This weekend I finally convinced Cristiano that we needed a second drying rack to take on the long cold winter ahead. He didn't want to get a second one because he said our apartment is too small and it makes him "nervous" to see laundry hanging in, say, the living room. It makes me nervous when I have no pajamas for Dylan or jeans to wear because they are all dirty! So the compromise is that one drying rack stays out on the balcony at all times even when it's really cold. That seems fair. Lest you think Cristiano is one of those Italian men who doesn't do laundry, it's not true.
The problem is that I don't like his laundry hanging style - he doesn't leave enough room for air to pass between the slats for my taste, and he says things like "It's simple physics" to describe his strategy. I don't care if he has Stephen Hawking and a plethora of mathematical formulas on his side. When he hangs out the laundry, it takes twice as long to dry and the stuff comes out wrinklier. So he doesn't touch the drying rack anymore.
Now I have my new fantastic drying rack where I can even hang sheets and blankets! I'm calling it the "Cadillac" of drying racks but, in fact, it's really only mid-range. We paid 49 Euros and we saw drying racks that cost upwards of 200 Euros. Unless they iron, fold and put away too, I can't justify 200 Euros on a drying rack.
Never fear, though. I'm sure the crowdpleasing frozen clothes pins will still make an occasional appearance. I mean, even in the winter, jeans take three days to dry in the house and come out like cardboard.
The drying rack just "hanging out" in Dylan's room...
A trial run with a small-ish load of whites!
3 comments:
Ever since you moved to Italy and especially since you've had Dylan, I give thanks to the universe for my dryer.
ha i have seen those racks for sale too! Luckily we have a long clothesline in a windy place (and it's considerably warmer here!) so our washing takes from 30 mins to 3-4hrs to dry (if no rain showers interrupt the process). I also have a smaller drying rack for the winter and it is not enough. Don't know how anyone with only racks gets their sheets and towels dry though!
I find the washing machines here to be tiny, even though ours is the biggest one we could find (holds a massive 8kgs).I probably do between 3-5 loads per DAY of washing here and it is a constant battle to be 'up to date' with it. Lately it has been hell with a v messy eating, newly toilet trained toddler who is into colour pens, mud pies and fingerpainting and a senile cat who has taken to soiling things in jealousy! Yesterday i washed 2 sofa covers, 6 dining chair covers and a blanket amongst other things. Thank god for those sirocco winds!
I find the best way to hang washing is to shake it extremely hard first (shake those wrinkles out!) and then hang it firmly. G also does a poor job of it, bunching stuff up too close, making more wrinkles and never shaking stuff.
Well, hopefully you get your stuff dry and apologies for such a long and tedious comment.vanessa
Caroline,
Before I had Dylan I had pretty much gotten used to it. Cristiano's work clothes go to the dry cleaner's and the rest of our wardrobe is cotton. Then Dylan was born (in January, no less) and was eating every 90 minutes to two hours and would VOMIT (not spit up) after each feeding for at least the first three months. Then there was the period of pooping his bed literally every night even with a double diaper! Now it has gotten better but a baby generates A LOT of laundry. If we ever move to a bigger place in Italy where we have a larger electricity allotment, we will get a dryer at least for the emergencies.
Vanessa,
Yeah, your washer sounds bigger than mine but still small compared to American standards. And you are in sunny Sicily, after all. Is it any wonder that many adult Italians give their laundry to their mammas to do? Now I get it. Between waiting several hours for the washer (my "fast" cycle is 90 minutes) and hanging things out, going out to turn things to make sure they are getting enough wind/sun, etc. one load of laundry takes hours and hours of your day.
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