Laundry - Hannah

I know. It's not the most exciting topic. I only post it because I go about the process differently than I do at home, so it might be somewhat interesting, and also because it does occupy a bit of my time.

Before we bought our washing machine, we used this sink. I actually quite like it, and wish I had something like it at home. It's nice and big, and even since we've gotten the washing machine, I use it often for pre-treating stains. The blue soap is awesome for stain removal. I plan to stock up before we come home.

Originally, we bought a low-end, inexpensive automatic washing machine. Since we're only here temporarily, we figured it would work well enough. It worked for a few washes, but then started rocking out of control once it hit the spin cycle, and then it would shut off. So we ended up exchanging it for a Latin American style non-automatic washing machine. I didn't realize non-automatic washing machines existed.

But here it is:

You put your load of laundry in the tub, along with some detergent, and then fill it up with water, using the hose.

You then set the controls to wash for however long you want. I usually set it for 15 minutes.

After the cycle ends, you then drain the water by setting the "Drain Selector" to "Drain." Once it's finished draining, you set the "Drain Selector" back to "Wash Rinse" (it is handy that the instructions are also in English). You then fill up the tub again using the hose, and set the timer to however long you want it to rinse.

After the laundry is rinsed, you put it into the spinner. It's not a dryer with heat, but acts essentially like a salad spinner and spins the laundry until it's damp, but not dripping.

After it is spun, you hang it up on the line to dry. Here's the final display, minus the underwear. Although our neighbors can see the underwear, I thought it best that everyone with internet access could not.

One of the problems I run into is that there is no hot water for the laundry, so certain things don't tend to clean very well. Every now and then, I'll boil a pot of hot water, dump it in a bucket, and let a few things soak. 

Also, I often run out of room on the lines. So I improvise. Around here, you often see laundry draped over fences, bushes, chairs, and whatever else is standing up.

And there you have it. You now know way more than you ever wanted to about how I do my laundry.