The lines have been drawn
The lines of battle have been drawn in the indelible colors of red, blue, green and orange. In my case the offending shade is bright orange. Upon hearing the words All-Weather Paintstiks, anyone married to a farmer will immediately identify with me in this ongoing battle that occurs weekly in laundry rooms all across rural America. There’s a reason why the word P-A-I-N appears in the name of this product.
It’s bad enough we indentured laundresses have to fish out an assortment of nails, washers, fuses, hypodermic needles (sheathed), jackknives and bits of corn, straw and grime (all left in pants pockets or cuffs) out of the washing machine. But when an undetected cattle marker finds its way into the dryer, that’s when the battle cry goes up.
Why such a fuss you males might ask. After all, wasn’t hubby nice enough to do the laundry himself? Let me explain about the wonderful qualities of a paintstik. First of all they are a grease-like crayon in garish colors that are used to mark cows to detect heat or write important identifying and sorting information – dry cows, treated cows, cull cows, etc. The All-Weather part of the name gives you a hint that they are long-lasting, resisting weathering and fading. While they are fade resistant, they don’t hold up well in the heat of a dryer. In fact, the clumps of ‘paint’ happen to stick very well to the enamel drum of the dryer. And you probably won’t even notice the damage when you take out a load of barn clothes that they’ve been affected (at least not my husband’s laundry).
However, the next load of laundry (which usually contains my work clothes, the kids’ Sunday finest or your son’s $50 pair of jeans he paid for himself) don’t fare as well. I have tried everything to get those markers out of clothes. Sometimes treating them with stain removers helps. But many times the only thing to do is relegate the ruined clothing to the barn clothes pile or the garbage. Cleaning out the drum of the dryer is another story. Try sticking your head inside an unventilated drum using a rag doused in nail polish remover and see how coherent you are.
I’ve tried begging: please clean out your pockets!! Threats: I will never wash your clothes ever again (this note is taped to the cupboard over the washing machine at home) and reason: do you know how much these clothes cost?? My latest tactic? Disposal. When I find the offending things I simply toss them in the garbage. I know it’s a waste of money, but the secret joy I get in throwing that ugly little stick in the garbage reduces my stress level and makes living with orange-streaked clothes bearable. Besides, I can also take comfort in being the best dressed (or most ridiculous-looking) person in our milking parlor decked out in my white dress pants with the interesting orange designs!
The lines of battle have been drawn in the indelible colors of red, blue, green and orange. In my case the offending shade is bright orange. Upon hearing the words All-Weather Paintstiks, anyone married to a farmer will immediately identify with me in this ongoing battle that occurs weekly in laundry rooms all across rural America. There’s a reason why the word P-A-I-N appears in the name of this product.
It’s bad enough we indentured laundresses have to fish out an assortment of nails, washers, fuses, hypodermic needles (sheathed), jackknives and bits of corn, straw and grime (all left in pants pockets or cuffs) out of the washing machine. But when an undetected cattle marker finds its way into the dryer, that’s when the battle cry goes up.
Why such a fuss you males might ask. After all, wasn’t hubby nice enough to do the laundry himself? Let me explain about the wonderful qualities of a paintstik. First of all they are a grease-like crayon in garish colors that are used to mark cows to detect heat or write important identifying and sorting information – dry cows, treated cows, cull cows, etc. The All-Weather part of the name gives you a hint that they are long-lasting, resisting weathering and fading. While they are fade resistant, they don’t hold up well in the heat of a dryer. In fact, the clumps of ‘paint’ happen to stick very well to the enamel drum of the dryer. And you probably won’t even notice the damage when you take out a load of barn clothes that they’ve been affected (at least not my husband’s laundry).
However, the next load of laundry (which usually contains my work clothes, the kids’ Sunday finest or your son’s $50 pair of jeans he paid for himself) don’t fare as well. I have tried everything to get those markers out of clothes. Sometimes treating them with stain removers helps. But many times the only thing to do is relegate the ruined clothing to the barn clothes pile or the garbage. Cleaning out the drum of the dryer is another story. Try sticking your head inside an unventilated drum using a rag doused in nail polish remover and see how coherent you are.
I’ve tried begging: please clean out your pockets!! Threats: I will never wash your clothes ever again (this note is taped to the cupboard over the washing machine at home) and reason: do you know how much these clothes cost?? My latest tactic? Disposal. When I find the offending things I simply toss them in the garbage. I know it’s a waste of money, but the secret joy I get in throwing that ugly little stick in the garbage reduces my stress level and makes living with orange-streaked clothes bearable. Besides, I can also take comfort in being the best dressed (or most ridiculous-looking) person in our milking parlor decked out in my white dress pants with the interesting orange designs!
posted by the farmer's wife @ 11:11 AM
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