Diana's Household Diaries " Laundry, Pain or Pleasure "

It's pleasure for me. Well most of the time it is. Laundry is just one of those chores that doesn't bother me. It doesn't hurt that we have modern appliances in which to do it with either!!

My earliest memories of laundry was of a wringer washer my mother used when I was very young. We were living in a two-story brick apartment building in Chicago. My mom, myself and my brother. There was a wringer washer in the basement to which my mother would always warn me to stay away from. I guess mom didn't like using it much as after a time we would walk several blocks to the laundromat to do our weekly laundry. Mom and I taking turns pulling our wheeled cart back and forth to the laundromat. It was always so hot in there. Air conditioning wasn't as common place as it is now. While at this laundromat I remember a time when my eyes started burning and then we started coughing. There was an awful smell and then we realized one of the dryers was on fire! At least it wasn't filled with our clothes!
It wasn't long after that when mom received a new washer dryer pair from my soon to be stepfather. I'll bet I have that photo around here somewhere. I can still see the excitement on her face from that day. I'm sure she was tickled not to have to make the six block walk back and forth with my brother and I in tow anymore. 

After I was married to my first husband, we lived in another apartment complex in the suburbs of Chicago. Schiller Park to be exact. This apartment building had a washer/dryer combo in the basement that was shared by the residents. I didn't mind doing my own laundry but there was this one older gentleman tenant that kept telling me that I wasn't cleaning the lint screen of the dryer properly. Well I really thought I was doing it right but apparently you must pick off every individual speck of lint that remained on the screen. I tried to appease him but I just never did it good enough for him so I would just apologize!  
While living in that apartment, I discovered that I was pregnant with my first child. My son Frank. I was 19 and so, so excited. This would lead to my most exciting laundry experience ever. It came after my baby shower.

I received many new baby clothes. Teeny, tiny, adorable baby clothes. My mother told me that I had to wash them before the new baby would wear them. Really? I had no idea. I was 19. I had no idea about anything. So I bought some Ivory Snow. Mom had to tell me about that too. Then I washed all of the teeny, tiny, adorable baby clothes about three months before the baby was due. I can vividly remember folding each little item, in awe of the tiny details. I know it must sound silly, but I was in heaven! The clothes were now all ready for the new arrival, as was I.

After Frank was born we moved into another apartment. That is when I got my very own washer and dryer. They were Maytags. I still have Maytags only the set I have now are much newer. This is the exact pair that I have now.

 When I was ready to purchase the new set I seriously researched the newer HE (High Efficiency) machines. I was so, so close to purchasing an HE set but I didn't like what I was reading about them. My husband was leaving this decision up to me. I also talked to our repairman about them. It was after that when I decided to go with the traditional models above. They are more efficient than the older models, they just aren't, supposedly as efficient as the HE models.

I won't tell you the reasons that I decided against the HE models as I wouldn't want to deter someone from purchasing them if that's what they really wanted. But I will tell you that I made the right choice as our house is 65 years old and so is most of our plumbing. As it turned out, our old plumbing couldn't have handled the type of water pressure needed for the new machine. We ended up having to put in a wash tub to handle the pressure of the new machine we did buy!! I am very happy with them. They wash and dry much better than my old one's did.

I have recently tried something that I learned about on the local news station a few weeks back. Most of you may already know about this but I didn't so I gave it a try. I made my own homemade laundry soap. It saves quite a bit of money. I was so sick of the skyrockting laundry soap prices, I thought " Why not give it a try?". So far I can honestly say that it works very, very well. It takes a only a few ingredients to yield about four quarts dry. You can make it liquid if you wish but I went with the powdered, it was easier. You only need two TEASPOONS, yes TEASPOONS, per load. It cleans very well and doesn't leave a scent on the clothes which is good in my house as my husband is allergic to many scented products. I read that you can scent it if you like. You can Google it if interested in more info that I am giving you here. There are a few different recipes, the one I chose was fairly easy. This is what you will need...

 6 - Bars of Fels-Naptha soap. (The photo shows 3 but you will need 6)

3- Cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soap

3- Cups of Borax

If you have hard water, add a 2-lb. box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

Finely grate the Fels-Naptha into a bucket. This is much easier if you have a teen or two around your house! Add the remaining ingredients , mix well.

I had a five quart ice cream tub that I used for the soap. I didn't need the baking soda so you may need a larger container if you have hard water and need to use the baking soda.

Use 2- teaspoons per load.

I am guessing this soap will last several months for me. The total cost was around $14.00. I found all of the ingredients at Wal-Mart, where else right? Our clothes come out softer and cleaner then they did with the store bought detergent. I can only imagine the dollars this is saving our family. We do about 6 to 7 loads a week.

It's also very important to clean your washer on a regular basis. I clean mine once a month with a cup of bleach and hot water. Follow your manufacturers directions for proper cleaning. I have also used "Afresh" washing machine cleaner tablets but found that the bleach actually worked better. Cleaning your machine regularly is very important as it prevents mold and mildew build-up which and be a hazard to your health and once let to sit too long, can be very difficult to get rid of. There is always excess water that sits in the tub of your machine weather you see it or not.


I also love hanging my clothes outside on a clothesline. I had to do this for a few years when we lived in a house that didn't have a natural gas line for my dryer. I suppose we could have converted it but we chose to hang them outside. The smell of towels, sheets and clothing hung outside, well, nothing beats it !! I would like to buy one of those big clothes hanging thingy's for my yard. I don't really have anything proper to attach clothesline to. I can only imagine how quickly our clothes would have dried in that 100 plus degree weather we had!!!

Now, I have almost covered any and all of my thoughts and knowledge about laundry here. Lets face it, most of you know the basics, it ain't rocket science!! But I haven't told you the one thing that I hate about laundry. I don't mind washing it. I don't mind drying it. I don't mind folding it. The part that I absolutely dislike is putting it away. So if you are fortunate enough to have someone that does laundry for you, unless you pay them, put your own clean clothes away, please!!!

Choose your subject !! Let me know what household subject you would like me to post about. I will choose a majority choice. If there isn't a majority, I will pick a random subject from your suggestions. This could be fun. I don't know everything you know!! But I will do my best. I will post what I know about the subject, if anything, next Monday.

Thanks for reading Diana's Household Diaries!!