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| My Laundry Basket |
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Laundry. Basic, every day activity - right?
Wrong. I love laundry, I have always enjoyed doing laundry (that may make me really weird) - it isn't much different here, I still enjoy doing it ... it just takes a lot more work.
In this post I hope to help you understand how such a simple every day task can be so time and energy consuming. I do laundry about 1x every 2 weeks. This is possible because I basically wear the same clothes all week, so that way I don't have as much to wash - and it is perfectly acceptable here to do so.
So, here we go - off on a laundry adventure...
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| Meet my washing machine |
The washing machine. Our washing machine has 2 sides, one for washing and rinsing, and one for spinning (there is no dryer). The machine lives in the kitchen, because to use it you must have access to a faucet and a drain (see future steps to understand more).
STEP 1: Move the washing machine into place. The best position for it to be in is as close to the sink as possible.
STEP 2: Place the hose (see step 1 picture) in the drain in the floor. This is a very, very, very important step. I once forgot this step, I nearly had a flood in the kitchen.
STEP 3: (This step is interchangeable with step 2) Plug the washing machine in.
STEP 4: MAKE SURE IT IS SET TO NOT DRAIN THE WATER! This step is also important, if you don't make sure the water is set to stay in the machine, you won't get much further than this step.
STEP 5: Shove the hose onto the faucet, and make sure it doesn't fall off. Once the hose is in place, and the other end of the hose is in the machine (see next picture), turn on the water.
This is where you should make sure that the machine is close enough to the sink so that the hose is pretty stable and no water is dripping from the hose to the floor.
STEP 6: Add the detergent. But be careful, you don't need as much as you think. This is still a step I am perfecting. I often use too much, and then when I try to use less - I don't use enough.
Using too much detergent will result in you having to either rinse the clothes about 2948134790327 times, or hand rinsing them one item at a time in the sink because there is no other way to get rid of the soap.... and if you use hot water (out of the shower), use even less detergent - because it just makes it super sudsy.
STEP 7: Add the clothes, and wait til the water covers them completely. (This could take a while)
Step 8: Locate the drying rack (it is usually in Sarah's room, so it isn't too hard to find)
Step 9: Set up the drying rack, strategically placing it where you will not trip over it, it does not block your path (much) to anything you might need, and in front of the heater.
Step 10: When it is (finally!) full, turn off the faucet.
Step 11: Remove the hose from the faucet and hold it straight up in the air above the clothes to drain the hose of water, not doing this may result in a wet floor... then just put the hose in the sink, you're gonna need it later.
Step 12: Turn the machine on. It has options (it's just a timer basically) to go up to 15 min I think. Nobody got time for that. I usually put it on 8 or 9, and end up turning it off by the time it hits 2 or 3. There is no agitator, as you can see in previous pictures - the disc on the bottom just twists back and forth, making your clothes into one big knot of a mess.
I have learned that things like underwear items, tank tops, and socks are better off in a mesh bag where they can't wrap themselves around everything.
Step 13: After you have turned the machine on, you are going to want to put the lid on - to keep the water inside the machine.
Step 14: While it is washing you can go and turn on the heater that you so smartly set your drying rack in front of - to get the room warmed up a bit (the heater is not a necessary step in the summer or warmer months).
Step 15: Please note the color of the water. This is actually pretty light for what it usually is. It is often black, it's nasty. This is where you will drain the water out of this half of the machine, and get ready to use the spin side.
Step 16: The spin side. I am impressed by how well this works. Clothes come out of this a little more than damp, it's quite nice. You open it up first - both lids.
The inside of the spinner side. Nothing too fancy.
Step 17: Place as many clothes as you can (or feel like it can handle) in the spinning side - I usually can't get a whole load in at once, especially if I have something heavier like jeans or towels in the load.
Step 18: Press down. This helps to balance it. You may have to redo this step if the machine makes a really loud banging noise when you start it, that means it's off balance and you need to fix it.
Step 19: Close the lid. Important, because this side of the machine will not operate unless that lid is closed. It's about the only safety feature on this machine... actually I think it is the only safety feature in our kitchen.
Step 20: Another timer! This time though it is for the spinner side. It only goes to a max of like 8 min I think. I never go past 3 or 4. And I stop it before it gets to 1 usually.
Step 21: Remove clothes from spinner. Now repeat steps 17, 18, 19, and 20 (and 21) with the other half of the load.
While that is going on you can do this optional step. I just happened to look down into the machine and notice that there was quite a bit of dirt just sitting on the bottom, left over from the water I drained.
So I reattached the hose to the faucet....
Put the other end of the hose in the machine and started to rinse it all out.
Notice the difference.
Sometimes while using the hose it will fall off the faucet, often making water go everywhere. When this happens, just place the hose back on the faucet and continue on.
This is where I store the lid to the washing machine while I am not using it. Yes, that is my stove.
Step 22: Place all clothes back into the (now clean) machine and fill with water. DON'T FORGET TO TURN THE DRAIN KNOB OFF!! This is the start to your "rinse" cycle.
Here we go.
And Ta-Da! Rinsed clothes. Please note again the color of the water that just "rinsed" my clothes....
Step 23: Repeat steps 17-21 with the spinner side again.
Remember to push down really good, make it balance well.
Step 24: Clean the lint net. The lint net is attached to the inside of the washing side, just pop it off, take it to the trash can and get the nasty stuff out of the inside of it. Marvelous. Then replace it with a pop back into the washing machine.
Step 25: You have completed using the washing side. So place the hose and the lid inside - you have no more need for them either.
Step 26: As you pull the clothes out of the spinner (both the 1st and 2nd, and sometimes 3rd time - just to get all the clothes spun) you can do what I do and pile them up so they are ready to go to their next spot.
Step 27: Unplug the machine.
Step 28: Replace the cord on the hook on the machine.
Step 29: Pull the hose out of the drain, make sure you shake as much water out as possible to prevent puddles.
Step 30: Place hose on its hook on the machine.
Step 31: Move the washing machine back to its place against the wall.
Step 32: Pick up your pile of clothes and head to the bedroom (it used to be the porch, where there are poles to hang clothes on - but they are currently broken)
Step 33: I personally do this step, I lay the pile on top and start working from the top of it.
Step 34: Hang all clothes - I didn't have a huge load this time so I actually didn't use all of the drying rack. Usually I have so many clothes they are almost layered on some of the poles.
Step 35: Wait for 12-24 hours until all clothes are dry - the heater helps... but since the heater (like mine) is known to be a possible fire hazard you can not leave it on all the time.
Step 36: Take clothes off rack and fold them.
Step 37: Put away clothes
Step 38: Remove the drying rack that has taken over the whole room for the past day and return it to Sarah's room.
Tired yet?
If you get lazy and put laundry off too long, it becomes a bigger hassle... cause then you have so many clothes it will take 5 loads to wash them all... it's too much. I don't bother sorting clothes, it's of no use. I only wash in cold water, and because things get twisted around each other they get rather stretched out at times. And because I have no dryer, they don't get back to normal shape... my jeans don't really fit anymore - actually most of my pants don't really fit anymore, and my sweater sleeves have all gotten longer.
But that is ok, cause I am here for a reason - and clothes are not that important in the long run anyway.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed our little laundry adventure. I'm gonna go take a nap.
