# Whose job is it to check pockets for Chapstick when doing laundry? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192 "2012-03-19T03:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/1 "2012-03-19T03:00:26Z")
Is it the person doing the load of laundry or the person who wore the pants? My wife and I battle over this because she will grab my dirty laundry and mix it with hers and not check the pockets. She get mad because there’s always Chapstick in the dryer and sometimes it ruins clothes. I believe if she is putting my pants in the wash she should double check for Chapstick but she believes it’s my job to not put pants with Chapstick in my dirty laundry to begin with. What say you? ETA: We have separate laundry baskets but usually wash together. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/2 "2012-03-19T03:09:58Z")
Both parties should cooperate in not putting pocket stuff in the laundry. The wearer should try to empty his pockets and the launderer should do a double-check ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/3 "2012-03-19T03:10:19Z")
You have a great marriage if that’s your only point of disagreement. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/4 "2012-03-19T03:14:27Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Both parties should cooperate in not putting pocket stuff in the laundry. The wearer should try to empty his pockets and the launderer should do a double-check Agreed. I believe the primary responsibility lies with the pants-wearer, but in the interests of not destroying entire loads of clothing, the launderer should do a last minute double-check to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/5 "2012-03-19T03:15:47Z")
Thirding. Redundancy doesn’t hurt when it comes to laundry. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/6 "2012-03-19T03:21:36Z")
If it’s happened more than once she should be checking. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/7 "2012-03-19T03:23:07Z")
Both. ETA: I’ll give the OP an exemption _only_ if the pants are not in the laundry basket, but just laying on the floor or whatever. If they’re put where dirty clothes go prior to washing, they should be checked. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/8 "2012-03-19T03:25:10Z")
It’s the pants-wearer. I assume that if you put a pair of pants in the laundry, you’ve emptied all valuables. You’re an adult. My husband wears those cargo pants with 8 billion pockets. He hasn’t left anything in them since the time I washed and dried his passport about three weeks before he was set to take a business trip overseas. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/9 "2012-03-19T03:28:50Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > My husband wears those cargo pants with 8 billion pockets. He hasn’t left anything in them since the time I washed and dried his passport about three weeks before he was set to take a business trip overseas. My oldest child, now age 10, is also vigilant about emptying his pockets, ever since a prized Harry Potter Lego minifig got its face half melted off by the clothes dryer. (My suggestion to just pretend that Harry had been Confringoed was met with derision.) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/10 "2012-03-19T03:30:54Z")
Seriously? You’re not a two year old. If an adult is doing the laundry for another adult it is the laundry wearers absolute responsibility to clear out their pockets. Expecting someone who is hassling with wrangling the laundry to also have the assumed responsibility to wade through all the clothing pockets because the person leaving the laundry was too careless to check their pockets is absurd. If she does it as a favor fine, but the person leaving the clothing is responsible to get all their crap out of the pockets. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/11 "2012-03-19T03:31:52Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > It’s the pants-wearer. I assume that if you put a pair of pants in the laundry, you’ve emptied all valuables. You’re an adult. \ That’s how we do it, too - the clothes get checked before they get tossed in the laundry basket. ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/12 "2012-03-19T03:32:40Z")
I chose the launderer, just because it’s the last point of defense. I really think it should be both though. The wearer should be diligent about emptying pockets, and then it’s super fast for the launderer to check them to make sure nothing was missed. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/13 "2012-03-19T03:40:04Z")
The wearer is responsible. In the interests of practicality and not ruining a bunch of clothes, the launderer should check, but if something is missed and there is a mess, it’s the fault of the person who left it there, not the person who didn’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/14 "2012-03-19T03:40:25Z")
As the launderer, my policy is that if there’s something in a pocket when it gets to the washing machine, it’s mine. I’m a lip balm fiend, so chapstick in a pocket would be a score. I have no use for golf tees, so they go in the trash. The best is the stray twenty dollar bill. Time for a beer with the girls! Seriously, I keep a piggy bank in the laundry room and no one in my family seems to have noticed it. So, for us, it’s the wearer’s responsibility to remove items from the pockets, but I double-check because you never know what you might find. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/15 "2012-03-19T03:47:01Z")
In the basket means “ready to launder.” I expect a grown-up to do grown-up things. It would only take one instance of my stuff getting wrecked, though, for the wearer to be on his own for laundering. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/16 "2012-03-19T03:55:36Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > In the basket means “ready to launder.” I expect a grown-up to do grown-up things. It would only take one instance of my stuff getting wrecked, though, for the wearer to be on his own for laundering. This. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/17 "2012-03-19T04:06:04Z")
A person is not doing the laundry if they aren’t checking the pockets, the same as they wouldn’t be doing laundry if poured bleach all over your jeans. The person doing the laundry gets to keep any money they find. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/18 "2012-03-19T04:09:35Z")
It takes 2 seconds for ONE person to check ONE pair of pants for chapstick. It takes much longer for ONE person to check multiple pairs of pants. You should show more appreciation towards your wife on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/19 "2012-03-19T04:14:47Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > In the basket means “ready to launder.” I expect a grown-up to do grown-up things. It would only take one instance of my stuff getting wrecked, though, for the wearer to be on his own for laundering. I also agree. An adult can figure out how to use a washing machine, and if this happened more than once my laundry days for my husband would be done. Once is a mistake, twice is a habit. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192/20 "2012-03-19T04:15:30Z")
It’s in your pocket, you take it out before you put it in the laundry. Or you do your own damned laundry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-job-is-it-to-check-pockets-for-chapstick-when-doing-laundry/616192.md?page=2)