A delicate subject - those sheets again.....

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Mountain Goat
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A delicate subject - those sheets again.....

Post by Mountain Goat »

We've got a long term punter paying a good rate in one apartment. The whole deal is up-market. We include fresh bed linen and towels on a weekly basis (or more if they want).

Our dilemma is that said punter doesn't want clean sheets. Just a quiet smile and polite refusal when asked.

My imagination is working overtime.

What to do? Leave them in peace? A night raid to rip off the sheets? Chill out? Mind our own business? Console and pay our weekly laundry lady anyway? Laugh all the way to the bank?

Advice please.

It's slightly complicated by the fact that we're based in a country (CH) where laundering bed linen is more expensive than buying new stuff in the John Lewis sale (sorry, clearance), but that's another topic. Socks as well.

Actually it's an important question. We're trying to save our planet etc. but is it better or more destructive to our environment to throw away the bed linen or give it to Oxfam and buy new sheets, or pay through the nose for the laundering and waste resources?


A concerned Goat (member of Greenpeace etc.)
Last edited by Mountain Goat on Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Hells Bells »

Is there a charity for the homeless you could donate the bed linen to? Our local church does something similar for families.
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Post by Mountain Goat »

Homeless? In Switzerland?

Well, you're right, there must be somewhere. So if you see suitcases bulging with sheets on the GVA-LGW you know who they belong to....
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Post by Hells Bells »

Take your point about Swiss homeless, but London has plenty.
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Post by Martha »

Maybe they wash them themselves?
Allergy problem?
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Post by Alan Knighting »

firebug wrote:Maybe they wash them themselves?
Allergy problem?
I've never met anyone with an allergy to clean sheets. One lives and learns.

Alan
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Post by Mountain Goat »

Actually, Alan, you may have hit on it. We knew someone who was allergic to Persil bio, so maybe it's as simple as that.
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Post by A-two »

Alan Knighting wrote: I've never met anyone with an allergy to clean sheets. One lives and learns.
I have an allergy to all bio detergents, so I agree this could well be the reason. In my rental, I provide the same hypoallergenic liquid brand that I buy for myself, but even so, I occasionally find a different brand left behind, especially from those with young children. Being fussy about your washing detergents is not uncommon, so if you are providing a washing machine, they may have brought their own detergent with them and doing themselves.

Having said that, if someone is refusing clean linens after 2 weeks without explaining they are washing themselves, I might be concerned that there is another reason why they didn't want me to see inside the place. I might have to pop round anyway to do some routine maintenance or to make sure a thermostat was working properly.
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Re: A delicate subject - those sheets again.....

Post by A-two »

Mountain Goat wrote: It's slightly complicated by the fact that we're based in a country (CH) where laundering bed linen is more expensive than buying new stuff in the John Lewis sale (sorry, clearance), but that's another topic
Can't let this one go, sorry. Surely you are washing the new sheets before you put them on the bed? New sheets are full of chemicals and smell horrible. So it costs more to buy new sheets and wash them, rather than wash the existing sheets, doesn't it? Sorry, I don't get it.
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Post by Mountain Goat »

I've explained things badly. The cost of a new pair of sheets (duvet cover, pillow case etc.) is less than having them washed here (CH).

Or, to put it another way, it is more expensive to wash and iron sheets etc. here in Switzerland than buy them (back in Blighty).

Barking mad, I admit.

Are you sure about new sheets being so horrible? Even John Lewis Egyptian 100% organic cotton?

Looks this is slightly tongue-in-cheek. I know I'm not going to fly out each time there's a sheet change due (not often in the current circumstances). But, it's still actually 'cheaper' to buy the things than launder them in this unusual country.

Bio allergy comment answers everything, thanks.

Goat
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Joanna,

I admit it; I tend to be dismissive towards people who claim to have an allergy. I tend to be dismissive because having an allergy is seen as a “must have�.

In my youth I had a most debilitating form of hay fever, which is an allergy. I am not unappreciative of anyone who suffers from a real allergy.

To this day, I can’t wear a new shirt without washing it first, otherwise I get a rash around my neck and that’s not nice.

It’s true; some people will die if they eat a peanut. It’s true; some people are allergic to bio products. I think it’s equally true that many people’s lives are not complete if they don’t have an allergy.

Give them clean sheets, let them scratch a lot and let them launder to their hearts content.

In the meantime I remain

Fluffy.
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Post by A-two »

Mountain Goat wrote: Are you sure about new sheets being so horrible? Even John Lewis Egyptian 100% organic cotton?
Do they come with a label on them saying "prewashed and ready to sleep" ? More likely they are heavily starched and smelling of the factory, where some poor child with a runny nose and bubonic plague sneezed on them while folding round the cardboard inserts for 2 cents a dozen. (I wash all my fruit and vegetables with soap and water too.... :-) )

I think generally, people quite like living in their own dirt, they just don't like other peoples, especially when they can't see it. :) 8)
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Post by A-two »

(off-topic)

In response to the PM, yes I do wash all fruit and vegetables I buy from the supermarket with soap and water, especially bananas, melons, oranges, avocados, lemons, limes and mangos.

Even though we peel those things, we can transfer what's on the outside to inside and then to the mouth while eating them. I wash and rinse immediately I bring into the house, it only takes a couple of minutes.

I used to buy "vegetable rinse" until one of my friends here who is a pediatrician at a major NY hospital told me they were a waste of money and that she used ordinary dish liquid and rinsed with plain water. We conducted an experiment together on a bunch of grapes and she was right, so now that's what I use.

If you think I'm crazy, ask a doctor.

(/off-topic)
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Post by la vache! »

MG,
I had had a couple of longish term lets in the past. The first was for 3 young French people who stayed 2 months - I supplied sheets and they never wanted a change of bed linen. The other was for a lovely gentleman of 80 who thought it might be a good idea to move to France and keep chickens. Unfortunately he was a very nervous driver and after ending up in a ditch when being overtaken by a French lorry driver on his journey down here. He then only used his bicycle to get around and after 6 months decided he would never be able to cope with the speed of traffic here and moved back to Cornwall. He in fact used his own sheets and never once used the washing machine, nor did I see sheets on the line.
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Post by Nightowl »

[quote][/He in fact used his own sheets and never once used the washing machine, nor did I see sheets on the line.
quote]

Blimey, I think we might draw our own conclusions on that one...
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