A few days after we arrived at the Old Dairy, I noted that it was time to do a little laundry. I opened up the kitchen cabinet that houses the washer/dryer combination.
Yes, I said in the kitchen cabinet. It's next to the mini-fridge cabinet!
Yes, I said washer/dryer combination. I had never seen such a thing.
I foolishly thought, "Well, I've been doing laundry on some level since I went to college... this should be simple." We had already purchased some detergent. Then I looked at the array of buttons and knobs.
Um. What? I wasn't overly startled by the temperatures listed in Celsius, although I wasn't really sure what constituted "hot" vs "warm" vs "cold." After staring for awhile, I figured the "cotton" symbol probably meant natural fibers, and the "beaker" symbol probably meant synthetics. The "speeding clock" would appear to mean a fast cycle? Beyond that, I was lost. How do you turn the dryer part on? After several failed attempts to find a manual for the machine online, I ended up calling Jennie, the proprietor of the Old Dairy, and she sent over another worker to help us out. Unfortunately, he didn't know much more than I did, but together we figured out that the 40* C settings would probably be fine for most loads of wash, and that pushing the "sunshine" button several times would start a drying cycle after the wash. OK.
Well, we found out that even on the "quick" setting, the wash cycle takes about 2 hours to complete, then the drying cycle lasts as long as you tell it. After trial and error, with frequent need to re-dry clothing, I have mostly figured out how to get clean clothes :) The machine sounds a bit like it's going to take flight when it starts the spin cycle (over 1000 rpm). No major mishaps until last night, when I washed a load of red/pink garments.
After staring aghast at Charlotte's adorable 1st Birthday onesie, I *think* what happened is that my purple sports bra (which I have washed many times before!) was up against the onesie when the spin cycle started, and dye started flinging onto the onesie at whatever speed 1000 rpm produces. Surprisingly, of the entire load, only an old pair of socks was also affected. Since the load had been on a wash + dry cycle, I figured the stain was set in, but Paul encouraged me to put it in the washer again just in case. This morning, I woke to find this!
I am amazed! I guess 1000 rpm gets stains out pretty well too :)
Needless to say, I'm hoping for a more familiar washer and separate tumble dryer to grace our new place once we move in! And if you made it this far through a post about laundry, well done. :-P
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