Adventures in the Laundry Room

I was excited to see that our temporary housing came equipped with a washer and dryer.  I immediately gathered all the laundry and the detergent and went to the laundry room to start the first load of laundry. I got to the washer and dryer and starred. You would think a woman with a Master’s degree would be able to determine the difference between a washer and dryer with no troubles.  This was not the case for me.  I had to look at the fronts of the machines and realize I didn’t know any Italian laundry terms.  After a minute of reading the Italian, I decided that I would need to open the doors (both are front loaders) to figure out which was which.  Easier said than done!  After about a minute or so, I was able to open the machine I thought was the washer, which it was!  Next step, figure out where the detergent went and how to actual was a load.  Finding the detergent location was fairly simple, a little pull out dish on the top but figuring out how to pick a cycle was a little bit tough.  I just guessed on a cycle and decided to do our laundry even though it was a small load.  HA!  A small American load of laundry is a GIANT Italian load of laundry.  What I thought was a small load was in fact three loads in the world’s smallest washer.  Next step, the dryer!  I was able to find the lint filter and was actually impressed with the design.  This lint trap pulled all the lint inside so when you removed the lint trap, you didn’t risk getting lint on the laundry in the dryer.   I again guessed on a cycle to dry the clothes and got the machine running.  It ran and ran and ran for hours and still the clothes were damp!  The dryer also likes to dry for about 45 seconds then pause for 5 seconds and start over.  When the clothes dryer stopped and the clothes were still damp, I adjusted the knobs which I think turned the temperature up.  Again, the dryer ran and ran and ran and the clothes were almost dry but not like in America.  Dry clothes in an American dryer are warm and snuggly and make you want to curl up in them.  The second load of clothes in the dryer was not as effective as the first.  I checked the lint filter and the temperature (I think it’s the temperature) and nothing seemed to make a difference.  I just decided that daily life will include a load of laundry which we line dry for most of the time and then throw in the dryer to make it softer.  Luckily, during our orientation, Francesco the housing guy decided to give us a lesson on being “green.”  He mentioned little tips to save energy and money like running the dryer at night when electricity is cheaper and using the water from the dryer to water plants.  I was a little perplexed but he then described how the dryers in Italy work and how there is a tank that collects the water from the clothes that has to be emptied after each load.  LIGHTBULB! That’s why the second load was not as effective as the first.  I thought that it would be easy to find a big tank that holds the water; well a little tank since it’s the world’s smallest dryer.  It was not that easy.  After pushing buttons and pulling on levers, I finally found the tank of water!  To Francesco’s disappointment, I had to dump the water down the drain since we have no plants.  So, my daily life will probably consist of at least one load of laundry, probably more since we have a newborn, but at least I won’t have to line dry everything!