Mother-in-law gets even with entitled husband by refusing to do his laundry for 50 years: 'If someone else is doing your laundry for you, say "Thank you"'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 20, 2025 3:00 PM EST

Laundry is one of those chores that you have to do all the time for your whole entire life. From the time you're a teen until you're too old to do chores anymore, you're going to have to do laundry. You can be the cleanest person in the world, but it doesn't matter! You'll still have a pile of dirty clothing to wash every few weeks if you want to smell nice. 

Some of us find ourselves at the laundromat every week, sitting on benches, watching the washer spin our clothing around and around. If you have a washer and dryer in your home, that's even luckier! You can just put your clothing in, then go about your day. Sure, you've got to transfer the wet clothing to the dryer still, but at least you can chill out on your own couch watching TV until that spin cycle is completed. The best scenario is having someone else do your laundry for you! Unless you're a little baby, you probably play some role in the laundering process, even if that's just sorting your clothing and carrying it to the laundry room so your parents can do that chore for you. 

For this woman, in a relationship in the 1970s, it was basically expected that she would clean up after her new husband. But as you can read all about below, she quickly turned the tables on this dude after he treated her a bit unkindly. Good for her for teaching him a valuable lesson early into their marriage! 

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  • 01
    Woman in white shirt sits in front of washer in laundry room with hand under chin
    via PlanetCare for Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    This is my mother in laws (MIL) story that she told me right after my husband and I got married.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 03
    She and my father in law (FIL) got married fairly young back in the 70's when it was still normal for the wife to do most of the chores at home.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 04
    When MIL did FIL's clothes for the first time after moving in together after the wedding FIL stated that this, that and the other was not done correctly and if
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 05
    MIL could do his preferred way. (i.e. the way his mother taught him.) MIL wanting to be a good bride tried to do it the way FIL
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 06
    said but FIL came back with more notes on how his laundry wasn't done correctly.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 07
    MIL then asked FIL to show her exactly how to do the laundry; so FIL goes to the washer and puts everything in and does the laundry step by
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 08
    step. When the washer was done, FIL shows MIL how to do the dryer. When the dryer was done shows her how to correctly iron everything.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 09
    MIL says perfect now that we know you can do your own laundry I can get the rest of the housework done.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 10
    Almost 50 years later she has never done his laundry.
    via u/RedMirricat
  • 11

    Other people shared their own family stories:

    EaddyAcres My mother used to work while my dad stayed home since he'd already put in his 20 in the airforce. My brother figured out laundry pretty young because he loves red shirts, and we hated pink socks
    via u/EaddyAcres
  • 12
    TheFilthyDIL The most dangerous thing a new spouse can say is "That's not the way my mother does it!" UNLESS it's immediately followed by "Your way is lots better!"
    via u/TheFilthyDIL
  • 13
    OtherwiseAd4842 One occasion my ex washed the laundry with deep fryer grease. I had put the cold oil in a detergent bottle to throw out. The real detergent was with the laundry supplies, not under the kitchen sink. If you're reading this... I really miss that sweater.
    via u/OtherwiseAd4842
  • 14
    No_Talk_4836 If someone else is doing your laundry for you, say thank you and don't knit pick. Though to his credit he can do laundry.
    via u/No_Talk_4836
  • 15
    Arachnidiot I once knew a woman who got married in the 70s. She said she told her husband, "I can be good in one room. You get to pick which room." They got a cleaning woman, and he cooked.
    via u/Arachnidiot
  • 16
    SimRayB I was married when I enlisted in the military. My wife cleaned and ironed my uniforms a couple of times. I informed her that the needed to be ironed differently because they didn't follow military regulation on "dress and appearance." For the remainder of my military career, I either did my own laundry or took them to the base laundry to have them done.
    via u/SimRayB
  • 17
    virtual_gnus This is exactly why I don't criticize things my wife does around the house. She's a domestic engineer, while I earn the paycheck, but if I don't like how she does something, then it's on me to do it. I'm perfectly capable of doing it, and so I have no high ground from which to criticize.
    via u/virtual_gnus
  • 18
    Woman in white shirt, blue slacks, and black heels sits in white chair and puts hand under chin thoughtfully
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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