Wash Day

One of those little things I need to mention before I think it is totally normal is my weird little wash machine. Zsuzsa very kindly came all the way over last week to give me a lesson. No one seemed to think I could learn for myself and no wonder, this little baby has 18 different wash cycles.

Statistically I read Hungary has fewer laundromats than almost all other countries. I’ve never seen one although there are dry cleaners around. Everyone must have their own little washer so I assume they are somewhat affordable. The stores sell mostly miniature soap boxes too although you can buy a box about 3 times larger than the one I have pictured. What I find weird is that if you don’t want your clothes sopping wet you must choose a cycle that includes “centrifugalas.” They don’t assume that you want your clothes spun or wrung out. Many of the cycles just wash and drain. I wrung out a lot of wet towels before I figured this out. When I finally used centrifugalas, the whole machine bounced up and down. The first time I tried to hold it to the floor, I thought I’d seen this in a Marx Brothers or was that I Love Lucy where the ceiling comes down on the people below? I’ve gotten used to it now & the clothes come out

great after a little bouncing. The other really strange thing is that the cycle churns and stops, churns and stops for an hour or so. I assumed the washer was broken but Zsuzsa assures me that normal wash should go for at least an hour. She told me when she first did her wash in a U.S. and it was done in 20 minutes she assumed it couldn’t possibly be clean and washed it a couple more times. I think she is still a little doubtful about the engineering of our wash machines.

I almost forgot to mention that everyone apparently has a small 18 cycle wash machine but NO ONE has an automatic dryer.