Have you ever washed anything you really wished you hadn't?

Once , many years ago when money was tight , I saved up to buy the wool to knit myself a jumper. It was a speciality wool very very fluffy , almost long haired and needed very careful hand washing.

I came home one day to find DH practically cowering under the table. Yes, you got it ....he had machine washed it.

It was the size of a Barbie doll jumper.

I actually cried !!

Yes, heard about the ticket on yesterday's news and thought that it doesn't sound too hopeful as a lot of key info has been washed away.
Oh dear ... the emoticons do not cover that one!!!

Yes, the cat! It was a fluffy cat, and it never looked the same again.

Also, now that I think about it, a soft toy bear, when the DC were young and dropped it in the mud during a walk.I put it in the machine, and although clean as a whistle it emerged with it's head hanging down, and stayed that way.Looked a bit macabre and the DC didn't like it anymore.

OH machine washed the Arran jumper which had taken me months to knit. Any tips on what to do with a felted jumper, please?

The cat was a real one, and was washed in the bath and then showered off.
Only time it ever had a bath.

oh Oldgoat I so feel your pain on this one !! Even 30 years later DH wont put anything knitted in the machine without written approval !!

Recently, dark red sheet ( new) got put in with white towels wash ( not by me!) result, pale pink towels.

DS blames wife, wife blames him and I spent ages getting his pink shirt back to its original white.

Years ago, our playgroup used to have a nearly-new stall at the local market. I had donated my daughter's best cardigan, hand-washed, but maybe a bit wider than it was originally. I watched a granny pick up the garment, turn up her nose, and say ' somebody isn't a very good washer'.
I just tutted in agreement. Wonder if she noticed my red cheeks?

DD's handknit mohair cardigan, bought by her from a craft fair in Ireland for far too much a lot of money.
I did put it in a bag and on a cool wash but it came out as a shrunken tight ball. When it was unravelled it was a completely different shape and would have fit a four year old.

I put DH's wallet into the washing machine once (well, he shouldn't have left it in his pocket should he!).
It had a very vigorous wash and rinse in DD's top loader. The cards were nice and clean, the money was fine because it was that new-fangled Australian polymer money and the leather did seem to survive with a bit of polishing .

My Mum, not the greatest at knitting, made a lovely matinee jacket for DD1. It had a very intricate pattern but one arm was about 2" longer than the other - something I did not draw her attention to at the time . I inadvertently put it in a hot wash with the towelling nappies and, like Nanandgrampy's jumper, it shrank. Didn't even fit a baby doll. I was never allowed to forget that one.....

My mobile, which had been in the back pocket of my cords. And then there was the maternity pinafore dress my mum had made for me. She didn't tell me it was pure wool. After a wash, it might have fitted a three year old. It took a lot of courage to admit this sacrilege to my mum and I couldn't even blame the OH.

I ruined a machine load of clothes last month. I absent mindedly set a wash & dry cycle instead of wash only, and shrunk the lot.

felted aran jumper , cut off the sleeves , sew into a square ... voila a cushion cover

In the sixties, I had a beautiful pink crepe dress with bands of purple trim round the hem, sleeves, and neck. Dry cleaning didn't remove a beer stain, so I decided to wash it. It looked fine hanging on the line, but when it dried, the bands had stayed the same size, but the dress had shrunk to a fraction of its original size.

On the other hand, my father used to wash everything, as he believed dry cleaning was a waste of money. Oddly enough, he never had any mishaps.

I'm with your Dad *Daddima but with my dishwasher.

Everything goes in there and if it gets ruined well I never wanted it in the first place

I had a lovely pale pink angora jumper when I was around 18. My mum put it in the washing machine and it shrank. I can remember being very annoyed, but now I think what a spoilt brat I was because my mum did all my washing and ironing, and without a word of thanks.

Washing jumpers - my experience was the opposite. It didn't shrink, it stretched.
I had knitted the jumper with a very thick loosely twined wool, or something synthetic, and it was too big. So I put it in a hot wash and instead of shrinking the strands of wool untwined and it came out much bigger, even a few holes
I was never a good knitter, and this put me off completely.

A couple of pedometers, plenty of tissues (angry) and a beautiful soft suede skirt (sob).

Why is it that I ignored all the obviously wise advice online that suede cannot be washed, and believed the one clown/nutter that said she always washed suede because, after all, cows don't shrink in the rain.

Or rather,

Recently washed a Phase Eight jumper on a 30 wash that should have been hand washed. Might now just about fit 2 year old DGD! I don't usually spend that much on a casual top and needless to say probably never will again.
Oh and yes the washing of stray tissues makes me want to scream.

I have often washed DH'S wallet and season ticket. He is a dab hand at sourcing replacements. His fault for leaving them in the pockets of trousers that he puts in the washing basket.
I have had success too with washing dry clean only evening dresses on a delicate wash. Yesterday I did the same with a fabric handbag and it has come up as good as new!