Basket Case

 One of our laundry baskets broke all the way, and most of the rest are cracking and going fast. I’m fussy about laundry baskets, not to say picky and perhaps even unreasonable. I can’t stand broken plastic, I want them to nest, and I want them to work very, very well. I know. You didn’t want to know that about me. Sorry.

I knew I couldn’t rest until I figured out the Crisis Laundry Basket Situation. I knew what I wanted — a Rubbermaid Comfort Carry basket. WHY don’t Walmart and Target carry Rubbermaid baskets anymore? They seem far sturdier to me than Sterilite or whatever it’s called. Anyway, I thought the internet would yield the exact thing I wanted, but no. The Rubbermaid website shows a photo of this perfectly-designed basket. It is top-rated by customers with glowing comments, but it is discontinued. Really. Ridiculous.

So, I hied me to Amazon to see what I could get shipped free w/ Prime. After much inner dithering (Maximizer, maximizer!!!) I settled on an old-style plain-Jane Rubbermaid. It was $24, which seemed rather high, but it was the one that looked like it would be the sturdiest in the size I wanted. I thought it was strange that it said that the original list price was $79 and it was a huge percentage off. Odd. $79 for a laundry basket? But then, I saw a little note that said, “This item ships in packages of eight.” Ok, yes, please, eight matching baskets at $3 each would be very nice. We sort into our laundry baskets and use them to transport folded laundry to the bedrooms and dirty laundry down two flights of stairs to the basement. Eight would give us a bit of overabundance, but with two boys headed to college in the next year or so I knew we would find uses for all.

When a huge Amazon box arrived two days later, I was reassured that, indeed, my eight shiny new laundry baskets were inside, but when I hefted it, I doubted. I opened it. Alas and alack! One lonely basket, swathed in paper and bubble pillows nestled inside. I was not best pleased to see what my $24 had gotten me.

I contacted the Amazon seller. They said it was Amazon’s fault – incorrect text on the page. I contacted Amazon. They it was the seller’s fault, but they offered me a couple of options – to return for full refund or keep and be credited $21, making my one basket cost $3.

Fine, but I was still not in possession of enough matching baskets to satisfy my picky self. The search continued. I tried less-obvious local places like hardware and dollar stores. No luck.

After spending probably more than six hours spread over a couple of weeks in the search for the perfect laundry basket(s), I ended up back at Walmart where I’d begun, looking at the four choices Sterilite had for my shopping pleasure. I hemmed and I hawed. I mentally carried them up and down our stairs and estimated whether a full basket equaled a load of wash with our machine. I imagined each family member’s stack of folded laundry in each basket – would it fit? I talked to myself. Passersby stared openly, and I wanted to yell at them, “Hey! What you lookin’ at? This is laundry, here. Do you know how much of my life is spent doing laundry? I’ve gotta get this thing right!” I refrained, however, because I worried someone might call security and break my concentration.

After asking times four,: Will it work? Will I be happy, which of course is the biggest question for the maximizer, I finally settled on this baby, a square Sterilite number, for $6.50. I bought six in basic white.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I wed myself to the new baskets, and we are adjusting to each other pretty satisfactorily. The old falling-apart baskets are stacked off to the side in the basement laundry area in case the new relationship doesn’t take, but I think they’ll be making that great trip to the curb soon. And the Amazon $24 Rubbermaid? I decided if I could get the $21 refund, I’d rather not bother to pack it up and ship it back, since I might need to borrow a truck to take the box to UPS. For $3, I can donate it and take it off my taxes, or more likely it can accompany somebody to college.

I was looking through some old photos the other day and realized the old baskets have been with our family for at least 17 years. I guess that’s a pretty good lifespan for a laundry basket. I hope the new models last at least that long – I’m not sure I can go through this again anytime soon.