washing machine madness

[tigergrl]

i've noticed my clothes have lasted a lot longer using a top loader machine and mostly cold water. using

only hot for whites and some very muddy clothes. it helps not to overfill the machine. my thai friend spent

every saturday handwashing her families clothes in basins in the side yard.. everything.. towels, bedclothes..

all i could think is she is nuts washing all that by hand. her husband had to convince her a front loader

would be better for the towels and heavier items and she relented. if you notice all the detergent commercials

have families happily handwashing in a basin.. that's a laugh. would never happen in the west.

[godden]

saw a front loader in makro yesterday

[Anon999]

if in issan ,its the issan way of doing things...

News to me. We have 2 front loaders a Samsung Ibought from the UK 8 years ago and a Siemens that's a few months old so the hot and coloured washing can be done in parallel.

You can buy front loaders from Samsung, LG, Hitachi, Electrolux and Siemens to name but a few in any decent electrical shop, even in smallish town.

My wife has no problems using a front loader now she is familiar with them. Used to have a top loader that was almost on its last legs. Recently refused my offer of getting a top loader for her!!

Edited March 23, 2014 by Anon999

[scorecard]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

She drives me to distraction with her washing machine quirks.

Putting ridiculous amounts of conditioner in so everything smells nice even though nothing is washed properly and everything has streaks due to cramming the machine full.

Then leaving the washing in the machine for a couple of days to fester before hanging it out.

She will then put the dried clothes in the dirty laundry basket instead of the clean basket and the whole process starts again.

As for ironing....well i do it myself.

It feels good to get this off my chest on here and air my dirty linen in public.

Why not do the laundry yourself ?

Quality top loader with some explanation of why overfilling is not good.

Set up the extra rinse to activate for every load.

Kids responsible to hang out the washing with mum / maid telling them when they need to hang out. All shirts / blouses / t.shirts etc., hung on clothes hangers, kids know to leave 5 cm or whatever between each item to let air circulate.

Kids responsible to take the dry clothes in and sort underwear etc., & put away in appropriate drawers etc., Not done properly or quickly they get a deduction on their weekly allowance. Kids know if anything smelly they put it straight back into the washing machine

.

Kids leave ironing items on a rack in the room where the ironing board is set up. Maid does ironing next day.

Kids have to deliver ironed clothes to appropriate wardrobes.

Works for us. Youngest 2.5 years old keen to help older siblings and be part of the process.

I like this because I believe kids should be taught structure.

[HooHaa]

She drives me to distraction with her washing machine quirks.

Putting ridiculous amounts of conditioner in so everything smells nice even though nothing is washed properly and everything has streaks due to cramming the machine full.

Then leaving the washing in the machine for a couple of days to fester before hanging it out.

She will then put the dried clothes in the dirty laundry basket instead of the clean basket and the whole process starts again.

As for ironing....well i do it myself.

It feels good to get this off my chest on here and air my dirty linen in public.

I know what you mean! my wife is the only one I know who can stuff 20 lbs of dirty washing into a 7 lb drum!..... for an encore the central heating is run off the built in clothes drier. And don't ask me about my Electric Bill,that really is a sore point!

strange, my maid is not particularly well educated but understood the washing machine right off.

[Lucifer]

^^ clean implies 60°C or more in many cases. washing powder only doesn't do the job at all. i'm talking underwear and stuff.

there's a difference between getting rid of stains and stuff and getting rid of fecal traces (nasty bacteria) moreover since many bacteria actually feel great in 30-40°C water and their volume will actually grow during washing...

60C = clean?

I guess you wear tight t-shirts that were once loose.

read again --- UNDERWEAR. ask any specialist. fecal bacteria don't die at low °C no matter how much detergent used. washing kitchen towels together with underwear at low temperature is gross..........................

as for the tshirts --> i've been a M for the last 25 years and indeed love tight (everywhere ;-))

Use Dettol with your soap powder.

[NancyL]

Also helps to learn to use the bum gun properly! Shouldn't have fecal stains on the underwear.

[Gandtee]

Also helps to learn to use the bum gun properly! Shouldn't have fecal stains on the underwear.

Unless of course you have a bad case of Bangkok belly and a severe dose of the trots

[Cat ji]

^^ clean implies 60°C or more in many cases. washing powder only doesn't do the job at all. i'm talking underwear and stuff.

there's a difference between getting rid of stains and stuff and getting rid of fecal traces (nasty bacteria) moreover since many bacteria actually feel great in 30-40°C water and their volume will actually grow during washing...

60C = clean?

I guess you wear tight t-shirts that were once loose.

read again --- UNDERWEAR. ask any specialist. fecal bacteria don't die at low °C no matter how much detergent used. washing kitchen towels together with underwear at low temperature is gross..........................

as for the tshirts --> i've been a M for the last 25 years and indeed love tight (everywhere ;-))

You seem to be obsessed with this. And the poop streaks and so on.

Most people in the world do not use hot water for washing clothes and they don't die of bacterial diseases, or even get ill more than "Westerners" with their junk food diet.

Hot water costs money. Energy, you know? Cost of electricity and so on, all that stuff you might have heard more about in the last ten years or so. ok, so you got money to use as much electricity as you like.

The poop streaks,...learn to wash your arse properly with water. Otherwise, you might be walking around with 'fecal matter' / streaks in your underpants all day.

Yes, as per NancyL and others, there has been cold water washing powder, with enzymes whatever, for at least 20 years.

PS: oh, i should have read the last page before i posted. Well covered already. But i just couldn't stand it anymore. sis, dirty-arse "westerners". Crap first thing in the morning, then take bath/shower. Crap in evening, then use water. if you don't have a "bum gun", then sit on the side of the bathtub or something and use a jug.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Cat ji

[Banzai99]

So You're the scarecrow looking Farang guy I see in Khon Kaen with the screwed up clothes that look like they've never been ironed ?

[mmh8]

the wife always says I am lazy and she does the laundry. Its true, I do not do the laundry , neither does the wife. the maid does it, and the ironing.

I don't understand why the wife says she does it when the maid is doing all the work. the wife says its her who instructs the maid to do it. basically I discovered that since the wife trained the maid and gave her instructions , she takes credit for it.

I don't argue the toss, because it is the same every time,. also since I don't pay the maid, I let the wife do that.

anyway, I think your wife is doing it as an act. next time you have a disagreement your wife will tell you she does all the washing by hand and that you are lazy.

so what you should do is hire a maid to do washing and ironing. simple

oh and edited for the bacteria thing, from poster a couple post up,

you got a load of bateria all over your body covering the skin. I don't advise removing it, not daily or anything else. 35 - 37 C is optimum bacteria growing temperature, you can take a v. hot bath to try and kill it off. I think bleach will do the trick though. wash your body with bleach everyday and watch ther colour of the water change.

I've not done this, but would appreciate it if you document what happens with regular bacteria removal from skin. I may try to get a 2nd thesis out of it

also those bacteria in your gut, not entirely sure what will happen to your digestion if you remove it. I don't advise use of bleach. in this case take antibiotic course regularly every day , also please document what happens.

I think could be quite interesting.

Edited March 24, 2014 by mmh8

[BKK Blues Brother]

It's a vicious cycle!!!

Returned from the school run to be greeted by a two foot pile of wet laundry unceremoniously dumped on the kitchen floor.

5 mins to hang it out knocked of the 2 hours make up time before work.

I wouldn't mind but before we got married she actually said " I like housekeeping"

I guess the novelty has worn off.

Time methinks to get a sprightly maid for some subliminal re-motivation .

[mmh8]

that is the answer, you can get an attractive maid too. it does not help though if they try to go all queen bee on you. Instead of being something easy on the eye to look at when you go around your business they start to become a pain in the backside.

[namdocmai]

I sure don't want to have a maid. I see neighbours who have them and nothing is done properly.

My wife has a frontloader which she programs to run at night. She uses loads of detergent and stuff like that and sometimes washes new clothes by hand. I think it's all fine. Sunday is ironing day for her, in front of the tv.

The dishwashingmachine is another story, she won't use it but does everything by hand and that takes a lot of time that she doesn't have. I 'm telling her to use the dishwasher more often to save time but she won't do it.

To help her saving ironingtime i wear tshirts and singlets lately, i don't understand that Thai thing of wearing long sleeves long pants while it is 35 degree's.

My job is cooking (sometimes) and keeping the garden nice. Also repairing stuff or doing construction on the house. I'm happy with it and so is she.

[mmh8]

true the maid does often need instruction, but if you get them to redo work when they want to watch soap opera then they soon learn. or pay more for the maid.

the attractive maid started to wear high heels and make up to do cleaning while flashing cleavage. that pissed off the wife, why do you need to dress up to clean? no answer, I did try to get the wife to understand that for me the cleavage was not a problem

[arunsakda]

I send out my washing other than socks and underwear. ***Really enjoy this aspect of life in Thailand. Everything cleaned, perfectly ironed, smelling of softener. Cheap and prompt service.

**gave up on the socks as they insist on balling them up in a way that destroys the elastic. Mostly I'd rather we keep the undies in house with the blistering heat/sweat and all. Embarrassed by any skidmarks.

Edited March 26, 2014 by arunsakda