After darling baby D slept gloriously through the night (we suspect she is teething, as she has been more fussy and wakeful than usual), she joined me for her morning feed. Hubby picked her up between sides for some cuddles, and out of nowhere she projectile vomited her breakfast onto him and the side of the bed he was sitting on. This included The Duvet.
We have a wonderful synthetic duvet that the in-laws bought us on their last visit. Previously, we'd had a down-filled one, but Hubby found out he was allergic to it. In the few months since we've had the new one, I washed it once and wasn't pleased with the results; there were wet patches and dry patches, and I don't think it got that clean. I resolved to go to a laundromat next time it needed washing.
Do you suppose I thought to myself this morning, "why, it's a lovely day to track down a laundromat in the suburbs and spend a few hours there washing and drying one item." Rhetorical. Of course I didn't. I heedlessly stuffed the duvet around the washing machine, refusing to take note of the warning to "not pack or wrap items around the spinnerly post in the middle of the washer" (or whatever it is that I've certainly read dozens of times).
I've since learned that a duvet weighing a scant 5 pounds dry can weigh in the neighbourhood of 75 pounds wet. I heard the washer making a loud clicking sound, so I sprinted downstairs, and shut the machine off right away. This in itself is a personal victory of sorts, since I would normally think to myself that the washer should man up and do its job, regardless of how much the load weighs. You can see how that kind of thinking might have disastrous results.
I used all my might to wrench the duvet out of the washer into the dryer, spilling water copiously on the floor. I shoved it into the dryer and waited for a few minutes, and verily, the weight was too much for the dryer to bear, so I pulled it out, jammed it into a laundry basket with some dry towels and (I kid you not) danced/jumped up and down on it to press out as much water as I could. Then I regained use of my senses and moved the process to the fully concrete floor, away from the area rug by the washer and dryer.
Anyway, everything is fine, nothing is broken, and the duvet is on the line keeping the snowflakes company. I would pick the first snowfall since February to absolutely need to use the clothesline, wouldn't I?
Becky, perhaps you are already using one of these, but if not, I recommend a duvet cover. Much easier to wash than the actual duvet. Granted, if the vomit is quite wet you might still end up with a dirty duvet.
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