# The chores you loathe, REALLY loathe. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854 "2011-04-10T09:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/61 "2011-04-13T15:57:43Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Cleaning dog and cat pee. > > The dog breaks housetraining all the time because she’s 15 and on a bunch of meds that make her drink & pee a lot. She got up twice last night, at about 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. respectively, just to pee on my bedroom floor. > > I must mop my floors 3-4 times a day. Pretty much every time I walk in the door, I have to spot-mop some place. And a few hours later, old dog has been wandering around and I’ve got to mop again. Yes, I take her out every two hours when I’m home. She still pees. > > I’m going to miss this dog, but I am not going to miss the pee cleaning. Have you looked at maybe diapers? I didn’t know such a thing existed but I was buying some of those puppy housetraining pads to use in lieu of litter in a litterbox for travel and I saw the doggie diapers. Oh, I guess the puppy pads might work, too, if she tends to go in the same place all the time? ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/62 "2011-04-13T16:26:11Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Have you looked at maybe diapers? I didn’t know such a thing existed but I was buying some of those puppy housetraining pads to use in lieu of litter in a litterbox for travel and I saw the doggie diapers. > > Oh, I guess the puppy pads might work, too, if she tends to go in the same place all the time? _sob_ Yes, indeed, I bought a whole pack of doggie diapers for my poor little girl. They function based on the idea that the dog has a tail to hold the damn diaper on. We’re talking about a Boston terrorist = no tail (just a little nub). No matter how tightly I put the diaper on her – uncomfortably tight – she’d take one step and the damn thing would slip right off her butt and trip her up. She’d look at me like, “Nice try, dumbass. You _know_ I don’t have a tail! I didn’t wanna wear that thing anyway.” It was pretty much comedy gold. I was eyeballing the puppy pads at the pet store the other day. Seems like just one more expense, but it might be a hell of a lot easier to drop a few down in her favorite spots. Might actually turn out to be a bigger pain the ass if she misses and gets half the pee on the pad and half on my hardwood floors. But I won’t know til I give that a shot. She’s also on some pills that are supposed to help with the peeing. They don’t appear to work and I’m afraid to jack up the dose anymore because it might mess up her liver function. Pee pads it is. If anyone has a 15-20-ish pound dog and wants a mostly full pack of dog diapers, PM me. I’ll send 'em to ya free. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/63 "2011-04-13T16:28:43Z")
I really hate moving the damp laundry from the washer to the dryer. I don’t know why it’s just icky. Why can’t we have a machine that washes the laundry and then just dries it. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/64 "2011-04-13T17:09:34Z")
> [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](#): > > In my \*How To Be Nursing Student \*book, it suggested that once or twice a week, right after you wash and the shower is still running, go over the walls and tub with a Magic Erasure. All done! OK, this one little tip made all the time I’ve wasted on the Dope today worth it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/65 "2011-04-13T17:11:46Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I really hate moving the damp laundry from the washer to the dryer. I don’t know why it’s just icky. Why can’t we have a machine that washes the laundry and then just dries it. There are machines like this! I can’t remember what they are called but they exist. Honest and for true. 🙂 > [@Dogzilla](#): > > I was eyeballing the puppy pads at the pet store the other day. Seems like just one more expense, but it might be a hell of a lot easier to drop a few down in her favorite spots. Might actually turn out to be a bigger pain the ass if she misses and gets half the pee on the pad and half on my hardwood floors. But I won’t know til I give that a shot. Good luck. I had a cat who kept having accidents and it drove me MAD. ---
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/66 "2011-04-13T17:26:12Z")
Cat Box. I have yet to find an efficient way to rebed it without getting pee or poo on me. Any dishwashing beyond a rinse and into the machine. We have a housekeeper that comes every other week and does a tremendous job on the floors, showers, sinks etc. Worth every penny and then some. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/67 "2011-04-13T19:31:07Z")
Yeah, I’ve got the cat-pee-puddle-under-the-litterbox problem too. I’m going with: cleaning up critter waste. Hate it. Hate it. Hate. it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/68 "2011-04-13T20:04:29Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > More frequently than I would like, our cats decide to pee off the edge of the litter pans instead of into them. Meaning that when I go to clean them the pans are sitting in a puddle of urine which I have to clean up as well as the pans themselves. The bats are driving me cats! > [@Maiira](#): > > My cats do that, but not with pee, thank god. I can handle cleaning poop off the floor–we just put newspaper down, and then replace any that’s been soiled–but if my cats started peeing on the floor, I think I’d cry.\ My cat hangs her butt over the edge and pees on the floor, too - I have also put down a couple of layers of newspaper because of her. Recently, I saw that she had managed to get her pee all around the hot water tank. Heavy, heavy sigh. I have three litter boxes for two cats, and she can’t keep her pee inside the boxes. I was thinking about this thread the other day as I put on my shoes to go get groceries, and I came to the conclusion that there is no chore that I really loathe, but I’m getting sort of tired of the lot of them. Once or twice a week, go get groceries. Pay the bills. Do the gardening. Do the laundry. Fold and put away the laundry. Make supper. Make lunches. Sweep. Vacuum. Clean the kitchen. Wash the dishes. Clean the catboxes. Repeat every week for the rest of my life. This is what vacations are really about - not having to do this tedious shit for two whole weeks! ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/69 "2011-04-13T20:20:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I was thinking about this thread the other day as I put on my shoes to go get groceries, and I came to the conclusion that there is no chore that I really loathe, but I’m getting sort of tired of the lot of them. Once or twice a week, go get groceries. Pay the bills. Do the gardening. Do the laundry. Fold and put away the laundry. Make supper. Make lunches. Sweep. Vacuum. Clean the kitchen. Wash the dishes. Clean the catboxes. Repeat every week for the rest of my life. This is what vacations are really about - not having to do this tedious shit for two whole weeks! My husband finally gets this. I will say to him that I am bored while I am doing laundry or cleaning or going off to do groceries. Yeah, I have things to do (and am doing them) but they are boring. So sick of it all. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/70 "2011-04-13T20:50:02Z")
Ironing. I hate it because it is stupid. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I am pulling electricity out of the wall to heat up this heavy piece of iron to rub on some clothes to take out some wrinkles that are going to get wrinkled again no matter what. And for what? This isn’t a hygiene issue. It isn’t a maintenance issue. It is for the sake of vanity. Pure and simple vanity. Vanity is a sin you know. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/71 "2011-04-13T20:53:13Z")
The litterbox has to win for me. I hate that it’s even in my house, let alone actually cleaning it. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/72 "2011-04-14T15:02:21Z")
Laundry is number one, especially because I refer to the dryer as the “clothes ruiner” and so every undershirt, overshirt, and pair of pants has to be taken out of the drier after 15 minutes and hung to dry, which is maddeningly wet and crappy work, but I like it better than having to buy new t-shirts every month because white t-shirts will shrink into postage stamps after three or four dryings otherwise. The other for me would be my sink. Toothpaste was invented by Satan himself and no matter how hard I try to get the little flecks of foam and bits of gel off of it every morning I’ll still be back in there over the weekend with a chisel trying to get it all off. Also I have a beard, which requires constant trimming and partial shaving and it leaves little millimeter long hairs everywhere that cannot be picked up easily with any cleaning products known to man. Every time it takes 5 or 6 go rounds before I mostly can’t see them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/73 "2011-04-14T17:07:41Z")
I don’t like vacuuming. It’s so loud, I just feel like rushing through it to turn the horrible monster off. I tried to make a deal with my boyfriend that I’d do his laundry if he vacuumed. When that didn’t work, I made a deal with my roommate that I’d do all the mopping if he did the vacuuming (because the kitchen is tile and the living room is carpet), and he agreed to it. Thank god. ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/74 "2011-04-14T17:34:57Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Toilets. Not the actual toilet insides, those aren’t so bad. You get the little squidgy thingie, you swoop it around, flush, and done. YAY. > > It’s the outsides and underneaths that I hate so much. It’s always a dust-magnet, and the bathroom gets all steamed up from the shower, so it’s all cruddy and nasty. For some reason, being on the floor right next to the toilet cleaning the dust off the floorboards behind it (and the little nooks and crannies ON the outside bottom of the toilet) seems so much more icky than cleaning the insides. I very much agree with this! And laundry, I hate laundry. The sorting! The annoying part where I have tons of dark and bright things to wash, but only a few light-coloured things, and I have to do a whole separate load so as not to ruin them! Our laundry room is in the basement of the apartment building. The machines take coins - $1.50 for the washer and $1 for the dryer. There are only three washers and three dryers, too, so sometimes you’ll get down there with your basket of clothes and they’ll all be in use. Then, once you finally do get your laundry clean, you still have the part where you have to put the clothes away! Hooray! Having machines in the building is much better than having to go to a laundromat elsewhere, at least, but it’s still really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/75 "2011-04-14T17:36:15Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > \ Also I have a beard, which requires constant trimming and partial shaving and it leaves little millimeter long hairs everywhere that cannot be picked up easily with any cleaning products known to man. Every time it takes 5 or 6 go rounds before I mostly can’t see them anymore. Damp paper towels. Between me and my cats, my bathroom is always covered in hair - I gave up on mops and rags, and just use damp paper towels to pick up the hair now. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/76 "2011-04-14T18:15:22Z")
> [@Raginghormonal](#): > > Hands Down, The Shower. In order to get it really clean, you have to get in it, naked, and scrub. And I always run out of hot water before I’m done. Brrrr. > Next up would be the floors, cheap ass laminate in the dining room never looks clean, no matter what I do. Ugly off white tile in the kitchen also never looks clean. ugh. > I enjoy ironing though. I-pod on loud and singing along makes that not much of a chore at all. I agree with the shower technique, unless your using something like Lime-A-Way. Toxic fumes from the cleaner require you do not clean while in the shower. The prudish may wear a swim suit to scrub down the shower. Cleaning never goes better than when you’re half a sheet to the wind either. Time flies when you’re intoxicated. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854/77 "2011-04-14T18:29:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I don’t wash the clothes in my house. Not that I can’t stand the task (what’s the big deal about throwing clothes in a machine), but my wife has specific rules for specific pieces of clothing… that’s what makes the task one I really loathe. > > I also can’t stand that she washes clothes _every… single… day_. It’s actually caused a couple of arguments. I finally bought my own hamper and said that I’m now responsible for washing my own clothes, please leave them alone honey, OK? This, too, caused an argument. My points: > > 1. Excessive washing of clothes decreases their shelf-life, > 2. I don’t want to remember what I wore two, three days earlier. I don’t want to see the shirt I wore on Monday hanging up in the closet on Wednesday morning… now I have to actively think “did I wear this this week?” which is far more thought than I care to give my wardrobe. > > Her points: > > 1. She doesn’t have enough clothes to last a week without cleaning, and without my clothes, she’s wasting water. > > My rebuttal: > > 1. Buy some more clothes! Wow, I’m with you – what is wrong with her? Does she only have 3 pairs of underwear or something? Two shirts and one pair of pants? If so…what is wrong with her?! Lord, woman. Ever since leaving home at 18, I’ve had at least 15 pairs of underwear just so that I can go awhile before having to do laundry. This is a basic bachelor/ette living skill to acquire. That said, I loathe scrubbing the bathtub. I don’t think I’ve done it since January. :o E: Oh, and dusting! I can’t remember the last time I dusted. Probably years. On the other hand, I dust my office at work every few days or so – this tiny space, I can handle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chores-you-loathe-really-loathe/577854.md?page=3)