laundry

20 Stories

NASA Tackles Odd Space Problem: Doing the Laundry

Tide is sending up special detergent as a test

(Newser) - How do astronauts do laundry in space? They don't. They wear their underwear, gym clothes, and everything else until they can't take it anymore, then junk them, per the AP . NASA wants to change that—if not at the International Space Station, then the moon and Mars—and...

$26M Lotto Ticket May Have Been Destroyed in Wash
$26M Lotto Ticket's Likely Fate
Is the Stuff of Nightmares
in case you missed it

$26M Lotto Ticket's Likely Fate Is the Stuff of Nightmares

Calif. convenience store worker says the winner threw her ticket in wash by mistake

(Newser) - The next time you kick yourself for leaving a pen or stick of gum in your pants pocket before throwing the laundry in the wash, take comfort that you're not this woman, a regular at a California convenience store who apparently now has the dubious distinction of being the...

Town Tells Residents Not to Do Laundry for a Week

NC town is flushing waterlines

(Newser) - They won't be using much Surf in Surf City, North Carolina, this week: The entire town has been told to avoid doing laundry because the public works department is flushing water lines. The department "will begin a directional flush of the hydrants and waterlines" from Oct. 7 to...

America's Lowest-Paying Job Isn't in Fast Food

Food service industry still dominates the top 10, though

(Newser) - The website 24/7 Wall St has determined the lowest-paying jobs in America, and it finds that women dominate 18 of the top 25 occupations on the list. It turns out that those in the laundry and dry-cleaning business make the least of all US workers. The site compiled the list...

Teens, Please Stop Eating Laundry Detergent

The 'Tide Pod Challenge' is apparently real and definitely dangerous

(Newser) - Dear reader, it appears the teens are at it again. ABC News reports the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Procter & Gamble are asking young people to please not put Tide Pods in their mouths "even if meant as a joke." And Tide even enlisted an NFL...

Lawsuit: Hospital Threw Stillborn Baby in Dirty Laundry
Laundry Workers Made Awful
Discovery. Now, a Lawsuit
in case you missed it

Laundry Workers Made Awful Discovery. Now, a Lawsuit

Stillborn was thrown into hospital's dirty linens in 2013 incident, complaint alleges

(Newser) - A family is suing a Minnesota hospital for making a personal tragedy worse four years ago. Esmerelda Hernandez prematurely gave birth to Jose, a stillborn boy, in April 2013 at St. Paul's Regions Hospital, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. As she and her family mourned Jose in her...

Detergent Company's Racist Ad Raises a Ruckus

And it's a direct ripoff of another racist ad from nearly a decade ago

(Newser) - What could possibly be offensive about an advertisement for something as mundane as laundry detergent? Plenty, it turns out—at least when it comes to this commercial for a Chinese cleaner that has earned it the label of "most racist ad of 2016" from BuzzFeed , which adds viewing it...

You Probably Need to Wash Your Sheets Right Now
 You Probably Need 
 to Wash Your 
 Sheets Right Now 
in case you missed it

You Probably Need to Wash Your Sheets Right Now

Here are some good, and also gross, reasons why

(Newser) - No one likes washing and changing their sheets, but what's the bare minimum you can get away with when freshening up your linens? University of Washington professor Dr. Marilyn Roberts tells Yahoo people should wash their sheets once per week "as long as there's no bodily secretions...

'Prius of Dryers' Worth Checking Out
'Prius of Dryers'
Worth Checking Out
OPINION

'Prius of Dryers' Worth Checking Out

New heat-pump technology can cut costs in half, says reviewer

(Newser) - No more vents for clothes dryers? That seems to be the promise of a new class of high-efficiency dryers hitting the market. Whirlpool, for example, is out with a new model that has Matthew Zahnzinger jazzed at Reviewed.com : "It's no understatement to say the Whirlpool Duet WED99HEDW...

Family: Young Teen Killed Sister Over Laundry

Justice Toliver had reportedly bleached her brother's clothes

(Newser) - A 14-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her younger half-sister to death on Tuesday, telling the 11-year-old she was ungrateful for the older girl's housework as she did so—and shockingly, it's not the only alleged chore-related teen murder of the week. A 17-year-old girl was shot to death in...

Drying Laundry Indoors Is Unhealthy

Can promote allergies, asthma: study

(Newser) - Got allergies or asthma? You may want to avoid drying your clothes inside your home: A study finds that many households suffer from too much moisture, and laundry is to blame for up to a third of the damp, the BBC reports. "Going into people's homes, we found...

Cop Accused of Breaking Into House, Doing Laundry

Jason Rocco apparently didn't have time to go to the laundromat

(Newser) - Weird: A Pittsburgh-area police officer is accused of breaking into a neighbor's home. Weirder: Officer Jason Rocco allegedly did so ... so he could wash his clothes. A local station reports that the home's owner noticed his electric bill was unusually high, given that he hadn't lived in...

Hottest Item to Steal: Tide?
 Hottest Item to Steal: Tide? 
in case you missed it

Hottest Item to Steal: Tide?

Or, maybe not...

(Newser) - The latest crime wave sweeping the nation: Tide thefts. Yes, that's Tide, as in the laundry detergent. The Daily reports it's stolen so often that some cities and stores are actually forming "special task forces" and coming up with Tide-specific security procedures to fight back. Why? Apparently...

Fleece Jackets Polluting the World's Oceans: Study
 Fleece Jackets Polluting 
 the World's Oceans 
study says

Fleece Jackets Polluting the World's Oceans

Polyester fibers come off in the wash: study

(Newser) - The Stuff White People Like blog has mocked people for wearing "outdoor performance clothes" everywhere they go, but who knew those fleece pullovers are also dirtying up our oceans. A recent study shows that nearly 2,000 polyester fibers can come loose from one piece of clothing in the...

People Like Going Green —but Not for Laundry

Consumers skeptical about cold-water detergents, even as they improve

(Newser) - The science behind washing laundry exclusively in cold water has come a long way in recent years, but consumers just aren't buying it—literally. The New York Times notes that sales of cold-water detergents are languishing, even though they generally measure up to their hot-water counterparts and save on...

Smelly Socks Could Stop Malaria

Scent lures infected mosquitoes into traps

(Newser) - Your smelly clothes hamper could soon save lives. Researchers in Tanzania are testing dirty socks as a way to prevent malaria, reports the Washington Post . The scent of the socks lure mosquitoes infected with the disease into traps, where they're poisoned and die. If it works, it'll provide...

Miss. Baby OK After Spin in Washing Machine

7-month-old Valle Hernandez on the mend after mishap

(Newser) - A Mississippi infant is out of the hospital and on the mend after accidentally going for a terrifying ride in a washing machine. Seven-month-old Valle Hernandez wound up inside a front-loading machine—apparently with an assist from his 4-year-old brother—and his mother started the machine before noticing him, reports...

Cheaper Tide Rises in Hard Times

Procter & Gamble agonizes over risky move

(Newser) - A cheaper Tide is rolling in: The recession-friendly Tide Basic drops some of the high-tech cleaning components—like anti-pilling ability—contained in the detergent’s traditional form, in exchange for a 20% lower price tag, the Wall Street Journal reports. But the decision to release the new Tide was no...

Recession Strikes Noses as Thrifty Delay Laundry

Recession prompts thrift at the laundromat

(Newser) - The recession may be making the US a little smellier, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Americans are scrimping on laundry by buying cheaper detergent, dry cleaning less often and—in the case of 60% of shoppers, according to one poll—wearing clothes multiple times between washings.

UK Women Wash Bras Just 6 Times Per Year

(Newser) - British women wash their bras only six times a year, the Daily Express reports. The slightly confusing results of a study indicate that although women own an average of 15 bras, they wear each one seven times before throwing it in the hamper. “The extra dirt is clearly not...

20 Stories