Doing laundry in Poland

no, you use just s few drops that's all. good for spare room bedding

Ok
The first thing you notice about Polish /European things is that they are much smaller than the American. Narrow streets- smaller cars, tiny flats- small washers.

My washer is "top loaded" and has plenty of programmes the shortest is just rinsing and spinning and takes 16 min but I never use it. Usually I go for 65 min rapid program <lol> the longest is 130 min that's with prewash.

Programmes are one thing, spinning is other and teperature (from cold-30 and every ten to 90 degrees) is another.
Driers are not popular in poland, I know people who have and use them though.The thig is they are usu a combination of a washer with a drier .. maybe that's where the smell comes from. I used to use one but the smell was a disadvantage and the teperature was too high for most of my clothes and they were all creased after drying... And hanging out is a skill Bunia! you need to be carefull because the sun can fade the colours, clippers can make a mark in the middle of a blouse, etc. It does take loads of time.

peg them under the arms where it doesn't show, my mum used to use old stockings and thread them through the sleeves, then peg the stockings to teh line

I always just set my temp at warm, and 20 min later the wash is done (45 min to dry as well). That's here in the US. I try not to use scented stuff as I have a young child & I don't know if she will have an allergic reaction to it. I agree with Shopgirl that clothes in AZ can dry really fast outside (my husband use to hang all his work clothes outside overnight to dry) but if the wind blows they get dusty. Good thing he worked for a sign company & it didn't matter what shape his clothes were in!

KT

Well, I use a cycle that fits what im washing bedding on a 60 degree and towels on a 95 degree both of those take over an hour 35 or 40 degree take about 40 minutes...but there are quick ones that dont (as far as im concerned) wash the clothes properly.. and then their a wool washes and delicates ect...I had no idea that washing machines in the uk were so different to those in the us

You all are spoiled. What ever happened to using washing boards in the stream. Pff....

I might have a little trouble finding a stream around here. Closest stream being the Bright Angel Creek flowing into the Colorado and a six mile hike ;)

Electricity was invented :)

Bet she used a fabric conditioner........mmmm smells so good lol

nice pic

I've seen my mother-in-law hang out laundry (in her late '70's!) and I can tell it's harder than it looks! - to get it done well, anyway.

I use Method washing liquid, which is very concentrated (and unscented), applying a little bit to any stains, using borax powder for color protection (I try not to use chlorine bleach). I'm very picky about separating colors. I put some "regular" white vinegar in the rinse water, especially with my husband's clothes - he perspires terribly and it makes a big difference in deodorizing! And I don't use fabric softener. I'll take a little static cling for my clothes just smelling like . . . clothes. But then I get migraines so I have to be vigilant about smells.

Cute pic!

If the drum of a washing machine rotates fast enough, it can actually slow down time within itself and give your clothes a really thorough wash in less than half the time of a conventional wash. Strange, you might think, for a thread which has stood still in time for over a year. Shhhh! Don't tell Admin or he'll delete it. Or perhaps set it into rotation in one of his experiments.

I was reading a German forum for ex-patriots from the US about appliances and adapters vs converters (they eventually advised to scrap all US appliances and start over in Germany)....but then they said the washers in Germany run for 3 hours!

3 hours! They must be exaggerating. How could there be that much difference between Poland and Germany?

One big difference in wash times has to do (I think) primarily with the amount of water used. The pipes are much bigger in the US for both bringing water into the machine and taking it out again. The pipes and hoses used in Poland (probably Europe in general) are just much smaller and it takes longer to fill and empty the machine.

There are probably other scale differences (the machines themselves are smaller to fit into apartments) and it all adds up.

Also IME clothes come out of the machine drier in Poland than in the US (where they're often sopping and dripping). Since in the US you have dedicated driers the clothes don't need to be as dry as if they were going to be hung (as they usually are in Europe).

Also, you don't do the laundry as a single thing in Poland. You put the clothes in the machine and then do other stuff until its done then you hang it up to dry. The overall time from beginning to end is longer but the person doing laundry doesn't necessarily spend that much more time on laundry.

Just google Front Loading washers vs Top loading washers. The former are gaining popularity in the US as well in the last 5 years. To make it confusing though Poles will probably think of a Top Loader as a version of the Front Loaders they have but rather with a hatch on top that opens into the horizontally spinning drum..same principle..different access the the sealed drum. US style is an open vertical drum that doesn't seal totally...like Asians often have as well.

You don't HAVE to set it on the long setting...just like a top loader...just depends on how dirty the clothes are. Mine takes 45 min on the setting I use and my things are fine.

The main thing I don't like about Front Loaders is due to the way it seals up and the tubes for the soap etc run from the top, they have a tendency to build up mold. You MUST leave the main door and the soap door open to prevent this...but most people here don't. Every flat I have rented and every one I have visited has some mold in the tray, tubes and around the seal as they don't leave it open.

The clothes do come out drier as people have said...so it doesnt take things long to dry while hanging even inside. The only change I have had to make is the size I buy clothes in...in the US we tend to know it will shrink in the drier so we buy accordingly...here I buy the size that fits in the shop exactly as it won't shrink while hanging normally.

The problem I have is drying the clothes now that the weather is getting colder. what I wouldn't do for a good tumbler dryer. Hard to even buy a dryer here in poland. really considering moving back to the states

I notice no difference in drying. I have the rack that goes up on cords above the bathtub. Most things are dry in 6 hours or so...jeans need overnight. If you have a balcony rack I can see it being an issue.

There isn't much I prefer in Poland over home...but laundry is one of them. Easier on clothes and cheaper.

I actually hated having to guess how much the tumbler dryer was going to shrink my clothes when shopping.

I need to move my washing machine out of the kitchen and into the bathroom (I think it's a British thing - putting your machine for cleaning dirty clothes in the same room as you prepare nice clean food). This was inspired by my trips to Poland, where bathrooms and washing machines go together like the words "moaning" and "Polish Forums".

Unfortunately, first I will need to remove a radiator, knock down a wall, remove a cupboard door, brick up the space that leaves, put in some lagging, take a spur off the electricity loop, do some plastering, do some plumbing and finally move a big heavy washing machine.

My washing machine takes an hour and a bit. My plumbing pipes are 15mm.

Putting in it in the bathroom will make the mold problem worse as that room is much more humid as a norm.

When the front loaders made their way to the US people were moaning en masse a few months later when most of the machines were full of moldy stink. It's a design flaw really with so many twisty tubes and sealed areas...and most people don't know or think about it until it is so bad you can't do anything about it. I have run load after load of bleach in mine and it still won't go away entirely.

They even started selling special cleaning tablets to run in them every few loads to prevent mold...and using liquid soaps and especially liquid fabric softener will make it much worse.

It really is one of those things people don't seem to believe or care about until it affect them...I know I never thought about it until my clothes started stinking after being washed and I investigated.

I am still trying to figure out why my clothes need to smell like vanilla or lavender or the other fifty million scents they put out. For one it is rediculous and they are running away from the simple concept of cleaning clothes. Two it conflicts with my perfume I wear. (I have a very sensitive olfactory that doesn't like smelling hair products, deodorant, clothes scents and perfume all at the same time) I buy Tide uncented and like to use the original Snuggles fabric softner. Less is best and have written to the companies and told them so. Even shampoos ...have you tried buying one of those in the stores lately...one brand and 20 scents...come on marketing we don't need it. And I don't have the time to stand and decide which would be best. I only dry my towels and sheets in the dryer as the dryers destroy the clothes. Since I live in an apt I am limited to what can be dried outside so the smell of fresh sheets are out. When I was younger my mom hung clothes out on a clothes line but towels dry stiff so somethings should not be hung outside (although my friend in AZ hangs all her clothes out. one to save elec since most of it goes for the AC. but they dry in a flash out there due to the heat. You can have the most wettest and heaviest clothes dry all with in an hour...wow)

Also since I live in an apt building there is a laundry room for washing clothes. Since it is a coin operated one the cycle I think is set to short. Clothes need enought time to wash and to rinse properly. One hour maybe way too long but 10 minutes is way to short. Those timers are set to tell you length of wash cycle not total wash time from start to end. I think 18 to 22 minutes are about right. Longer for dirty grimy things.

Maybe washers are put into the bathrooms as it is more excessible to water pipes than it would be to the sink in kitchen but usually we have a laundry room or they are installed in the basements.

I get the feeling that adding smells to clothes when they're being washed is there to make up for the inadequacy of the stuff to actually clean the clothes thoroughly.


Kitchens are already humid. Okay, so bathrooms are more so, but it is possible to ventilate. After knocking down and rebuilding various walls, I do intend to put in some sort of ventillation thing behind the machine. (This is going to take forever).

We are stuck with many designs for household appliances and we do rarely question them. When we do, we find there is often very little we can do about it. Getting round these design flaws are something that we are not usually given the choice of.

I've got a front-loading washing machine and never had a mold problem. I leave the door slightly ajar when the machine is not in use, and I do wipe the door/seal dry after a washing cycle. That's about it.

IMO that's because the European washers (front-loading) use less water then the ones in North America (top-loading), so they are considered more environmentally friendly. Of course, if you run the washer 3 hours instead of 20 min, you use 9 times more electricity, and that's not so environmentally friendly at all :) LOL!

My washer does a load in 20 min (fast cycle), but the dryer takes about 40 min. Since somedays I do 5-6 loads at once, I am thinking of adding a second dryer, since my laundry room is in the basement and I’ve got plenty of unused room in there…

Exactly...most people don't bother.

I had an American style GE washer. I replaced it a couple of years ago with a European front loader. I really do like the front loader. The GE American model took about 30 min. per cycle (load), and my European model takes between 1 hour 40 min. to 2 hours 30 min. So, I don't plan on doing a bunch of loads in one day. I have a dryer, but I try not to use due to the cost of electricity and the wear and tear on clothing. I hang things up. Not even outside...just inside the house.

Many Polish people have a drying rack and put in front of their radiators (winter time). It isn't very hard. And it makes sense. Often in the summer, they will put them on their balcony.

Is there anything else you'd like to know? This may be a small thing, but kind of handy to know. You really can't do the massive amounts of laundry that you do in the states in one day. You do get used to doing it over longer periods of time.

"You do what you gotta do!" (I've lived in Poland 14 years.)

I have impression that Americans are a bit obsessed about washing. Few years ago I spent 6 weeks with my family living there....And I was little surprised that they wash jeans-trousers just after one day of wearing it? Isn't it excessive?

Nevermind.

Americans are obsessed with "clean".
This country was founded by Christians who felt that cleanliness was next to godliness and it became part of the culture somehow.
The advertising in the US also put a ton of emphasis on killing germs. God forbid there should be a germ on any surface in the house :) And you can buy little bottles of hand sanitizer to clean your hands when there is no soap/water available. Very popular during cold.flu season. :)

Doesn't everyone?

Yes! Very excessive. It also wears out your clothes faster. And that from an American.

One of the differences in the washing machines is that the European models heat the water itself...!!!! So, you don't use up your hot water from the hot water heater. That can be good, but it is also a good bit of the reason very hot loads (90 degree) take the longest.

Does it? My cousin have bought 5 pair of jeans for her 16 years old daughter so she can wear everyday different 'clean one'. I can uderstand blause, underwear,socks,t-shirts need washing after one day of wearing but skirts, trousers?????

It's very excessive. It's part of our wasteful American society. Probably the progaganda of some chemical company that did successful advertising (at least with parts of society) to make them think they had to. I didn't grow up that way. My mom would get upset when we put clean clothes in the laundry cuz we didn't want to put it away.