Laundry

"What's the weather like today? Is it good laundry drying weather???" In the US, the second question used to be: "Can Juhee go outside to play today???"

Laundry isn't something that was a big deal to me in the US. But here, it's become a much bigger deal, and hence, something that has become blog-worthy (to me). :) I'm used to doing 2-3 loads of laundry per week, usually on one day, folding and putting everything away on the same day. Here, the process takes so much longer and it's no longer a task I can just do quickly and tick off of my mental to-do list.

The Japanese way to do laundry (so I'm told) is to use the bath water from the previous night to run laundry in the morning and then hang it up to dry outside. Laundry is done in smaller loads here than in the US as the laundry machine drums are smaller so laundry is done more frequently. Also, the clothes here
don't seem to come out as clean as in the US so I'm often picking off stuff like grains of rice, hair, lint/dust, etc off clothes that I've just taken out of the washing machine before hanging them up to dry. Again, something that I didn't have to do in the US.

Laundry is something I'm still getting used to doing the Japanese way. Actually, that's a slightly incorrect statement as I've tried it but it's not working for me at the moment so I do it a bit differently... Instead of running the machine in the morning, I run it at night for three main reasons: 1) in the hopes that using the bath water while it is still hot will help get our clothes cleaner than using tepid/cold water the next day to do laundry, 2) because it's hard to time it in the morning with showers, etc and 3) because it's a lot easier to prepare the laundry (put on hangers/clips) and hang it outside when the kids are sleeping than trying to do it when they're awake and wanting to "help" or wanting me for other things. So after bathing the kids, I run the laundry, it's usually done by the time I finish putting the kids down, I bring the laundry in (our machine's outside, well, kind of), prep it (shake it, sort it, hang it on hangers/hooks, etc), then take it all out to hang on the two poles outside. Then the next evening, while the kids are sleeping, I fold the laundry. The following day, I (try to) put everything away.

Our washing machine is also a dryer but the shortest drying cycle is over 3 hours long so I only use it in emergencies. So come rain or shine (or snow - picture #2), I'll be hanging my laundry outside. The Japanese people believe that the sun cleans clothes (which I believe too to an extent) so me hanging my laundry at night kind of

defeats the purpose but at least I'm still conserving energy, right? :) One other reason why it takes longer is because if I use the water from our bathtub (yes, the water that we soaked in - not bathed in!), then it takes over an hour for the wash cycle to complete as opposed to just under 40 minutes if I don't. In most modern homes, the washing machine is in the sink room adjacent to the bathtub room. However, our house is a very old, traditional home which has a 'doma' so our washing machine is in an area that's kind of outside the house. In order to get the pipe in to the bathtub, I have to open the window! I'm not sure which method is more cost effective or environmentally friendly. Electricity's not cheap but neither is water. In terms of convenience, it's definitely more convenient not to use bath water.

Right now, our laundry hanging outside is like a flag signalling "a foreigner lives here". :) Peter said that it was embarrassing that we have our laundry out at night. --; Well, hopefully it won't be this way for much longer...

Laundry takes soooooooo much longer here and it's hard work. This is one thing I know I definitely won't miss during the times we're not in Japan. Hopefully it'll become easier as the kids get older and I become more accustomed to it. Hopefully I'll be able to wash & hang our laundry in the morning too soon like everybody else! :)