The laundry room at my apt complex has 3 washers and 4 dryers. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since the washers aren't very large and when I've put full loads into them, the dryers have never failed to completely dry them by the end of their 42 minute cycle. (It's a dollar for the full cycle; you can't just get X minutes per quarter.) But the dryers stack two-high, so it fills the available space and when one dryer breaks, there are still enough to dry all your washing at the same time, so I can't complain about the redundancy.
What I can complain about is this. One of the washers was broken for the past 2 months. It was just sitting there, a hand-depth of tepid soapy water lurking in it like a dragonless moat, just waiting for some careless person to start loading in clothing without noticing. They finally replaced it yesterday; I saw the industrial-sized truck parked down there, a ton of old washers in the back. Better yet, they brought in a new machine, rather than just fixing the old one. There are complications, of course:
The new machine (which has environmentally-friendly stickers on it, which means it must be true) runs a 44 minute cycle. A long time for an industrial washer, and quite desynched from the two old washers, which take 36 minutes. Saving the whales takes a bit of extra time, apparently. It's not so bad though; I just have to remember to start that one washing first, and there won't be too much wasted time when I go back to put my stuff into the dryers.
What's more annoying is that they brought in a new machine yesterday... and now one of the old ones is broken. It takes money, but just keeps displaying, "Add $1.00" no matter how many quarters you feed in. I put in 3 before noticing, and the coin box sounded quite fat-bellied when my coins dropped in, so it's probably paid for its own repair already. Which will likely take place in about 1 month, 1 day before the whale-saver breaks.
On a related front, whenever I'm washing clothing I wonder what it'll be like when I'm living in a house again, with just one washer/dryer. It's been over a decade since I had that option, and I've grown completely accustomed to going 3 weeks, then washing 5-7 loads at once. Partially due to this fact, I never have a "favorite" shirt or pair of pants, since I wear it once (or twice, if I'm not sweaty that day) and then it's in the hamper for a fortnight. I'm sure I own more clothing than I would if I lived in a house with a washing machine I could run every other/three days, as needed. Workout clothing especially; I usually have 2 loads just of nylon and polyester pants/shirts/shorts every time I do laundry (one benefit is that they are dry in like, 15 minutes. This is less of a benefit with my "1 dollar for the full time" dryers.
Yet despite my habits, I realize that lots of people wash clothing just about every day, and can therefore wear the same clothing multiple times a week. This fact was brought to my attention by a girl in my speech class last semester, who 1) parked near where I did and usually walked out of class a minute or two ahead of me, 2) had a spectacularly tight ass, which 3) she encased in the same pair of jeans every week. Yes, I
noticed that they had wear marks in the same places, the same loose thread on the pocket, etc. *cough*
I see the same habit with the IG; when we were seeing each other several times a week (we had a class Tues/Thurs) she would often go a month with the same pair of black jeans every day (her favorite, clearly). This was no mystery, since when we'd txt at night she'd often mention that she was washing clothing again, since it gave her something to do while she procrastinated about starting her homework.
It's an odd thing to think about for me, but why not? If you've only got a single washing machine, and multiple people in the house, of course you're going to wash clothing almost every day. And at that rate, you might as well just keep wearing your favorite pants or shirt, since you're washing them every other day anyway. When I visit my folks around Xmas, I stay at my dad's house and have perpetually clean clothing, since he runs a load every other/third day. I never remember this before I leave though, so I always end up overpacking, since I'm used to thinking "7 days = 7 outfits, plus extras for sweaty tennis, hiking, something dressy, etc."
Questions:
- It's probably been studied, but is there evidence (rather than just anecdote) that people with their own washing machine wear a smaller percentage of their clothing?
- Does the ability to clean and wear the same clothing several times a week necessarily mean that you wear the same clothing time and again?
- Do people with washing machines make a conscious effort to cycle through their wardrobe?
- Does the greater closet space in a house (vs. an apt) make homeowners lazier about optimizing their wardrobe to its fullest extent (If I own something i figure I should wear it, since there's only so much space.), since they can just stick stuff in the spare bedroom or the attic and maybe dig it out come winter?
- Do people who move from an apt into a house/condo with their own washer miss the ability to go weeks without washing anything, and the ability to wash it all in a couple of hours, multiple loads at a time?
Finally, does anyone else use their laundry as a referendum on their social life? When I do my 5-6 loads, I can't help but notice how many dress shirts are in the mix, vs. how many t-shirts, workout shirts, etc. And when I do 3 weeks worth, as I'm doing today, and there's not one dress shirt to hang up, it's a grim scene in my closet. True, I don't always dress up on a date, and it's been hot, and I had to wash about 10 such shirts last time after the various graduation/parents visiting festivities, and the IG has been in a foreign nation since mid-May, but still... bleh. More decent nighttime dates to decent restaurants, plz.
Labels: clothing
