EVERYTHING IN MY HOUSE WAS CHOSEN. THE LAUNDRY BASKET JUST TURNED UP. THIS IS A LETTER ABOUT THE ONE I FINALLY CHOSE
Six things this quilted basket gets right that twenty-six years of plastic never did, from a woman who had not thought about her laundry basket once until she saw somebody else's.
Pat Holloway · Customer · Leeds · 5 min read
I am 68, I keep a tidy house, and I want to start with an admission. Everything in that house was chosen. The curtains were deliberated over for a fortnight. The cushions were auditioned. Even the doormat had a shortlist. And the laundry basket, which I look at every single day of my life, is a cracked plastic thing that came off a garage forecourt in about 1998 and simply never left. I never chose it. It turned up, and it stayed.
The basket I am writing about is called the Honey Daisy Bee Laundry Basket. I first saw it on the landing at my friend Vera's house, full of towels and standing there as smartly as a piece of furniture.
Mine, on my own landing now. I assumed Vera's was decorative. It was full of towels.
Here is what twenty-six years with the plastic one taught me. A laundry basket lives in two states. Shoved out of sight when anyone knocks because it is frankly an embarrassment, or on display by accident because you were halfway through the towels when the doorbell went.
I chose the curtains, the cushions and the doormat. The thing I actually touch every day just turned up in 1998.
This basket is the first one I have ever owned on purpose, and having filled it, carried it, wiped it and folded it away for a month, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. It popped up standing and has not slumped since.
IT STANDS UP ON ITS OWN, EVEN EMPTY
The quilted sides hold their shape whether it is full of towels or holding nothing at all. No slumping, no sagging into a heap in the corner.
Empty or full it stands there like a piece of furniture. The plastic one went to the tip the same week.
THE ARTWORK WRAPS ALL THE WAY ROUND
The bee and the daisies go right round the basket, so there is no wrong side to turn to the wall. Wherever you put it down, whichever way it lands, it is facing the right way.
The bee, close up, with the honeycomb quilting behind it.
There is no bad side to hide against the wall. The bee faces the door and every visitor comments.
THE HANDLES ARE STITCHED ON PROPERLY
Two padded fabric handles, securely stitched, that a full load of wet washing has not troubled. They do not bite into your fingers on the stairs the way a cracked plastic rim does.
The cuff and one of the handles. Padded, stitched, and kind to your hands.
Carried a full wash down two flights and the handles did not so much as creak.
QUILTED AND SOFT, BUT IT WIPES CLEAN
The premium quilted material is soft to the touch but handles everyday splashes well, wipes clean with a damp cloth and can be washed properly when it needs it.
Splashed by the sink twice a week for a month. Wipes off with a cloth and looks new.
IT FOLDS FLAT WHEN YOU WANT IT GONE
Lightweight, and it folds down flat to slide under the bed or into the cupboard, then pops back up standing when it is needed again.
Folded flat and under the bed when my son visits with the dog. Pops back up like nothing happened.
THREE SIZES, AND THIRTY DESIGNS
A small for the bathroom, a medium for the bedroom, a large for the family wash. The honey bee is just one of many designs in the collection.
Medium for the bedroom and the small for the bathroom. The prettiest useful things I own.
THIS BASKET, AGAINST THE ONE THAT JUST TURNED UP
Nobody buys a laundry basket on purpose. That is the problem. One arrives, somehow, and stays for decades. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Cracked rim that bites your fingers
Shoved away when anyone knocks
Slumps, splits and yellows with age
One ugly side, then the other
Never chosen, never liked
Padded stitched handles
Stays out and gets asked about
Stands upright, even empty
Artwork wraps right around
Chosen on purpose
ABOUT THE PRICE
The small basket is £34.95 at the moment, from £70.00. The medium is £37.95 from £76.00, and the large is £41.95 from £80.00.
I read the reviews before ordering. The same things mentioned above kept appearing again and again in other customers' experiences.
On duty by the machine.
If your laundry basket also just turned up one day and stayed, this is the one I would put in your hands myself.
Pat
HONEY | DAISY BEE LAUNDRY BASKET
- ✓ Stands upright on its own, even empty
- ✓ Bee and daisy artwork wrapping all the way round
- ✓ Padded, securely stitched fabric handles
- ✓ Soft quilted material that wipes clean
- ✓ Folds flat when not needed
- ✓ Multiple sizes and designs available
Popular designs may sell out first.