I hate my washing machine. I don’t like to do laundry–wait, I don’t mind doing laundry, and I like having clean clothes. I hate folding clothes. I’m a great go out for a walk and have an adventure mom. I’m not so hot on the domesticity.

Some hints, then, on better wash:

• always check ALL pockets for stuff: I just washed a good sized stick I’d neglected to find in my son’s pockets, and am forever pulling out crayons, rocks, weird sticky toys, etc, not to mention the inevitable tissue…
• Vinegar in the rinse cycle is a fine clothes softener
• hot water sets stains, so don’t do it! As soon as you can, put a pre-treater on the stain and let it soak in cold water, then add it to the wash
• Use bleach sparingly, as it does break down the fibres of your clothes. If you’ve got a kid like mine, your whites aren’t ever going to be white without a little help. Oxiclean or other oxygen-based cleaners do a great job
• don’t put wool sweaters in the washing machine. Just don’t. I wouldn’t recommend doing it with cotton sweaters either. Wash by hand, and lay flat to dry. Don’t wring them out, either. Lay the sweater flat on a towel, roll the sweater up in the towel, then walk on the rolled towel to force excess moisture from the sweater.
• Use a lingerie bag for your unmentionables. Hook your bras closed before washing them, as the hooks can snag on other fabrics and ruin them
• Zip all zippers before washing clothes. The zipper teeth can damage other fabrics in the wash

Your clothes will get more wear if you take a little time before you wash them.
Oh… and try this weird but reliable method to remove chocolate stains: soak the stain in milk, and then launder as usual.