Ahh the ritual of hand-washing. Last night I was talking to Sutton on the phone and he said, “honey, how am I going to do my laundry?” I said, “baby you have to hand-wash it.” And he paused and said, “I guess I won’t be doing too much laundry.” I laughed. We will see about that!
I have to admit I actually quite like getting up in the morning and doing my laundry. You need to set aside around and hour and a half, depending on your load size and any size here is a large load in terms of hand washing. (smile) I absolutely appreciate the men and women who do their own laundry by hand. It really is “work.’ I am starting to get my technique down, that is for sure. I have watched a few of the girls and damn, they have it down to a science from the washing to the wringing. I have hand washed on camping trips and at Burning Man so I thought, ‘it’ll be a piece of cake.’ Cake, how I would love a delicious, big piece of chocolate cake with rich-n-creamy, cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmmm. Ok, back to laundry.
I bought a big washing bowl, about 2 1/2 feet, some powder soap, because my liquid Woolite exploded in my luggage - what a pain in my ass that was - and some bleach. The washing is the easy part, but then you have to wring out each piece really well, and set it in a separate bucket so you only have to fill the wash bowl one more time, in order to save time and save water. Once you wring it out you rinse it in fresh water and then your rinse it out again and wring it out again. Oh, wait; let’s go back to the washing part. I take back that this is easy. Now I understand the use of a washboard, which I never understood. I used to think about how much that must wear out your clothing and how difficult it appeared to be. I learned fast because when you have sort of dirt you need to scrub it out because a little swirl-around in the water isn’t going to cut it, and, you need a surface to scrub on
Wash on wash off. You have to let your clothing soak, and scrub each piece together to lather it up and get the dirt out. If the dirt isn’t coming out then you have to use a brush to brush it out. I saw the girls doing this, and caught on REAL fast. At first I thought, ‘that is going to ruin my clothing,’ and then I realized it is the quick solution to getting CLEAN clothing. I use the side of my bucket or put it on my own washboard, the log, just near the tree. I love such modern conveniences. I really do!
Rinsing off and wringing out. This is work and I have learned a great technique. Now I can wring out a pair of jeans in no time. Jeans and towels suck because they are so heavy. By the time I am done, I feel a heat stroke coming on. No, I am only kidding…
Hanging to dry. This is my favorite part because I feel like I’m running a 10K, and I am nearing the finish line. I also like the idea of the sun and fresh breeze drying my clothing. Unless, of course, it rains ½ hour after you have spent the past 1 1/2 hours washing/wringing. Things could be worse, right? !
We all share a clothing line that goes in between my and Rosemary’s house. It is a cord that crudely ties from the cement fence behind my house to the front porch area, and attaches to the top of the shed in front of my house. There is a stick/pole in the middle for added support. Sometimes Ester and the boys hang their clothing on all the tall bushes that separate both yards if the clothing line is maxed-out. Talk about “ber-ner-ner-ner, ber-ner-ner-ner-ner ner-ner – the Samford and Son song comes to my mind, and makes me laugh. I choose not to air my laundry this way.
I really do enjoy the hand-washing ritual, and I have to say I bet my laundry hasn’t ever been this clean.
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