Would you believe that we still do not have a washing machine? We are not that old fashioned. It’s just that my wife is not comfortable with a washing machine because it ruins our clothes (my wife is very meticulous when it comes to her clothes). We have a laundrywoman who hand-wash our clothes twice a week. We pay her $10 plus free meals and snacks. It is more expensive than using a washing machine but that leaves us stress-free when it comes to the quality of washing and the durability of the Fabric.
I too don't have a washin machine and resort to a hand help. The pay is worth than the washing machine cost plus its electricity consumption and water plus soap powder put together. I have used a washing machines before but I toohave never been happy with the quality of clothes after a certain time.
I don't own a washing machine either but not because I'm afraid of how the quality of the clothing will end up but because I can't afford a washing machine. I wash by hand everyday and my hands are getting too worked up and it is so time consuming. I would prefer owning a washing machine to save time so I would wash every week instead of daily. I used to own a washing machine and the bills didn't increase too much so I think it is worth owning one.
We did not have a washing machine in our house before marriage. My in-laws have a washing machine. My daddy never liked to have a washing machine. We had a washer man who used to come every week to collect the clothes and bring it the next week. Actually it was better than a washing machine. The clothes were better washed and there was no need of ironing them. He also used to put starch on them (whenever needed).
I've had a washing machine for a long time and I can tell you that if you read the tags correctly and know what kind of soap/detergent to use with each type of cloth, your clothes will be just fine. The washing machine doesn't ruin your clothing but the misuse of detergent does. I recommend never using Clorox on your clothes because that will easily ruin them. Had to learn that the hard way. Knowing how to properly wash in a machine will save you money and time if you can't hire anyone.
Though I have a washing machine I sometimes do hand wash my clothes. The fact is I find out that my clothes are cleaner when I wash them with my hands. Most times I wash with the washing machine before I drain the water I'd partially use my hands to further wash again especially the collars in my shirts. If I do not have a washing machine tomorrow I wouldn't miss it.
I hate how washing machines ruin my clothes I wish I had the time to hand wash all of them (some that are delicate I hand wash still but dont wear as often as I like). I didn't know that there are jobs where they will come to your house and handwash your clothes!
Well there is one easy solution to your washing machine ruining your clothes, don't buy delicate clothes. Modern fabrics look just as good, don't need ironing, don't wrinkle, don't stain, and sail through machine washing. Especially modern washers which do not work by agitation. I haven't had a machine damage my clothes since the era of the wring washer machine. I use a machine because I don't have a spouse or hot-and-cold running servants to do my cleaning for me. If I even called a maid service to ask for a hand clothing washer they would probably think I was stark raving insane. The idea that a human being would be cheaper than some electricity is certainly not applicable around here.
I have certainly been there before, and it just makes it that much more important to make sure that you are smart about things. Laundromats are not that cheap when you add it all up, so finding friends was always my technique, usually offering a little money but most said not necessary.
We do not own a washing machine as well and we've been used to it since we've managed to live without it. But I'm actually considering in buying one since I don't have plenty of time to do the laundry anymore because of work schedule. And since the rainy season is coming, I will be needing a spinner for our clothes to get easily dry.
It's surprising as far as I see it, because I have grown with one, and I don't know many people who don't have it. I guess it's also a matter of culture, for example in Germany they have a shared machine for the building, so that is economic for the country I suppose? Lucky that your wife does it @Alexandoy!
I think washing machine became popular here in the 1990s but it came here much earlier although it was pretty expensive then. In the town where I grew up (it is now called Mandaluyong City), the chief industry was washing clothes by hand. In fact, one senator from that town came from a family of clothes washers. Anyway, there are laundromats now in our village and sometimes we avail of their services although we still subscribe to the laundry woman not really for economic reasons but for quality of washing and also as financial help to the laundry woman.
I guess, washing machine is one of the most useful household appliances to ease the chore. It is true, machine wash spoils the fabric and color of the clothes. But human labor is of more worth. Apart, there are heavy cloths like bed lines, curtains, rugs, doormats, blankets etc. which becomes too heavy when wet. So, washing machine becomes the solution to wash them. However, for the delicate clothes hand wash could be considered.
Interesting that you mention the quality washing as a factor! The clothing that goes to the machine comes out perfectly clean, why do you say hand-washed is better? If we were talking about a dishwasher, that's another conversation, I still don't have one because I can't fit one on my small apartment.
Although I have a washing machine which I used often the thing is I don't trust it to actually wash very thoroughly clean. This is the more reason before I finally rinse my clothes inside the machine I would do a follow up hand washing of the clothes again. I would hand wash the collars of the shirts and every other corners of the clothes before rinsing.
I too grew up with a washing machine and it was and is my chore to do. I live in an apt. that is water included with the rent so we pay no sewage or water bills. We pay our own electricity, telephone & cable. I couldn't live without a washing machine. I buy washing machines on sale every time to save even more money.
@Alexandoy We don't have one <right now> either. We had a small fire in the house a couple months ago and they've removed almost all of our appliances. Which, in my opinion, was a total waste of time and a huge inconvenience for us because the fire had nothing to do with all the appliances. But that's a separate issue. Anyway, you're right, when I took my clothes to the hotel laundromat, many of my darker clothes looked faded after I removed them from their dryer. So you know what I did? Washed my clothes by hand in the sink and then let them air-dry. Cheaper, and clothes hold their color(s) much longer. I really didn't enjoy spending the extra $4.00 to wash and dry my clothes there anyway.
@Alexandoy In fact I have a fully automatic washing machine which is not functional right now. But I am not keen to get it repaired as I find hand washing more economic and effective. Also we need to load clothes only after segregating them based on the type of clothes. I am more comfortable washing them with my own hands which also give me some kind of exercise. Hand washing is more effective, economic and also saves electricity & water. As you said it does ruin our clothes gradually and also you can't remove all those stains through a washing machine. Nowadays I hand wash all my clothes twice a week. So I don't use my washing machine even though I got one.
I do respect and appreciate those housewives who do laundry by themselves using their bare hands. My wife had been doing that since we had still one child until there were six of them. I know my wife is complaining how hard to wash clothes especially with heavy dirt. I know that it is water and electricity consuming to use washing machine. Nevertheless, I want my wife to be relieved of such hard hand washing, so recently I bought a washing machine. At least her laundry work is lessen.
I've always had a washer and dryer, so did my mom so I don't think I've ever been without one. Washing machine on delicate is fine for my clothes....I don't use the dryer too much though.
