The Laundry Load of Awesomeness

In follow up to the earlier post "Blog On" I would like to add another reason to blog. When someone has an experience like I did today, the blogs of others can provide both practical assistance and moral support. Sometimes the knowledge that you are not alone is really not that comforting. At other times, like today, it actually is. Here is what happened. (Cue flashback visuals here.)

I suddenly remembered the laundry I had started earlier in the day. I ran downstairs to switch it over. There was a load in the dryer that I couldn't remember having started, so I pulled it into the basket to take upstairs. It was all things that can be wrinkled anyway. Then I pulled the mesh bag out of the washer and started hanging underwear on the rack to dry. I noticed some small balls of what looked like gel on some of the underwear. I wondered, "Did I buy a molded bra and not realize that it had gel inserts?" Then I started to switch clothes into the dryer. I noticed more, and larger, balls of gel. Instead of tossing heaps of clothes from one side to the other, I carefully removed each item, hoping to find the strange toy or treasure that had exploded in someone's pocket. Then I saw bits of fluff.

With a sinking feeling of horror, I realized what I was looking for. Piece by piece, I reluctantly removed each article of gelatinous clothing from the washer until at the very bottom of the load, I found it - the disposable diaper. Fully absorbed, and nearly completely intact, except for the millions of globules of absorbent gel coating an entire load of laundry. I threw the soggy, three-pound diaper in the trash. Then (does this count as appropriate use of the word?) ironically, I grabbed a cloth diaper and wiped out the washing machine.

When that didn't work, I got online and googled "what to do if you wash a disposable diaper." The number of results was heartening. I was far from alone. Among them, I found this blog of awesomeness to be particularly enjoyable. I didn't follow her advice about the salt, but the Jack Black referencing mommy blogger with an interest in North Korea (hey, my washing machine is Korean) was a refreshing read. Plus, she gets her hair done about as often as I do!

I love that she thought to take a picture of the offending diaper. I need to start using pictures.

To conclude my story, I shook out each piece of clothing to minimize the strain on my lovely newish Korean appliances. Now my floor looks like it snowed indoors, and it is very slippery. I should probably try that thing they call sweeping. I put the clothes in the drier, as recommended on many sites. And then I ran a quick empty load in the washer without soap or OxyClean. The washing machine looks fine now, so no harm appears to have been done by my ridiculous awesome laundry adventure.