Everybody who knows me, knows how much I hate doing laundry. The hunting, the gathering, finding loonies, tracking down quarters, trudging downstairs with an overflowing basket of clothes...By this time I'm sweating profusely in my too hot apartment building as I bend down to gather the t-shirt and/or underwear that is trying in vain to escape the spin cycle.
I stuff as many articles of clothing in as I can. I STILL find $1.25 a load ridiculous. The washers are twenty years old, their grungy and dirty (ironic given their sole purpose in life) and all I can think about is how many people have used this machine over the decades. Eww.
Anyway, as usual, I ended up getting down there about two hours later than expected. I'm normally a very punctual person except apparently, when it comes to dirty clothes. Avoidance will do that for you. The plus side of tardiness is that you get the machines to yourself. No need for pointless, inane chitchat with neighbours you secretly can't stand. Yay!
My elation was short-lived however after I proceeded to knock one of my quarters down into the belly of the washer. Damn. I'm 5'0 on a good day, not good for retrieving tiny items out of deep basins. A broom is kept beside the washer for the sole purpose of helping me move stuff around so I can get it out. No, I'm not kidding. The Superintendant was going to throw the thing out before I told him I needed it to make sure I could reach all of my clothes. It sits there patiently, awaiting both my arrival and inevitable signs of distress as I grab for it and start swirling the clothes around looking for higher ground. I always find it, but the quarter was proving inpossible to corral. It kept sliding just out of my grasp, and after my third attempt at retrieval, inspiration struck.
TWO WORDS: Magnetic Bracelet
I ran upstairs (okay, I can't run but you get the idea) found the bracelet (I haven't been wearing it because it's too tight-my wrist got fat!) and voila! Instant success! The coin stuck to the end of my bracelet.
You may ask why I bothered and here's my answer, why should I just leave it for someone else? That quarter can pay the taxes on anything that is $1.80 here. A chocolate bar (my personal fav) A bag of chips, anything at the dollar store. You get the idea. Afterall, a penny saved is a penny earned and I'm lucky enough to have twenty-five of them! It's a good day!
I stuff as many articles of clothing in as I can. I STILL find $1.25 a load ridiculous. The washers are twenty years old, their grungy and dirty (ironic given their sole purpose in life) and all I can think about is how many people have used this machine over the decades. Eww.
Anyway, as usual, I ended up getting down there about two hours later than expected. I'm normally a very punctual person except apparently, when it comes to dirty clothes. Avoidance will do that for you. The plus side of tardiness is that you get the machines to yourself. No need for pointless, inane chitchat with neighbours you secretly can't stand. Yay!
My elation was short-lived however after I proceeded to knock one of my quarters down into the belly of the washer. Damn. I'm 5'0 on a good day, not good for retrieving tiny items out of deep basins. A broom is kept beside the washer for the sole purpose of helping me move stuff around so I can get it out. No, I'm not kidding. The Superintendant was going to throw the thing out before I told him I needed it to make sure I could reach all of my clothes. It sits there patiently, awaiting both my arrival and inevitable signs of distress as I grab for it and start swirling the clothes around looking for higher ground. I always find it, but the quarter was proving inpossible to corral. It kept sliding just out of my grasp, and after my third attempt at retrieval, inspiration struck.
TWO WORDS: Magnetic Bracelet
I ran upstairs (okay, I can't run but you get the idea) found the bracelet (I haven't been wearing it because it's too tight-my wrist got fat!) and voila! Instant success! The coin stuck to the end of my bracelet.
You may ask why I bothered and here's my answer, why should I just leave it for someone else? That quarter can pay the taxes on anything that is $1.80 here. A chocolate bar (my personal fav) A bag of chips, anything at the dollar store. You get the idea. Afterall, a penny saved is a penny earned and I'm lucky enough to have twenty-five of them! It's a good day!
I do not miss having to pay for laundry (I make my own soap now so I pay very little even for that). And I definitely do NOT miss having to drag laundry elsewhere. Never had to drag it downstairs though. Can't imagine that...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHow do you make your own soap? Yeah, I'd kill for an ensuite washer/dryer it's so dumb having stuff so old here. I priced them out, you can get industrial sized sets for under 1500 that use less water/soap ect...
ReplyDelete1 cup Borax
ReplyDelete1 cup washing soda (not baking soda, I use Arm and Hammer)
1 bar Fels Naptha (it's a bar laundry soap)
Grate the Fels Naptha and then mix the three ingredients together and you've got laundry detergent.
1 spoonful for small loads. 2 for larger or soiled loads.
Keep this mixture in air tight container (tupperware is fine) so that it doesn't harden.
I spent about $12 on the box of Borax, washing soda, and 5 bars of Fels Naptha and even one batch of the stuff lasts way longer than the box of Cheer that I was spending $12 on before.
I don't know where you can find the ingredients in Canada, but here you can find them at Walmart in the laundry detergent aisle.
Here's a photo of the 3 ingredients for reference:
ReplyDeletehttp://lh4.ggpht.com/_Bq7mCCDENkg/TV73jHf1yJI/AAAAAAAACwU/FpEpRDzbWXw/Borax,%20Washing%20Soda%20and%20Bar%5B4%5D.jpg