The war of the WASHER/ DRYER

When I moved into our apartment in Poole with Andy I was the most ecstatic person in the entire world because.... we had a washer and dryer!!!!! (God, you know you are growing up when your excitement is for an appliance and not new make-up or that fabulous tan leather metal studded Michael Kors bag I had been eyeing at Dillards.) Now, my excitement stemmed from living in Australia where we did not have such luxuries. Instead Andy would pack a duffel bag and run into work, a good 5 miles with our dirty laundry on his back and do the washing at work. We did this instead of going to the laundry mat, no more than 500 feet away, because it was free, of course. Andy would take my dirty underwear and bras and wash them alongside the other macho big military men. At first it didn't bother me, until he came home with my bras having been dried in the dryer and not hung to air dry!! For those who don't know, this is a huge NO NO!! If your bras shrink or are deformed from the dryer.... well you can guess what happens! So from then on I knew that every man I met who worked with Andy had probably seen my bras hanging to dry in the military laundry room! Not the best thought when meeting your boyfriend's military colleague. Needless to say having a washer and a dryer in our new apartment was like being in heaven!! No more meeting men who knew the size and type of bra I might be wearing.

Now that I had my very own washer and dryer it was time to get acquainted with the appliances of the UK.  I have neglected to say that this is not a separate washer and dryer but a two in one washer/ dryer. At first I didn't believe there could be such a thing. I thought, "How on earth can it be a washer AND a dryer" I was not a believer. But it is true and it is something else. These washer/ dryers are also located, as all other washers I have seen in the UK, in the kitchen next to your food and clean dishes. I had a hard time coming to grips with my dirty laundry and my food being so close to one another.

The first time I did a load of laundry in this thing I wasn't sure what to do. There was a slot for detergent but Andy bought these little pouches of detergent, which on the box said to place on the load in the washer... not in the detergent dispenser. Already thinking this was strange, I put the clothes in, realizing this is a very, very small washer/ dryer and placed the pouch on the top. Now time to select a wash. I then looked at the knob and had absolutely no idea what to choose!! There was no HOT/ COLD, COLD/ COLD, WARM/COLD, nothing but numbers, 30, 40, 60 and then again 30, 40, 60, 60 STAINS and then Dry and WOOL WASH. WHAT!?!?!?! After sitting on the floor and debating what these numbers mean a light bulb clicked and I realized this must be the temperature, still getting used to thinking in Celsius. Since there were a few of my nice clothes in there I chose 30, thinking this must be the coldest wash. Did you know 30 is 86 degrees!!!!!!! NOT COLD!!!! Learned that lesson with a sweater a little bit smaller! Now I wash only on woolen, another light clicked... wool means delicate and delicate means cold!

After learning these settings, I decided to stick with woolen for most clothes and 60 for towels and sheets. This has been working for me for the past 3 months with clothes coming out clean and washed. Until the other day I decided, stupidly, to mix things up and I went for 60 STAINS for a load of towels. After loading the washer/ dryer and putting it on the 60 setting I waited for a sound similar to that of a rocket ship about to depart from earth. ( I forgot to mention the washer/ dryers are extremely loud and violent. They are not only are so loud you must have the TV volume on full blast to catch the gist of what is going on but they also shake the entire kitchen and its cabinets.) I sat back and waited for the load to finish. When the bell tolled and my laundry claimed to be done, I got up and opened the washer door. As I did this a waterfall of soapy water came gushing out onto the floor. As fast I could, I shut the door and looked at the devil machine to figure out what went wrong. And that is when I noticed the SPIN/RINSE option on the knob. Fair to say that I now only use the WOOLEN and 60 cycles and have invested a little time in reading the manual.