A Day in the Life: Laundry

Laundry has always been one of my favorite chores. I always liked hanging the clothes out on the line to dry while growing up in Chester, and I've always liked sorting, folding, and putting away everything. I don't really like ironing, but the rest is fun. We have never had a washer and dryer during our eight years of marriage, so I've always had to go to the laundromat. I don't mind this so much, because it gives me an excuse to sit and read while our clothes are washing and drying. What other chore gives you time for reading? In Rexburg, Idaho it wasn't such a big deal, because we had a car to transport the laundry back and forth. Here in Queens, we have no car.

Our apartment building does not have any laundry facilities. Some do, and the really expensive places have machines in the apartments -- or at least hook ups. Since we have neither, I've had to find a laundromat nearby. Because patronizing a laundromat is the way of a New Yorker's life, there seems to be one on every corner, right next to a Starbucks and Rite Aid. We have a laundromat on the corner of our block, but it is small and always busy. There never seemed to be any machines available, no matter what time I went. My second closest choice was a place called Laundry City about a block and a half away. It's large, clean, has plenty of machines and the staff are really nice. All last year they offered free drying during the middle days of the week -- I loved that! It cut our laundry expenses in half. So this is my place of choice.

    

I do laundry once a week, and you are probably wondering how I get my laundry to the place without a car. Well, I carry it. Brian got a really sturdy laundry bag at some point from his high school, and it has come in very handy. I sort the laundry in our apartment, then stuff the piles into the bag and tie it closed. The load varies from week to week and sometimes the bag is overflowing. On those weeks, I usually make two trips instead of trying to carry it all. I just sling the bag over my shoulder and off I go. 

A lot of people have carts (like the one pictured below) that they use to transport stuff around, including laundry. We've never bought one because we never expected to be here long enough to justify the purchase. Well, here it is four years later, and we don't have any plans to move soon. But I've done without one this long, so I'm happy to not spend the money. If we ever break down and get one, we'll probably end up moving the next month. Hey, maybe I should get one. Haha! If our situation ever changes, I'll probably cave in and pick one up, but for the time being I function fine without. Besides, even with a cart, I'd still have to carry it up the stairs.

    

I have to lug the bag down the six flights of stairs in our building, around the corner, down the block, across the street under the subway tracks, and down the sidewalk past the neighboring Boston Market. It's really not that bad to carry it over. It's just a little awkward because I look like Santa Claus with my giant bag. Not many people stare while I'm walking though -- it's most likely because they've seen something way more weird that day. The only time I hate it is when it rains or in the winter, when the sidewalks are icy, slushy, or covered in snow, and a cart wouldn't do much good then anyways. During the winter, I always see people trying to force their loaded carts through slush and snow. Carrying stuff is easier and quicker in that instance.

    

Oh and don't forget the laundry soap -- I have to take that with me too. Luckily, Brian always comes home with tons of bags and backpacks from work events, and I found one of them that is perfect for carrying all the bottles of laundry soap. I used to carry the really big bottles of soap with me, but realized that I could lighten the load a bit by buying the smaller bottles. Since it's usually a better bargain to buy in bulk, I buy the larger containers and then use them to refill the small ones.

   

Laundry City doesn't use quarters (another reason why I like it). Instead they use these cards with a microchip in them. 

It costs $2 to get a card, but as long as you don't lose it, you never have to pay that fee again. You load the card with money using these "vending" machines. If you load the card using $20 dollar bills, they give you a bonus two dollars.

I usually just put one sorted pile into each machine, so I only use three to four machines each week. It costs $1.75 per load. After each machine is loaded and its door shut securely, I just have to select the setting, start the machine, and add the soap, bleach, and fabric softener as needed. Then I have a whole 25 minutes to sit and enjoy my latest book.

Occasionally, an interesting character will wander in, but usually it's just normal people doing their laundry. Once, I had a homeless man come in and sit right by me and proceed to undress and change so that he could wash the clothes he was wearing. He smelled like he hadn't had a shower in a long time and when he started to undo his pants, I casually got up and wandered over to "check" my laundry. At least once during my time there each week, a little Asian woman will come in offering everyone bootleg copies of DVDs for purchase. I haven't seen her in awhile actually. The only other notable experience I've had while doing my laundry in NY would be the couple that was seriously making out up against the dryers -- the dryers that my laundry was in. Luckily they took their passion outside before my clothes finished, because I didn't want to be the one to break them up.

I really like the dryers here -- they are clean and and don't take forever to do their job. It costs $0.30 per 8 minutes of drying time. After about 20 to 30 minutes, our clothes are fluffy and dry.

The subway tracks run above the street in front of the laundromat, so I get to hear the trains rumble past every so often. It's a constant noise in my life, and I really don't notice it anymore. Except when I'm walking around the area while trying to talk on the phone.

Sometimes I'll stay and fold my clothes, but other times I just pack it all up and head home. I lug the bag back past the Boston Market, across the street, down the block, around the corner, and up the six flights of stairs. Really, it's not that bad.

So all of you who have washers and dryers in your homes, be grateful. I dream of someday having a house with these machines. One of these days, it will happen, and then I won't know what to do with myself.