Outdoor Washing

Posted on 26. Sep, 2006 @ 9:51 pm by in Humor, Society Views: 817

Some apartments in Japan are so small, that the washing machine is placed outside of the home.

Also, most Japanese homes do not have clothes dryers inside, so clothes must be hung out to dry.

Could you imagine having to step outside of your home in the winter to get your wet laundry out of the machine? Since the machine is outside you can bet that the clothes inside will be freezing when they’re done. It would be terrible to have to stick your hands in there to pull them out of the machine in order to hang up to dry.

I’ll know soon. This is my place…

- Harvey

  • karthik

    hahaha..yeah i know how it feels! Been there done that!!
    Best option is not to wash clothes during winter :-)

  • http://zensekai.blogspot.com zen

    Better than walking 4 blocks or more to the Laundry mat in the snow. You have gotten spoiled liviing in Japan…
    Gambatte!

  • K

    Harvey, I never had an outside machine but I can assure you in winter you need to plan in advance for the drying. It once took 3 full days for a pair of jeans to dry on my balcony. My coup was finally getting an apartment with a heater/blower thing in the bathing room. I could hang my laundry there and turn on the blower and only wait 12 hours for (mostly) dry clothing. Of course the company was paying my electric bill . . .

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Zen! Good point, Japan -is- making me soft.

    I remember when I was in college the laundry machines were in a building in a different location from our apartment! I could handle it then, and it was snowy… I can handle it now!

    Good point K, I’ll have to remember that. I don’t have a drying machine (does anyone here?) so I’ll have to hang my stuff out. Would hanging the clothes INSIDE the house get them to dry any faster?

  • Chivey

    I have a drying machine in my bath room, but don’t use it so often. If you use air-conditioner, your room air gets dry :) No problem!
    Well, if you can afford to use your air-conditioner, though..

  • http://www.dreamsofwhitetiles.com Roddy

    Don’t know how cold it gets over there, but if you tried that in Beijing you’d be in real danger of your clothes freezing into one big icy lump if you left them overnight – which I inevitably would. Might make more sense to leave the fridge outside in winter, could save some money that way . . .

  • K

    I swear I embraced every single thing about living in Japan – sleeping and eating on the floor, commuting on my bike on rainy days holding an umbrella – I cherish every memory of everything that differed from the US (which pretty much covers every experience). The only thing I never got used to was the drying thing. I’ve been back 10 months now and still when I open my huge Kenmore dryer and remove soft, fluffy, sweet-smelling towels and sheets and clothing I am grateful!

  • http://Lovenroses.com Rose Marie Pacheco

    There’s a product called the Tibbe-Lines for air drying clothes that is energy,time and space efficient as well as saving you money and adding longevity to your clothes.Go to LOVENROSES.COM(LINK) TIBBE-LINE. It’s very ingenious.

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