1. First there was the laundry mat. I dreamed of doing laundry at home.
2. Then we bought an apartment-sized washer and dryer. It was quite a process: dragging the machine to the sink to fill it and empty it, and running the dryer two hours to get the stuff dried. But it was at home!
3. Sometimes the washer would shake like crazy on spin. In one second story apartment I draped my body over the machine during spin cycles to try and calm the intense spinning in order to keep the downstairs landlady from coming up to ask about the house shaking. And always at attention during the drain cycle to be sure the return water did not overflow the kitchen sink!
4. Living in Africa: a new wringer washer. I would load the washer with the hose. When finished I would place each garment through the (electric) wringer, watching my fingers carefully. It would go into a metal tub filled with rinse water. The boys used to love to help, catching the clothes as they came through the wringer and sloshing them into the rinse tup. Then through the wringer again, into the laundry basket. Then out on the line it would go. I always hoped things would dry before afternoon rains came up. Sometimes the wash would hang for a day or two, getting extra "rinse cycles"--and great bleaching in the African sun. (And that laundry included cloth diapers for our baby!)
5. When the power was off we'd do wash by hand, in a bucket, or better yet, agitating it with our bare feet in a bath tub.
6. In recent years, I've enjoyed a "normal" wash situation--that is a regular washer and dryer. Except--a poor hook up in our current house led to overflow floods of the drain system ... spoiling our floor.
7. Thankfully with our newest machines, the installers finally figured out how to fix that, and ... I think we're good! Finally, after so many years. I always felt God was teaching me things through my turbulant wash days. But I'm sure there will be new ways for lessons to be learned!
Photos: our boys playing in the rinse tub many years ago.
Reminds me of something that happened here, several years ago. We'd always had driers, mostly used, and our new one we'd gotten shortly before we moved here (20 years ago), had died. Before we could afford to replace it, I had to begin hanging out the clothes.
ReplyDeleteMan, I belly-ached about that WORK! :) Funny thing is that now 90% of our clothes are hung out, with only the small things and oldest son's work clothes going in the dryer now. It only runs once a day versus maybe 4+ times.
Cheaper too. And yes, I did learn my lesson. :)
Wash day, in my mother's day was pure drudgery! I remember, as a 12 year old going out into the frigid winter sunshine to take my brother's diapers off the line. They'd be frozen into boards which would be 'finished' off in the basement, next to the furnace. I could never figure out why they couldn't just dry down there from the start!
ReplyDeleteI remember my grandma's winger washer and her cloth lines with pure joy,but I bet she did not feel that way about them !
ReplyDeleteI still line dry . It is always warm where I live.
Dottie
Hi Dotsie...
ReplyDeleteI just read your sweet note and came right over, my friend! You know, I would just love to have you sit at that table and dine with me! I think we would have much to talk about. Maybe our laundry experiences...for one thing. Hehe! You know, I have been through all those same experiences...with the exception of having to use a wringer washing machine, but I did help my Grandma when I was little with hers. Of course she would never let me get near the wringer but she would hand me the piece of clothing from the wringer to put into the basket. I also remember doing all my wash at a laundry mat...having babies and lots of wash to do...eeks! But going to the laundry mat was even better than standing in the bathtub trying to agitate a tub full of clothes...because we didn't have the money to go to the laundry mat! Ohhh my...your post has brought back sooo many wash day memories! I thank the Lord for the conveniences that I have today!
Thanks so much for coming by for a visit today, dear friend! I loved your sweet note and had to come right over!
Warmest autumn wishes,
Chari @Happy To Design
Yes, so many things have become easier, and yet, many things are more complicated!
ReplyDeleteI read your comment about Soup Parties. I went to a great one Sunday and she did a post about it...over at The Tablescapers blog.
And come visit , you are in tonight's poem. :)
SOOOO interesting! Glad you have been able to enjoy your new washer and dryer without those draining problems!
ReplyDeleteOur set was perfect for 17 years - not a bit of trouble til they really died. Our new set? We've had several repair men out in the past 8years.
ReplyDeleteLove the story!
Leann
We take so much for granted with our wonderful appliances. I am so glad your new are working.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving an answer. I am still working on fuzzy backgrounds.
Carol
Wow. I love that photo of your boys. So wonderful. And truly vintage! No photoshop necessary! This was such a great post. I get bogged down with the daily-ness of things like laundry and dishes. They never end! And I've only been married 1.5 years! I hope I have the attitude you do by the time I'm where you are in life. Hope to see each other soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely with you on this one. When I first came to Kuwait, I had to pour water from a bucket into an old washer which had a hose so it could drain into bathroom floor (all the kitchen and bathroom floors here have built in drains for water) and then I would have to wring out each piece and put it into a long cylinder so the rest of the water could spin out. Then up the stairs and onto the roof so I could hang out the clothes which would be like cardboard when I brought them in from the hot summer sun. :/ I am so glad those days are over and I have a nice washer and dryer that does all that it is supposed to do in a short amount of time. :) Hope you are having a great day! Tammy
ReplyDeleteWhites, lights and darks was how my mother separated out her laundry. She loved hanging clothes outside and judged our neighbors by how well their laundry looked on the line. In cold weather, she'd sometimes bring in clothing that was stiff as a board and let them "season" (thaw out) in the basement. She loved her Maytag wringer and lamented it's loss every time she used her new "automatic" washer. She didn't feel she had enough control over cleanliness with the automatic. Not me, I like pushing that button and having nice warm clothes from the dryer.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
Well that was quite the laundry story! Amazing! Missionary in Africa, now that is a story I would really love to hear too. Have you blog about that in the past? I could go back and read your posts. Your boys are so adorable.
ReplyDelete...and the button jar, just like my grandma's...I was so disappoint to find that gone missing over the years. Huh never thought of starting my own. Hope your week is less stressful <3