THE IRONER AND THE LAVANDER
This is about doing the laundry: ironing and making laba -my most dreaded house chore.
This senyorita from Manila had maids back home. I grew up in a house with maids and drivers. Before we owned a washing machine a maid cleaned the house, and another came just to do the laundry by hand and then to iron it after. That is the life I can relate to and will only be too willing to go back to. Here, on my own in Manhattan the chore is all mine. I try not to accumulate so much that I will hog all the machines at my building's basement washroom but I also try not to have to attend to it more than once in two weeks.
I used to be so poor at laundry-ing that I’d flunk right from the sorting. Whites I can define. But what about a blouse that is white in front and black in back? What if it has a dark collar? A bright blue blouse – does that go to the colors or darks? Eh it runs color eh, di ba dapat it should be with the darks? Eh not daw because it is not that dark. Eh di I put it with the bright colors. Eh no one naman said na when it is with color the water should be cold eh. I used warm. The colors ran as though it was in the New York marathon. So my light blues all became a shade darker. Imagine the rest of the batch though. Hay nako…
So when do I put in the bleach? I like those big machines in the Laundromat because it tells you exactly where to put the detergent, the softener and the bleach, when it is time (when the machine lights up the “ADD BLEACH”, silly!). The machines at my apartment's basement, however, you have to put in the detergent, have it run and then add the bleach when it says “ADD BLEACH” tapos wait again for it to say “RINSE” to add the softener. Which meant I had to stare at the machine for the duration of the 35 minute process. What??? Eh what about naman my own internet surfing?
Tapos syempre, you move everything to the dryer when it is done. I have learned to use little heat unless I want to follow the lengths of my pants and grow shorter each time I wash my clothes. Useful hint: get into the dryer sheets habit. It takes out or minimizes the static from your clothes during the dry cold season. And for someone who hates jolts from doorknobs, that is a good tip. Soon as you take the pants and some 'ironables' out of the dryer? Put it on a hanger so you don't have to iron. The rest though, you have no choice but take the iron out of the closet and deal with it.
Ironing? Hay, I miss Aling Thelma’s ‘liston’ on my pants. For a time my pants had two to three lines running down the middle of each leg. I’ve wisened up and now I don’t put lines. I flatten the front of the pants and so now it looks less tailored. I stay safe.
Someone has invented the washine machine. Someone naman make a better and easier way to remove the wrinkles from my clothes than gathering them up in frustration after many attempts to make them look neat and I end up paying $3 per shirt to bring it to the cleaners on the ground floor do my building.
My work allows me to petition for househelp. I think I’ll petition for my maid. Now na.
This senyorita from Manila had maids back home. I grew up in a house with maids and drivers. Before we owned a washing machine a maid cleaned the house, and another came just to do the laundry by hand and then to iron it after. That is the life I can relate to and will only be too willing to go back to. Here, on my own in Manhattan the chore is all mine. I try not to accumulate so much that I will hog all the machines at my building's basement washroom but I also try not to have to attend to it more than once in two weeks.
I used to be so poor at laundry-ing that I’d flunk right from the sorting. Whites I can define. But what about a blouse that is white in front and black in back? What if it has a dark collar? A bright blue blouse – does that go to the colors or darks? Eh it runs color eh, di ba dapat it should be with the darks? Eh not daw because it is not that dark. Eh di I put it with the bright colors. Eh no one naman said na when it is with color the water should be cold eh. I used warm. The colors ran as though it was in the New York marathon. So my light blues all became a shade darker. Imagine the rest of the batch though. Hay nako…
So when do I put in the bleach? I like those big machines in the Laundromat because it tells you exactly where to put the detergent, the softener and the bleach, when it is time (when the machine lights up the “ADD BLEACH”, silly!). The machines at my apartment's basement, however, you have to put in the detergent, have it run and then add the bleach when it says “ADD BLEACH” tapos wait again for it to say “RINSE” to add the softener. Which meant I had to stare at the machine for the duration of the 35 minute process. What??? Eh what about naman my own internet surfing?
Tapos syempre, you move everything to the dryer when it is done. I have learned to use little heat unless I want to follow the lengths of my pants and grow shorter each time I wash my clothes. Useful hint: get into the dryer sheets habit. It takes out or minimizes the static from your clothes during the dry cold season. And for someone who hates jolts from doorknobs, that is a good tip. Soon as you take the pants and some 'ironables' out of the dryer? Put it on a hanger so you don't have to iron. The rest though, you have no choice but take the iron out of the closet and deal with it.
Ironing? Hay, I miss Aling Thelma’s ‘liston’ on my pants. For a time my pants had two to three lines running down the middle of each leg. I’ve wisened up and now I don’t put lines. I flatten the front of the pants and so now it looks less tailored. I stay safe.
Someone has invented the washine machine. Someone naman make a better and easier way to remove the wrinkles from my clothes than gathering them up in frustration after many attempts to make them look neat and I end up paying $3 per shirt to bring it to the cleaners on the ground floor do my building.
My work allows me to petition for househelp. I think I’ll petition for my maid. Now na.