You be the judge: should my boyfriend get rid of his laundry basket?

6 days ago 13

The prosecution: Anita

The basket is huge, ugly and it stinks. Dirty clothes can go straight into the washing machine

My partner, Jayden, and I have just moved in together. He is a big fan of this wicker basket that he’s shipped from his old flat, but I want it gone.

It’s not small or discreet, it’s massive and ugly, and takes up a whole corner of our bedroom. It’s this big, clunky thing that sits there full of smelly clothes. I honestly don’t see the point of it. Why shove dirty laundry in a basket for a week when you can put everything straight into the washing machine? At least if it’s in the washer, it’s where it belongs and ready to go.

The basket just delays the inevitable. It’s like having an unnecessary middleman. And it doesn’t match the flat, and dominates the room like a dead piece of furniture. I don’t want to spend money and time making the place look nice just to have this smelly thing lurking in the corner.

It’s also unhygienic. Wicker is impossible to clean. If it gets damp, it smells even worse. Jayden says a laundry basket is “practical”. But I think it’s more practical to wash clothes straight away. I get that this isn’t always possible, and if I can’t get clothes straight into the wash, I’ll shove them to the bottom of the wardrobe.

I know that’s not great, but it is very rare. If I had my way, dirty clothes would be washed the same day. They would go straight in the machine, job done. No festering. When Jayden sees my dirty clothes at the bottom of the wardrobe, he adds them to the laundry basket. That drives me mad, because I can’t find anything in the basket, it’s so big. He likes to do a big mixed laundry load every 10 days or so, whereas I prefer to wash more regularly. If we got rid of the basket, this would make it easier, as there wouldn’t be anywhere for clothes to pile up.

The other thing is smell. Clothes sitting in a basket for a week – socks, gym gear, sweaty T-shirts – make the whole room stink. Jayden goes to the gym at least three times a week. At least in the washer, the smells are contained. But the basket smells. So I don’t want his cumbersome old basket in our new flat. New flat, new start.

The defence: Jayden

Putting dirty laundry in the wardrobe or straight into the machine makes everything musty

Anita says laundry baskets are pointless, but her argument doesn’t stand up. She talks about putting dirty clothes “straight into the wash” but she doesn’t do that often. Half the time her clothes lie balled up in the wardrobe for days. That is unhygienic, and also makes our clean clothes smell. She says she doesn’t want bad smells in the flat, but leaving clothes hidden in the wardrobe makes it worse.

At least once a month I’ll find some old pants or socks at the bottom of our wardrobe. It’s annoying. I will put them in the laundry basket and then she’ll get annoyed at me, saying she can’t find her stuff. But at least a basket neatly contains clothes all in one place.

Anita says it’s best to put everything in the washing machine, but it’s an appliance. If you’re throwing in damp clothes, or leaving stuff in there for days, that’s way worse than putting laundry in a basket. The washer will start to smell and the clothes will go musty, which is hard to get rid of.

The basket keeps things together until there’s enough for a full load. If the smell is the issue, that’s not caused by the basket itself – it’s just a matter of doing laundry more regularly, which I can do if it appeases Anita.

A laundry basket is practical and it saves time, energy and money. No one does laundry every single day, so where are the clothes supposed to go in the meantime? The laundry basket serves an important function.

As for it being ugly? That’s subjective. I like my basket. It’s from my single days in my old flat. We’ve been through thick and thin. I’ve had it for years and it is sturdy, natural and has lasted well. Why should I throw away something that still works?

This is also a matter of control. Our new flat is jointly ours: I don’t think I should have to remove an item that I like just because Anita doesn’t want it. Plus I think it looks fine. A flat is not a showroom, it’s meant to function and the basket functions well. So no, I don’t want to throw it out.

The jury of Guardian readers

There’s no need to bicker over wicker – there is nothing unhygienic about a laundry basket. Just because clothes have been worn for a day or two doesn’t make them in any way harmful or even smelly.
Marcel, 47

skip past newsletter promotion

A wash every day Anita?! That’s bad for the environment and your energy bills. Wait till you have a full load. Having said that, no one wants sweaty gym clothes in the bedroom, so why not settle on non-smelly clothes in the washing basket and the machine runs every few days after gym visits.
Fran, 25

Jayden is innocent. Dirty laundry shouldn’t be mingling with clean clothes in a wardrobe – that’s what laundry baskets are for. The two of them just need to compromise and find a smaller basket that Anita likes.
Jessie, 48

I’d never thought of this before, but Anita’s idea is genius: throw dirty clothes straight into the washing machine to eliminate smells, save on space and get rid of an ugly piece of furniture all in one go. The only drawback I can think of is: how do you separate your coloureds and whites if all your dirty laundry lives in the washing machine?
Gladstone, 61

Anita’s arguments just don’t hold water. They need a basket to put dirty clothes in before they have enough to do a full wash. Hiding dirty knickers in the wardrobe is weird, and putting the machine on for just one or two things is totally ungreen.
Vicky, 42