what would you have done?

LindseyJW

my son and another boy at his school have the same coat. we have names written in them, but somehow, we ended up with the other boy's coat at home and he had ours. we agreed on friday to exchange coats on monday.

we washed the other kid's coat over the weekend. they gave us back a dirty coat. i think they had it for a week. it was warm last week, so he probably didn't wear it much, but isn't it the polite thing to do to wash clothing items before you return them to someone after you've have (admittedly, inadvertently) worn them?

DCP said something to the other mom about having not washed the coat and she didn't think it was a big deal -- at all.

Hey Jellisy

It's a nice gesture but to be honest, coats don't make it into the laundry pile often so I probably would never have thought about it.  Unless something spills, I usually wash mine (and theirs) only once or twice a season. 

LindseyJW

to clarify, it's not the actual coat, but rather the removable fleece lining. so it's more of a zip-up fleece.

MrsTiara

I would be annoyed, but what are you going to do?  I'd just let it slide.  56

LindseyJW

MrsTiara:

I would be annoyed, but what are you going to do?  I'd just let it slide.  56

nothing! i was just curious if what we did by washing was normal or not! i was actually more surprised, not irritated, that she didn't wash it.

NowDNAtoo

I might not have washed the coat before giving it back, but I would definitely have washed DS's coat after getting it back even if it wasn't returned dirty.

schelebelle

This just happened with us, except I just left the other girl's fleece at daycare since I noticed the mix up before we left.

But, it never occurred to me that they might wash it.  And I'm not sure that I would have washed hers had we taken it home by mistake.  Now, I have washed socks or other clothes that have made into her bag by accident.  For some reason that just seems different to me than the fleece.

Sofka

I don't think I would have washed it, either but it was certainly nice of you to!

AgrippaRidesAgain

I wouldn't even think to wash a coat that we mistakenly took home.  Jackets don't get washed that often around here though.

DCtoLowcountry

I think it was nice of you to wash and return, but I wouldn't wash it because even if the washing instructions were on the tab (wash in cold? dry clean?) you never know if the soap you use could be allergic on the other kid and then you'd have a bigger mess on your hands.

LindseyJW

DCtoLowcountry:

I think it was nice of you to wash and return, but I wouldn't wash it because even if the washing instructions were on the tab (wash in cold? dry clean?) you never know if the soap you use could be allergic on the other kid and then you'd have a bigger mess on your hands.

that's a great point! even more reason to follow NowDNA's advice above too (which we also did, but mostly because it came home dirty).

 

fatjavacat

I vote wash and return.  I agree you have to be careful of detergents and not shrinking other peoples stuff.  I just think of all of the cat hair in our house and would hate to give something back with more than it came with.  

I would wash anything that was given back to me...even if it was obviously laundered.   

Baby4OT

This:

AgrippaRidesAgain:

I wouldn't even think to wash a coat that we mistakenly took home.  Jackets don't get washed that often around here though.

JKM416

It wouldn't have occurred to me to wash it.  But if it did, I still wouldn't have washed it because (1) I wouldn't have let my DS wear the other kid's in the meantime, so any dirtiness wouldn't have been our doing, and (2) I would've been worried that I'd ruin the coat somehow (even though the washing instructions likely would've been on it).  Not being critical - that was a nice gesture on your part; I think you went above and beyond.  If I was the other mother, I'd feel bad after being handed a fresh, clean coat and not being able to reciprocate...sort of a "Doh! Why didn't I think of that!!" moment.

rnin02

JKM416:

It wouldn't have occurred to me to wash it.  But if it did, I still wouldn't have washed it because (1) I wouldn't have let my DS wear the other kid's in the meantime, so any dirtiness wouldn't have been our doing, and (2) I would've been worried that I'd ruin the coat somehow (even though the washing instructions likely would've been on it).  Not being critical - that was a nice gesture on your part; I think you went above and beyond.  If I was the other mother, I'd feel bad after being handed a fresh, clean coat and not being able to reciprocate...sort of a "Doh! Why didn't I think of that!!" moment.

I would definitely worry about damaging the coat by washing/drying it. Also my DS is sensitive to detergents, so it really bugs me when people (aka grandmothers!) wash his things.

BridetobeEm

I would not wash it b/c some kids have really sensitive skin and/or allergies, so they might have a reaction to what I use.