When we first moved here, I went to Tesco, our local grocery store, to stock up on the essentials (remember that 80 pound load?). One of the essentials on the list was laundry detergent. In a store that has far fewer options from what I am used to in the States (there are only 2 types of peanut butter, not 16; 2 brands of pasta, not 24, etc.), I was surprised to see the wide variety of detergents and softeners. There were powders, liquids, capsules. Some were called non-bio, some bio (I still don't know what this means). There was concentrated and non-concentrated. Half of it looked like dishsoap. Some were yellow, some blue, some green. Too many choices for this jet lagged, bewildered American displaced to the foreign lands of Scotland. So, I did the only thing possible.....I found a nice looking, female customer and asked her to tell me what I needed. Fortunately, I found a woman who not only looked nice, she actually was nice and she gave me a brief explanation before pointing me to the brands that she thought best.
If that was the only difference, laundry probably wouldn't get a post all on it's own. But, that is not the major difference.
Here, in bonnie Scotland, it seems that most places don't have dryers. Just washers. Small washers at that. I love the idea of hanging my clothes out to dry, but, like many idyllic and quaint traditions...it sounds so lovely because you aren't actually thinking of the practicalities.
First, we don't have a private yard...which means all our unmentionables would be hanging out to dry for all of Dean Village to see. And, it rains a lot here. Given that it is likely to rain, at least a little, on many days, it makes hanging your clothes out to dry on the clothes line a little....less useful. Think laundry lines in Seattle. Not really practical.
We, however, got lucky (or so we thought), in that our washing machine is actually also a dryer. I don't really get how that is possible, but it is. And it works. If you don't mind one load of laundry taking about 5 total hours (1.25 for washing and 3.5 for drying completely). This is further problematic since the washer really is so much smaller (1 load in St. Louis = 2-3 loads here). As much as I did not like taking the laundry to the laundromat, there is something to be said for having all your laundry done in less than half the time it now takes me to do one load. (The grass is always greener...)
Our washer/dryer combo
Since drying takes so long and is not really economical, we were also happy to find that our flat comes equipped with an inside drying line/rack. To be honest, it actually took us quite awhile to figure out what this was, and didn't actual solve that puzzle until someone told us. But, that what these 4 wooden slats, suspended on a pulley system turned out to be. So, after doing a load of laundry, you pull out your clothes, lower the bars, hang your clothes on them, and hoist it back up.
Our super special indoor drying rack
Did I mention these are typically installed in the kitchen (along with the washer/dryer)? This works just fine unless you make something really fragrant for dinner....then your clothes end up smelling that curry sauce you just made. It also means that gone are the days of fluffy, warm, straigh-from-dryer towels, and snug, just dried jeans. Ah, well. C'est la vie.
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