Schmutzige Wäsche Waschen

Airing Dirty Laundry

As in English, the German language has a “to air one’s dirty laundry” expression. Be assured, gentle reader, you’ll only be viewing our clean laundry in this blog entry.  According to the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University, 91% of all Austrian households own a washer, and only 11% own a dryer. We feel fortunate to have an exceptionally space efficient washing machine in our apartment.  It is quite a quirky contraption.  The outside of the drum is covered in sharp, poky things.  To close and open the drum, one must stand vigilant so one's fingers are not eaten by the drum teeth, and so one's head doesn’t get clunked by the non-latching machine top (there have been incidences).  Clothes get incredibly clean, but, depending on what wash cycle is used, this process can take up to three hours.  It still beats washing heavy jeans and bath towels in the tub.

Since we are in the 89% of Austrian households without a dryer, we simply employ ingenuity and planning.  Where can you string a line?  What if it is too cold to have the windows open?  What clothing can be safely hung over the heaters?  As can be seen, we’ve tackled the drying challenge.  We’ve entitled the “clothing on the line” photos, Dark Clothes on a Bright Day and Bright Clothes on a Dark Day (the latter photo was taken about 1 in the afternoon – don’t know if you’ve heard, but we recently experienced the wettest September in Vienna in 50 years).