- Submitted by Vijaylakshmi
(Simple Steps to do Home Laundry, Tips for doing laundry in India)
Doing Laundry... Is it your biggest phobia?
My neighbors recently shifted to the US and they rented out their apartment to their cousin for them to live. The cousin and his wife along with their 7 year old daughter shifted from Mumbai and were slowly getting settled. The wife was quite a warm and friendly person. We began to share good vibes with each other. Anytime she opened her main door for anyone, the most common visual one gets to see is the pile of clothes lying on sofa and another small pile on the bedroom table.
I am very sure that each of you would have definitely seen this visual in any of your family or friends’ houses or sometimes even our own houses. But, believe it or not, this visual gives many wrong perceptions about the people of the house. This visual puts off the mood of any visitor who visits your house. And above all, pile of clothes here and there emits loads and loads of negative energy in the house. For many people, including me, laundry is one of the most boring, difficult and frustrating job in the household. But regular and systematic laundry schedule will even make this mundane chore take an interesting turn.
First and foremost step in laundry is to maintain a laundry basket where all dirty clothes to be washed can be put in. I have seen in many houses that the dirty or soiled clothes keep lying in the bathroom for days together. You can instill in a strict rule that all dirty clothes need to be put in the laundry basket. If you have a small baby at home, keep a separate basket for baby clothes if they need to be washed separately. The second and most important discipline is to wash the clothes every single day. There can be absolutely no short cuts for it. This era of automatic washing machines have made our lives quite easier in washing, so people!! Put on the washing machines every day.
My Laundry Routine
I have a simple washing routine which I have been following for many years.
- Every Wednesday and Saturday I wash all white clothes. This includes children white shirts, husbands white shirts if any, my white salwar and tops, white towels, kerchiefs, vests of children and hubby. I use “Robins cuffs and collars” to remove the dark patches from the collars and I soak them in a bucket of water with rin ala for half hour. I put for wash in my IFB front load washing machine in the quick wash cycle.
- Every Monday I was my bed sheets and pillow covers of all the bedrooms.
- All the remaining days, I wash my regular wear either in the full wash cycle or the quick wash depending on the load of clothes.
- The last day of the month is dedicated to the washing of all sofa covers, cushion covers and other furnishings.
- I wash my curtains before Pongal, Tamil New Year day, Ganesh chaturthi and Diwali.
Once the washing is done, it is best to dry the clothes under sun at the earliest. In many households, though the clothes will be washed in the morning, it would be dried only in the evening. This causes a damp smell on the clothes and also lot of creases in the clothes which makes it difficult to fold the dried clothes. Make and create sufficient drying arrangements in your balconies so that it can accommodate even the washed clothes of your guests.
I’m sure your laundry routine has also started setting in your minds. Happy washing!!!
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