Please, sir, DO NOT bring your own bags in my line ...

[Pixelated]

Please, NO FRATCHING ...

So a guy comes through my line today with his own bags, most of them cloth bags. And I start pulling them apart so I can start packing his stuff.

And they absolutely reek of cigarette smoke. I mean at a gag-inducing level.

And here's the irony: I and my two siblings grew up in a household with two parents who were heavy, HEAVY lifelong smokers. So for about two decades for each of us, this was just literally part of the home atmosphere.

I guess I'm well past that stage, eh ...

The customer was a nice guy so I didn't want to say anything. But sir, please ... if nothing else, toss those bags in the laundry now and again!!

[notalwaysright]

One time when I was at the smaller grocery store where the cashiers bagged (instead of having baggers or having the customers do it) the cashier actually complemented me because my canvas bag was so clean. I suppose you could tell the bag was very well worn, wrinkled and just used looking but not dirty looking? All I could think was, what kind of nasty bags had just come through for her to comment on that? Yuck!

[greek_jester]

One time when I was at the smaller grocery store where the cashiers bagged (instead of having baggers or having the customers do it) the cashier actually complemented me because my canvas bag was so clean.

My cloth bags are stained like anything. I've put them through multiple washes and those marks just won't come out.

[Trixie]

There's still a difference between an old stained bag that's still clean and a bag that hasn't been washed ever. I had one guy who used to come in that had a bag that I felt like I needed a shower after ringing him up. It had some ripped up inner lining and it looked okay but I just hated touching it. The guy was also kinda dirty so that didn't help it either.

[Pixelated]

One time when I was at the smaller grocery store where the cashiers bagged (instead of having baggers or having the customers do it) the cashier actually complemented me because my canvas bag was so clean. I suppose you could tell the bag was very well worn, wrinkled and just used looking but not dirty looking? All I could think was, what kind of nasty bags had just come through for her to comment on that? Yuck!

These were about on par with another set of bags I had some weeks ago ... they smelled musty, possibly moldy, and had a faint whiff of food that had sat in them FAR too long. I'm far from a germophobe but jeez ... somebody puts their FOOD in these things??

I've had a couple of incidents of produce going bad in reuseable bags but ... I wash the bags.

There's still a difference between an old stained bag that's still clean and a bag that hasn't been washed ever. I had one guy who used to come in that had a bag that I felt like I needed a shower after ringing him up. It had some ripped up inner lining and it looked okay but I just hated touching it. The guy was also kinda dirty so that didn't help it either.

Yes. Spots are one thing; stuff happens and you can't always remove the evidence. But there's a big difference between a well-used bag with marks on it and bags that just ... whiff.

[notalwaysright]

I'm pretty sure my bag does have some small stains from berries, but yeah you can tell they are just plain dyed into the canvas and not actually dirty. I tend to use those plastic-y bags that you can wipe down, because they stand up on their own. Every once in a while I spray with Lysol because why not. I haven't bought a reusable bag in probably a year or more now.

[Buzzard]

A used bag, fine. A stained bag, also fine. A well-worn, battered veteran of way too many trips to everywhere, STILL fine.
A bag that stands up by itself (or moves) from the crud... Right, I got the gasoline and lighter here, it'll only take a moment.

[Pixelated]

A used bag, fine. A stained bag, also fine. A well-worn, battered veteran of way too many trips to everywhere, STILL fine.
A bag that stands up by itself (or moves) from the crud... Right, I got the gasoline and lighter here, it'll only take a moment.

Next time I run into one of those bags I will start giggling uncontrollably and it's going to be all your fault, Buzzard ...

I did see one other bag that I was worried about, but not for health reasons: it was VERY old and VERY battered and looked as if it would disintegrate on the spot if you put anything heavier than a bag of potato chips in it.

[Monterey Jack]

I don't get people who will hang onto reusable bags until they're literally in tatters and stained with God-knows-what when you can buy a new one for FIFTY CENTS. If you use one fifty times, that's MORE than good enough for the environment.

[telecom_goddess]

Now I used to smoke, for 40 years and by some miracle managed to quit over a year ago. What is he doing that BAGS smell that bad of cigarettes? Smoking with them over his head?

[Jetfire]

I don't get people who will hang onto reusable bags until they're literally in tatters and stained with God-knows-what when you can buy a new one for FIFTY CENTS. If you use one fifty times, that's MORE than good enough for the environment.

Up here, if you have the Sobeys reusable bags, they will switch them for you for free. So if your bag is falling apart or otherwise becoming unusable, just mention it (if the cashier doesn't by themselves) and they'll switch for you.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Now I used to smoke, for 40 years and by some miracle managed to quit over a year ago. What is he doing that BAGS smell that bad of cigarettes? Smoking with them over his head?

Just being in the same room as a smoker will coat the bags with smoke residue.

For example, my wife's uncle smoked 2-4 packs a day until he died at the age of 86. I have a pair of bookends that sat in his apartment all that time. They were a monk in brownish-red robes sitting and reading a brown book. Except they were dusty. I went to rinse the dust off, the water turned brown and the bookend turned into a monk in a bright red robe reading a green/gold book.

[telecom_goddess]

Ok well I didn't smoke that much it was under a pack a day, and towards the latter 20 years it was more outside than in. I love smoking, and I miss it, but I couldn't handle that much....good gravy.

[Trixie]

When my sister moved into her first house her mother-in-law took open a pair of curtains that were left behind from the previous owners. They went into the washer brown and came out orange.

[Pixelated]

I have a gauzy window panel from my mom's house. It was originally snow-white. It's now a gross greyish-brown ... and that's after being washed once.

I mentioned it to a professional cleaner and she was doubtful they could do much with it.

I will likely launder it a few more times and then take it to another professional (first one has retired ) and tell them to do their best. I've got a swatch of the original material that was locked away in my mother's cedar chest and the difference between the two is actually kinda heart-breaking.