Missionary Monday - Laundry

Wanna see how I do laundry?

First, I wash in this front-loading washing machine that I have had for 7 years now. We recently had it serviced... for the very first time. I love my faithful friend that I spend time with on a daily basis... Isn't she a beauty?! (And, yes, as you can see in the picture, I CAN buy Tide laundry detergent here. They don't have liquid detergent yet, but I think it is coming soon because I have seen samples - although not Tide - attached to our liquid fabric softener.)

Most people here use washing machines that are a 2-in-1 washing machine/dryer. But from my experience of these machines, you still have to hang your clothes to dry when all of the cycles are done anyway. I guess the dryer part of it just gives you a head start. When we were able to buy our washing machine, we opted for a machine that JUST washes. I figured I would rather have my clothes super clean than half clean/half dry. I've never been a very big fan of all-in-one-technology anyway.

Now, dryers as we Americans know them, are a rare item in Ukraine. As a matter of fact, most people here do not know what they are, and I have yet to find a store that sells one. So, for the past (almost) 8 years, this is how I have dried my clothes:And, now that we are living in our new house, I have another option when I want to climb these stairs:In the picture below you can see part of the "roof area" of our home, which we plan to use as a second floor one day. Our dream is to one day build the boys a great big bedroom up here. For now, it makes great storage and an excellent place to hang my clothes... especially the sheets that I wash once a week.

I DO have to wash EVERY day, in order to have space on my clothes lines for all of my wet items. As soon as things dry, I start washing more clothes! And, I must confess that we re-wear a lot of clothing and even share towels to keep laundry at a minimum for our family of five.

And, doesn't this little invention look handy?! I love it for our small items, such as socks!One day we hope to put a clothes lines in our yard. We haven't done that yet because of all of the dirt outside. Since our home is still a "construction site," we do not have a lot of grass growing around our house. When we have a regular yard with grass, I will start hanging our clothes outside. But, for now, this system works well for me. Besides, nearly half of the year all Ukrainians hang their clothes indoor anyway because of the cold weather.

Since we do not have dryers, we also do not have dryer sheets. One day I received a forwarded e-mail in my inbox stating all of the wonderful things you can use dryer sheets for (not just for drying clothes). And, I thought, "Oh boy, if only they really knew who/where they sent this to!" I just laughed!

So, there you have it... laundry on the mission field... at least for me anyway! When I am tempted to feel sorry for myself for all of the extra time it takes to do laundry the "old-fashioned" way, I just remind myself of the dear missionary wives who lived in different centuries and think of how jealous they would be of my modern washing machine!