Our Samsung washing machine is a beauty to behold, quiet as a church mouse and plays a happy tune when the wash is over. The only problem is – it can barely fit 1 sheet set at a time. Or 3 towels. Or 5 T-shirts. So the term “wash day” in our household is a misnomer – we do washes every day! It has become a part of our daily routine: get up, eat a buttered rogalik, turn on the washing machine.
What is harder to get used to is…the scratchy undergarments. Since there is no dryer (and no dryer sheets), no matter how much softening liquid I add to the washing cycle, my jeans end up standing in the corner of the closet. By themselves.
I tried to research the “no dryer” clause in the Polish Constitution
. At first I assumed that it was the space constraint, but in my bathroom, and most others I visited here, the machine stands alone and there is plenty of room for the dryer on top of it. And drying the wash, spread out all over our living room, certainly takes up more room.
Then I remembered the fresh smell of line dried clothes from my summer vacations in the country, right outside of Warszawa. Yes, it was lovely and undoubtedly the greener choice, but it is snowing and 5C outside right now! So, it can’t be the sentimental reason.
Finally I asked my Polish friend. “Tumble dryer? It shortens the life of material and besides, it costs a fortune in electric bills!”
Ahhh. Mystery solved.
Your Polish friend’s comment comes from the same ‘brilliance’ of those who tell us in Poland that drinking anything with ice will make you sick.
Want an idea for drying? email me (assume you can see my email address via your blog)
sorry – had `my email addy wrong – correct this time – dumb
Welcome to Poland, and good luck with the whole thing.
I too have never seen a tumble dryer in this country, though I’m told they do exist on a special reservation deep in the forest.