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we are not allowed to teach "Life Skills" anymore because we are standards driven and bubble tested to death. English and Math replace all those courses we used to take like Home Economics, etc. The pressure to make Adequate Yearly Progress with the goal of 100% of all students being "Advanced" by 2015 takes precident. In addition to budget cuts for the Arts, Music and fluff courses, school districts have eliminated these programs and school libraries as well. After 21 years in education, you get tired of being beat down by politicians who have no clue what a real education is.

{Steps down from soap box}
Joe
Jamman_98
High School Librarian