Even though our weather's alternated between balmy and blustery, it's definitely getting warmer. We haven't worn our winter-weight coats for weeks.
From December through March (and sometimes into April), the outwear in the coat closet is an important part of our wardrobes. Then things warm up and I forget the closet's there. Several years ago I got busy and failed to wash our coats. When I put mine on the first cold day months later, it still had the previous year's supply of dirt on it. Yuck!
Since then I have a reminder on the calendar for May 1st to wash all the winter coats. I started the job yesterday and finished it today.
I have one everyday winter coat. Hubby Tony has two. I gathered them all up and took the pile to the laundry room just off the kitchen. Each coat was almost, but not quite, a full load, so I added a few extra articles in with each. At the end of the project my dirty clothes baskets were empty and I felt like I'd killed two birds with one stone. In my experience, heavy things like coats never completely dry in one dryer cycle, so as each load got done I took the coat out and hung it over the back of a kitchen chair. Eventually, half of the kitchen table chairs had winter wear slung over the back.
This morning I put everything away. I don't know about you, but during the winter I never bother to fasten my coat when I hang it up, because I'm just going to use it again the next day. In honor of the end of the season, though, I zipped and Velcro-d everything properly and made sure the hoods were hanging straight before putting the coats back in the closet.
The casual side of the closet looked so nice I decided to take a look at our "dress" coats. Tony and I both have all-weather and wool models, which I checked for cleanliness. We had a mild winter and the dress coats didn't get a lot of use. The ones that didn't need cleaning got the same hanging treatment as their casual siblings, and I started a pile for the dry cleaner.
I'll have to repeat the process with our jackets once I'm sure we won't need them any more, then I'll be able go on about my business and ignore the closet until things start cooling off again.
My bedroom window is wide open, first time since March. Must be spring.
ReplyDeleteI love those new season changes!
ReplyDeleteWow, I guess people who live in really cold climates need lots of coats. I have two raincoats and two dress coats. None of which can be washed. I do have, though, a large number of jackets that I wear with pants and skirts. They too all need to be dry cleaned. The only cold weather garb that gets washed are the sweatshirts.
ReplyDeleteSpring fever? You are so ambitious and organized... now I just thought of all the work that I'll have to do when I get home, maybe I just won't go home! lol
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Now that May is here, I guess it is a good time to dry clean the winter coats and put away more of the winter-ish gear. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDelete