Laundry Challenges in a Shared Flat

One of the laundry challenges in a shared flat is the once-a-week schedule of washing clothes.

I have few pieces of clothes only (the Filipinos call it 'PirmaNa' brand -- always wearing them) so if I cannot wash on my scheduled day, I have to repeat wearing lightly soiled clothes.

I am chubby so I perspire a lot. My room has a huge glass window and the building has an idle lot beside it, so there is no structure to block the sunlight coming from the east. Put something on the wall, and later it will be cooked in summer days. The kitchen has no hood over the gas stove. There is no electric fan for proper ventilation so I sweat a lot when I go there to cook (not to mention the smell), hence, there is a need to change clothes after going there. Sometimes I just hang them in my room for reuse when dry when I have not taken a bath yet.

We were asked to choose our preferred day in a week to wash our clothes. My friend and I wash our clothes separately, so we got two (2) days, Monday and Wednesday. Monday was supposedly my friend's day-off, now changed to Sunday.  I always choose Wednesday as it is the middle of the week. We agreed that whatever is soiled, we wash on our days, so there will be nothing left in the hamper. He works outdoor so the clothes are always wet with sweat.

If the soiled clothes piled up, it is recommended to throw them immediately to the washing machine because they contribute to poor indoor air quality, not to mention the germs gathered if exposed outside.

My youngest daughter who is a medical technologist, now a medical scientist in one of the top hospitals in the Middle East, always told me to change my clothes when I reach home, and never, never sit or take a rest on my bed wearing the outfit I used outside. (That is how strict she is when it comes to bed.)

One of the challenges in laundry here is when others not on schedule would wash their clothes ahead of me on my slot. I alarmed my clock at 8:30 AM before, so at 9 AM I could start with less people in the kitchen where the washing machine was installed. But since there was always someone washing clothes ahead of me, I adjusted my alarm clock at 8:00 AM -- still the landlady's sister managed to get ahead of me, thinking that I was still asleep or I forgot my schedule or I was sick. Sometimes there were unexpected glitches in her laundry, like overload causing a lot of water not to flush down, so some clothes had to be unloaded and there would be split cycles again. Another time for waiting. But I would not be disrespectful to stop her or unload her clothes myself. I would let her finish it completely. No big deal. Normal reasons cited: few uniforms issued to daughter, was not able to wash clothes as they went somewhere else, or just did not want to wash clothes on her day. They did not know it.

We have flatmates, couple A, who used to complain whenever they felt I did wrong. The husband even questioned me directly, as if he was my landlord, and the wife whined to landlady, even if it was an honest mistake of thinking it was our laundry day and I apologized after she removed my clothes not even washed. Sometimes we experience mental block waking up after a not-so-good night.

They thought that all cycles in the washing machine on my laundry days were all mine, without checking who really owns the clothes first.

How many times did others, particularly the relatives or close friend/s of the landlady, wash clothes not on their schedules -- I cannot remember. Speechless.  I did not complain, nor those who were on those slots. I think it is purely subjective. If you have an open mind and heart, you will embrace tolerance and peace. 

Couple A's partitioned room door faces the balcony of one flat wing so they can see who hangs clothes there. It so happened that our two clothes racks (one is floor-standing and the other wall-attached) are there. If others will dry their clothes in the other wing, they cannot see it directly, particularly those using folding clothes dryer, with the same height as that of the balcony rail.

Most of judgmental people feel entitled or privileged than the others, even if the others pay more than they do. We pay more because of a little space for our things. But since they are in the balcony, they enjoy the  space there, the amenities. They can put their extra things there, sit there as long as they wish, enjoy the living room with the dining table, watch TV, etc.

I did not complain if they had extra guest/s, from one to three (3) in number, staying with them for some months, which means extra consumption in water and electricity. That must be a special perk from the landlady.

When the husband told me not to step on the sliding door floor frame because all my footwear marks were there in the balcony as he put blackish WD-40 lubricant there. I did not step there because I had a problem with my calves so I always tried to step on flat ground, nonetheless, I apologized. He told me that he reminded all. I went there only to hang and collect my clothes. 

On 6 June 2022, I saw myself a flatmate, their friend, who left her footwear marks there, not just once, but twice -- one in the morning, and I reminded her (which means she was not reminded by him), after I cleaned her footwear prints on the floor, and second in the afternoon, after cleaning it again. She used to hang the bath towels of her husband and daughter in the couple A's wall-attached drying rod.

It was good that I stopped hanging my clothes in their area so they would know that whatever footwear mark in 'their premises', was not mine. They still hang their clothes in our drying rack though. It does not matter to me. For us, anybody can use them, as long as we are not using them (despite their allegation that I do not want to share them with others).

Why I put a name label on our floor-standing clothes drying rack? 

1. A flatmate removed my wet clothes and put them on the sofa. At least next time they will have a second thought removing the clothes of the owner.
2. A flatmate announced on the FB group chat to remove clothes hanging there. Why when they are wet, they are mine, and the hanging rack is mine?
3. It's mine, so what is the problem, and why add "& FRIENDS" in the label when they did not contribute any single fil to buy it?

With 20 to 25 people in the flat, each with average of 4 pieces of soiled clothes per day plus extra towels, beddings, and whatever, the washing machine will really give up, particularly if it was purchased as pre-loved (second-hand) item.

We cannot just set an example that a person washes his clothes for 14 minutes one cycle once a week, particularly if he spends time in a gym sweating a lot at least 3x a week. Everybody must be asked about the number of wash cycles and time setting to determine the average required by the group, so as to determine allotted standard wash time per person / couple, and be more realistic as to wear and tear that causes damage to the washer. To take into consideration also was the remaining years of the appliance upon acquisition -- it it new or used / 2nd hand? 

Per online Omni calculator, the depreciation rate per year for washer / dryer is 12.5%, which means its life span is 8 years --  that is for a normal household. 

Recently when the washing machine broke down, we were asked to contribute AED100 / head if we wash separately but for couple who wash their clothes jointly it is counted only as one. 

There is one couple (couple B) who has a good strategy. If their wash day is Tuesday, they start to wash clothes on Monday night then on their laundry day, again split hours. Technically and objectively, they are 2 separate days, but considered as one.

The wife (couple B) asked my opinion if it was right for us to contribute money to replace the defective washing machine. I said normally it must be the landlord / lady, but in my opinion the landlady must be thinking that she already purchased a new one before.

Then I threw the question back to her as she stayed longer with the landlady than I did -- if it was what she (landlady) did in the past. She said 'no', and mentioned hat maybe someone was pushing ('sulsol') her to do it (collect shares from the tenants). For me the landlady has a mind of her own. 

I did not attend the last meeting called for the purpose of purchasing the washing machine. Whatever the discussion and decision would be, I'd give it a go and contribute my monetary share, only if to avoid the blah-blah stress and for them to do the appropriate action the soonest time possible. Making things easy these days would be the best thing to do.

Before the purchases of our previous washers before, I suggested to landlady to choose a smart washing machine with a water sensor and with a heavier load capacity to save on water and electricity bills. She was keen then on purchasing a 7kg-load washing machine with a normal water level processor. It is good that now they purchased a really smart one washing machine, made in Italy, silent, WiFi-enabled although we have not connected to it yet, with water sensor, 9-kg load,  with 'created for the kids' tagline, as it is easy to operate, and do not need long waiting time to unlock for clothes unloading.

A new flatmate who has her own trading license promoting detergent powder among other products, told us to try her brand so it is a plus that I got one cycle running with a free scoop of her sample product, (Apparently God has a way of balancing things, indeed.) Highly recommended. 

A simple little way of kindness is enough to passionately maintain my cool attitude and wash away the frustrations.

On the other side, my creativity -- painting, writing or whatever -- is my 'washing machine'. It serves the purpose -- saying so to have a light clean feeling. 

When I feel sticky with their undesirable blah-blahs, Pablo Picasso reminds me --

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

 

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Image credits : Pixabay / amine_tad