It Will All Come Out In The Wash

One madly busy Friday with administration jobs, domestic tasks, Holiday Club Prep, an afternoon in school, going to Sainsbury's, arranging the church flowers, and various deliveries arriving. I feel as if I have been on a crazy carousel, switching from one task to another at lightning speed. Fortunately all that needed to be done has been done.

Chief among the deliveries was The New Washing Machine. Bob has plumbed this in, and it is currently on load Number 4!

It is an LG F1256QD – with a 7kg washload, and a direct drive motor [which comes with a 10 year warranty] We were advised that this was a good model by our neighbour, who used to work in washing machine retail. And he should know!

It’s amazingly quiet [that’s the dd motor bit] and has all sorts of useful features.

And it fits exactly into the gap under the worktop.

Last week, Bob checked this out online, and we also went and had a look [and a poke] at the machines in Currys. We saw this model, and agreed it was what we wanted – but then told the assistant that Currys were charging £100 more than ‘Boots Online’ [I never even knew Boots sold kitchen appliances till last week] She said** that they couldn’t compete with that price. So we ordered from Boots. Mind you, I have checked again tonight, and the Boots price has gone up £50 since Monday!

Whilst on the subject of laundry, I must make mention of ‘in-wash stain removers’. First we had to think pink, forget stains! Somehow the people at Vanish made us believe we needed to add a scoop of their stuff to every wash. Then they started telling us we needed Vanish Extra Hygiene, because the washing at lower temperatures [a ‘green, energy-saving habit’] might not kill off all the bacteria.

All well and good, but look at the prices – here is 500g of the Vanish Extra – costing around £4.50 – and Sainsbury's own stain remover [without the germicidal properties] much cheaper at £2.49

But hold on…there is a still thriftier product in the baby section…

Back in the early 80’s, when I had children in terry nappies, I got through loads of this stuff.

It’s virtually identical in content to Vanish E.H.

And it costs £2.34 – almost half the price. Once decanted into a screwtop plastic tub, for convenience, it is ready for action. I do feel this one is a thrift tip worth passing on.

I do try not to overuse detergent, and have always avoided biological powders [One of my babies actually ended up in hospital, having had an extremely violent reaction to wearing a top which a friend had washed for me in a bio powder] I tend to use tablets for convenience – but instead of two tabs per wash, I get on fine with 1½. I buy Aldi or Lidl own brand. Most of my washing comes up fine on the quick/low-temp cycle, and I only add stain remover if stuff is stained [obvious, I know, but those pink women use it all the time]

I don’t really trust the eco wash balls [I notice that Lakeland no longer sell them] I admit I am not properly green in this respect.

And I don’t use fabric conditioner. Ever. What’s the point?

**The assistant in Currys also told us that the ‘Medic Rinse’ programme on the LG machine was a facility for maintenance – every so often run the machine empty on this programme and it cleans it out. That was totally incorrect- ‘Medic rinse’ is an extra rinse programme, to ensure all detergent residues are removed, for people with sensitive skin.