I find a dime in the bottom of the washing machine on a pretty regular basis. It’s not much, but it’s far better than some of the other things that have been put through the wash that I missed.
Some items get destroyed in the laundry, such as checks, receipts, and other paper-y stuff that now form a small, hard, paper sculpture that will never again resemble the important document they once were.
Some items destroy the laundry, like the pocketful of tissues that has disintegrated into teeny, tiny balls of white fluff stuck to every single dark item in the load. Or, like the lip balm that makes it through the washer and sneaks into the dryer just so it can melt hot oil stains onto every single light-colored item in the wash.
There are some baffling items, like hot sauce and snail shells. There are some sentimental items, like wedding rings and love notes. And now that I have a toddler who has discovered the fifteen pockets that are sewn into size 2T clothes, I find stickers and trains and partially-deflated balloons as well.
I’m sleep deprived and doing what seems like 700 loads of laundry a week, so I need a little reminder to empty out pockets — especially the fifteen tiny ones on each pair of cargo pants — so I don’t ruin an entire load of laundry with one rogue green crayon.
This laundry room jar for “pocket findings” is simple to make by applying a large label onto a 16oz mason jar with square sides. Set it on a shelf near the washer, or even right on the washer lid if you need a more obvious push.
The pocket findings jar is just the right thing to prevent a variety of laundry disasters because all those dimes will never add up to enough to cover the pain of picking one tissue off of five black sweaters. And you never know, one day I may even find a treasure worth keeping!
Give a laundry room collection jar to all your friends with kids and they’ll love you forever.
Used In This Project:
- Large Labels • I chose the “Doodle” style in aruba and sky blue.
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Stephanie Rose is a gardener who lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she has grown over 100 edibles, 400 perennials, and countless other plants in her small urban yard; a hobby that continues to grow with each season. Stephanie writes DIY garden projects, yummy recipes and crafty goodness at Garden Therapy where she hopes you will find something to inspire you to get outside for a little, well, garden therapy.
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