Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Laundry

We consider ourselves fortunate indeed because our apartment came with a washing machine.  Meet our LG Turbodrum.

Isn't our utility room a thing of beauty?

It's not large, or particularly efficient but it sings a jaunty tune as it powers on, moves through the cycle, and finishes up 44 minutes later.  

We don't, however, have a dryer.  I don't think anyone here does.  (Don't quote me on that.)  Instead, we have a super-duper drying rack.  The amount of laundry I can hang on that thing is amazing.


Each morning, after Danny & the kids head off to school, I join the women of India, and our apartment complex, in hanging my laundry out to dry.  If the morning isn't too smokey, it goes on the balcony.  It's one of my favorite times of the day.  Watching the beautiful saris as they are hung, and flutter in the breeze, is such a lovely part of living in India.


 The balconies across the way fill with colors and prints.  They cling to the railings with small plastic clips, that keep the saris from flying away in the fairly constant breeze that blows through Hyderabad.  

Sometimes, after the day long process that is a load of laundry, I find a pesky spot that I somehow missed.  If that happens, I pull out this....
I put a little splash on the stain, and it starts to turn white & bubble.  I'm a little scared to find out what the ingredients are, so for now, ignorance is bliss.  All I know is that this stuff has gotten out every stain I've used it on.  I might have to smuggle some back to the States for my grandma.  It would delight her stain-fighting soul.

I'm perfectly content to continue doing our laundry while we live here in India, but have happily discovered the Iron-Wallah in the basement of our building.  No more ironing for me!  Today, for a whopping 50 rupees, ($1) we had three pairs of pants, and four shirts ironed to perfection, with an ancient coal-filled iron.  Thank you, India! 


2 comments:

  1. I love vanish! We get it over here! I scoop powdered stuff in our washing machine. We too live without a dryer. We could swap laundry drying stories sometime!

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    1. I don't mind the line drying, but do mind how crunchy everything feels once it comes off the line. I guess ironing is key if you don't use a dryer. I've got to look for powdered Vanish. Good stuff.

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