# I hate it when I leave paper in my pockets when doing laundry! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692 "2013-01-10T00:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/1 "2013-01-10T00:59:00Z")
Grrr! Last week it was my pay stub. Evidently, the ADP pay stub paper has been designed to completely self destruct in a washing machine. I mean, it got everywhere! There was absolutely nothing left except for tiny, tiny pieces stuck to all my clothing. Thankfully the dryer got all the residue off. Well, it happened again, tonight. I went out and bought a new fleece shirt to wear tomorrow. After that, I went to get dinner and stuffed some extra napkins in my pocket to keep in my car. You guessed it, I washed the new fleece shirt with the outer shirt and t-shirt I was wearing, forgetting that I had those napkins stuffed into the pocket of my outer shirt. Now my new fleece shirt is literally covered with paper pulp. I ran it through the dryer for a bit with no improvement. So now I guess I’ll have to rewash it. Grrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/2 "2013-01-10T01:42:59Z")
Could have been worse. On more than one occasion, I’ve discovered a former Chapstick in DH’s pocket. While pulling the clothing in question out of the dryer. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/3 "2013-01-10T02:08:23Z")
I don’t do this often, but I sometimes leave kleenex in my pocket when my pants go in the wash. Then I get bits of kleenex everywhere. It drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/4 "2013-01-10T09:53:23Z")
For a REAL mess, try washing a disposable nappy ( not used ) in a washing machine with your clothes! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/5 "2013-01-10T13:28:39Z")
Ugh. Napkins and tissues are horrible to get rid of once they’ve been washed. I can’t even imagine what a diaper will do. :eek: I’m envisioning a mess of “just throw everything away” magnitude. At least it was a pay \*stub \*and not a pay _check_. Been there, done that, endured the six weeks while the payroll people put a hard stop on the check and waited to be sure nobody tried to cash it. Over the years, I’ve probably washed and destroyed $300 worth of BART (commuter train) tickets. They’re on thin plastic now, but they used to be paper, and it was always sickening to open the washing machine and find a little wad of blue and white paper that an hour ago, was a pass worth $45. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/6 "2013-01-10T13:54:52Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I don’t do this often, but I sometimes leave kleenex in my pocket when my pants go in the wash. Then I get bits of kleenex everywhere. It drives me nuts. What I find really bizarre is that often the kleenex left in the pants end up getting washed and NOT shredded, completely dry after the dryer – it comes out whole, entirely cleaned, and untorn. Very weird, and it’s happened more than once. Last fall, MilliCal made a manequin for Halloween by stuffing clothes with newspapers. When she brought the clothes in to be washed, she didn’t take all the newspaper out of them. we ended up with several sheets of cleaned and dried (but un-torn) newspaper in our wash. On the other hand, I once left an address book in my pocket, and it was destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/7 "2013-01-10T14:16:56Z")
It is a time-honored tradition for the one doing the laundry (that would be me) to go through everyone’s pockets when sorting and pre-spot treating the laundry. I like doing it and keep hoping to find some incriminating stuff. Or a fancy piece of electronics. Or a dollar bill. Or even just a sweet, really. I see it as mommy’s little reward for doing laundry. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/8 "2013-01-10T14:22:59Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Or a dollar bill. Fortunately the US dollar bills are actually made of a cloth and wash up pretty good. I once left a tube of sticky Form-A-Gasket in some coveralls. Went through the washer OK, but split open in the dryer. Did I mention that the dryer was less than a week old? The stuff stuck to the dryer, not to mention all the other clothing in the dryer, and I spent many hours trying to scrap it off or use harsh chemicals to get rid of it. Many years later, you still can see some of the dried-up Form-a-Gasket. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/9 "2013-01-10T17:31:25Z")
I’ve never left a tube of Form-a-Gasket in the laundry, but I have found out that SOMEONE (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent) has left a crayon in her pocket. Or at least I guess it was a crayon. I found…residue…in the dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/10 "2013-01-10T22:25:38Z")
Too late to save you from rewashing that item yesterday, but next time put on a rubber glove and wipe your hand across the material to pick up the pieces. It’ll get most of them, even out of fleece; it’s tedious but there’s far less to redeposit if you do have to wash it again. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-i-leave-paper-in-my-pockets-when-doing-laundry/646692/11 "2013-01-10T22:45:08Z")
Yeah, Chapstick is the worst. The whole load is pretty much shot if it melts in the dryer. And iPod Nanos are tougher than they look. Fortunately.