Clean Clothes

Living in the country, laundromats required major effort to ready. You had to gather all the laundry together and haul it several miles. For this reason, we always had our own washers and dryers when I was growing up. When I went off to college, there were washers and dryers in the basement of my dorm. The main difference from doing laundry at home was having enough change to feed the machines. Linen was provided in the room and board contract, so I only had to strip the bed, round up my towels and take the pile down to stand in the laundry line once a week. I was then presented with a clean, neatly folded stock of linen.

Moving into an apartment supplied a dose of culture shock. My roommates had always lived in cities and were accustomed to laundromats. For me, it was a daunting task; especially now that linen, blankets, dishtowels, etc. needed to be hauled with detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets and something to read or work on while waiting for the clothes to be done. Then everything needed to be carted back to the apartment!

When my husband and I first moved into our own apartment, he decided to remedy the clothes washing situation. He put up a clothesline from our second-floor balcony to the garage so I could dry my clothes. Then he got an old washing machine from his mother’s barn! By old I mean it was a wringer washing machine!

First. I loaded the machine with clothes and soap. The I filled the tub with water using a hose hooked to the kitchen faucet. Once it filled to the proper level, I turned off the water and flipped the motor on. Swish-a-swish-swish and the agitator washed the clothes. After a while I turned the motor off and lowered the drain hose into the sink, letting gravity drain the machine. Then I refilled the tub with water to rinse away the soap and grime. Swish-a-swish; drain; repeat at least once more. Now I passed each piece of clothing through the wringer at least twice to squeeze out all the water.

Not done yet, I took the clothes out to the porch and hung them on the line being careful not to drop any onto the dirt below. (In the winter they were freeze dried into stiff boards.) Most of the time I ended up ironing everything, included underwear, to soften the items up.

I suppose this sounds like more work than hauling everything to the laundromat, but actually I felt this way was worth it.

I was married in July and my birthday is the end of November. My birthday present that first year was a brand -new washer and dryer set!