contents of a laundry basket near the washing machine 24 a pile of laundry placed on the top of the washing machine 24 or nearby dryer etc if in response to the scan s the rfid reader 22 receives the predetermined code 18 indicating that the non washable article 12 is in near the washing machine 24 the rfid reader 22 warns the user 16 by initiating an alarm 26 via an alarm system 28 in this way the rfid reader 22 preemptively warns the user 16 that the non washable article 12 is in a u201c washing u201d location in another embodiment rfid tags are attached to batteries for use in consumer electronics e g digital audio players pdas cellular telephones etc as depicted in fig2 for example the user 16 can install batteries 30 that include rfid tags 32 in a battery powered non washable article 34 the rfid tag 32 can for example be affixed to an outside surface of a battery 30 this saves the user 16 from having to modify the non washable article 34 itself e g by installing an rfid tag internally or disfiguring the non washable article 34 e g by affixing an rfid tag externally similarly a memory card 36 for storing data associated with e g used by generated by etc the non washable article 34 can include an rfid tag 38 this protects not only the non washable article 34 but also the memory card 36 itself the rfid tag.