Trials and Tribulations of Attempting to Wash Clothes

Most of my issues in this realm could be very simply solved by just going to the hausmeister and purchasing tokens for the washer/dryer. However, I have no desire to spent 5 Euro (at least) to do my laundry. There’s a lot of it, and judging by how small the washers look, I would probably have to do laundry once a week, and use two machines. Further upping the price of doing laundry. I would much rather take that 10 Euro I save a week and spend it on something fun, like food or museum tickets! Thus, we have the many trials and tribulations of attempting to hand-wash everything I own for the next 3 months (yes, that’s right, it’s already only 3 months!).

The first issue I faced was detergent. As in, I don’t have any. It’s a little difficult to clean your clothes by just getting them wet. If I followed that logic, I would have run out into that rainstorm and “washed” my outfit from the day. As it is, I learned from Mo that I can just use dish soap and it works just as well as detergent. Problem solved. I need dish soap, therefore I have it, and so it’s no strain to use just a little to wash my clothes.

The next issue I face is drying my clothes. This is one I’m still trying to figure out, even though I’ve already done 4 or 5 “loads” of laundry (the loads have to be small when hand washing). The first issue within this issue is where to hang my wet clothes after they’ve been soaped, soaked, rinsed, re-rinsed and strung out. I don’t really want puddles of water all over my apartment, and my balcony faces the street, so I really don’t want to hang it out to dry out there (I’m on the first floor… also, have I mentioned the random rainstorms?). There is a little towel warming rack in the bathroom (or perhaps it’s a radiator, I’m not quite sure). In any case, it’s the perfect length to fit 4 days worth of socks and underwear and 3 tank tops/shirts. Provided I’ve already taken my shower for the day (and if I haven’t, I do while the clothes are soaking) I can hang two more shirts on the shower rail.

But this doesn’t quite solve my problem. My clothes always end up with creases from where they’ve been hung, which is not cute and makes me wish I’d bought that clothes steamer from the in-flight magazine. Not to mention how starchy and nasty feeling my socks get, but I’ll discuss that later. Today marked a first in my drying techniques. Until today, I had been draping my clothes in the bathroom for a day, and then hanging them around my apartment until they completely dried (about one or two days). However, yesterday I needed to wash my jeans. I haven’t done that since I’ve been here, and I don’t want to be forced to wear skirts when the weather is this fickle. I figured out that if I hung them up in the bathroom all day, I could then use my blow dryer to finish, or at least aid along, the drying process. It worked surprisingly well. I now have one completely clean and dry pair of jeans, and another on the way (as well as a completely sopping wet pair hanging in the bathroom). However, I haven’t figured out yet whether this drying process actually shrinks my jeans back down. The main reason I have to wash them isn’t because they are dirty, but because they stretch out after a few times of wearing them, and no longer look as good. So tomorrow, we shall find out if this new drying process actually works. I think the blow dryer will also help with the creases in my shirts, as I can attack them before they completely set into the shirt.

Now, about the socks. I absolutely hate wearing socks more than once. Simply cannot stand it. I’m sure my dad remembers when I would make him buy me a new packet of socks every week from Costco because I just couldn’t stand the thought of wearing my socks more than once, even if they’ve been washed. I just do not feel like washing socks ever gets them clean enough, even when you’re using a washer and dryer. Unlike shirts and jeans, socks never return to their “just purchased” feel. Once you’ve worn them, that’s it, they’re now gross. So, in an attempt at self-exposure therapy, I only brought seven pairs of socks with me (as well as a few pairs of winter socks). In retrospect, it was a horrible idea. Hand washing socks is awful. They just don’t get clean. And they dry rock-hard and starchy. It’s terrible. I’m honestly considering asking someone to mail me some Costco socks. But I won’t, because that would ruin the whole exposure therapy thing (though I would absolutely love anyone forever if they were to send me new socks).

Such are the trials and tribulations of attempting to hand wash everything. I end up doing some form of laundry, whether washing or drying, at least every other night. But that’s ok. I would much rather do this than spend my money on tiny washers and dryers.