Hi there friends!
It's day 23 of the paleo challenge, it's sleeting, and a group of highly attractive rosy-cheeked spandex-clad ladies just strolled into the coffee shop where I'm sitting. Perhaps they just finished their run? Anyways, it's a perfect day to talk about laundry!
I've come to understand that laundry in vet school is vastly different from normal laundry. Firstly, I think most people separate their laundry into "darks" and "lights". Or perhaps "white" and "other". Or maybe "delicates" and "jeans".
I separate my laundry into three categories:
1. not that dirty (shirts, long underwear, sweaters)
2. reasonably soiled (muddy jeans, socks, scrubs covered in cat hair)
3. really profoundly disgusting/possible biohazard (the coveralls I wore during the bear necropsy, or the ones so saturated with dried cow shit that they crackle when I pull them out of the plastic bag)
Sometimes, category #3 gets washed twice. Gah.
The other oddity I have regarding my laundry is that I'm quite fanatical about checking my pockets. Unfortunately, garments like coveralls and some styles of scrubs can have 8-10 pockets (not exaggerating), so objects sneak into the washer more frequently than I'd like to admit:
Sort of funny if I accidentally wash in a pocket:
pen
scissors
hemostats
penlight
dollar
clean rubber gloves
thermometer
syringe wrapper
notes on a folded piece of paper
surgical cap/mask/booties
roll of white tape
Never ever (hopefully) allowed to be washed in a pocket/list of constant vigilance:
needle
scalpel blades (wrapped)
used catheter
blood tubes
fecal sample
urine sample
highlighter
used gauze
lube packet
Happy laundering! And maybe bring some bleach wipes to the laundromat (I certainly do).