Doing Laundry... By Hand

Today, I did not go to school. Exams are this week, and I didn't have any to give, so I asked Tammy yesterday if I had to come. She said I didn't, so I stayed home and decided to be productive instead. Although I did allow myself a lot of down time, I did get a lot done, too.

I cleaned my room, gathering all the stray clothes that seem to wander around on their own. I put them in a laundry basket and headed downstairs to the washer to wash them. Although the family doesn't use them, they do have a washer and dryer. The live-in maid does their laundry by hand, so I'm not even sure why they have the machines if they don't ever use them.

I used them a while ago, before break. Obviously, I was now low on clothes, so I had to get my clothes done today. But, when I turned on the machine, I was surprised to find my feet wet. The machine was leaking water out the bottom, and not holding any inside. I tried turning it off and then back on, as well as a few different settings, but it was pointless. I sighed and told Lindsay, but there was nothing she could obviously do.

So, I set to washing my clothes by hand, which I've never actually done before. But, having watched others do it and understanding the steps of a washing machine, I set to work. I only picked out a few things that I really wanted for the next week or so. It took me most of the rest of the day, going down to check on them, soaking them, scrubbing them with soap, soaking them again, and then rinsing them out. I had shirts and pants going downstairs, and then I had some other clothes going in my bathroom, too.

By evening, everything was hanging to dry, and I really hope I washed them properly. I'm not concerned about smell, since I know they smell nicely of soap right now, and I'm not too worried about them being completely clean. What I'm most worried about is that I didn't rinse the soap out of them well enough, and that they'll be stiff and itchy. Sometimes, my skin will be sensitive to things, and my hands were getting itchy just washing my clothes. So, I just hope that it works out. Now, I have to get in there and do this more often, to catch up on laundry, and then stay on top of it.

What's funny about this was that as I worked, especially when wringing the clothes out, my hands hurt and turned red. Working at camp for over 2 years meant I had plenty of callouses, which bothered me sometimes because it meant my hands weren't soft or super feminine. But now, I don't work with my hands, raking and mucking and such, so my callouses are almost completely gone and my hands are soft again. I was just enjoying their softness, and now they'll probably get calloused again. Ah, well.

So, that's what I spent a large portion of my day doing. I also just uploaded a youtube video that I recorded and edited about a week ago. You can watch it here. It's of a couple of my kids tasting oranges that are really sour. Enjoy!