How to

Saturday was laundry day. It was a toss up between going to the beach and having clean clothes for the week. Clean clothes won out - when towels & sheets & clothes start to stink here, they REALLY stink.

Just in case you ever need to know, here's a rough idea of how to do laundry in a developing country. I didn't know - had to ask our nice Dominican lady neighbors for a tutorial...



1) Have big-strong-man carry Dominican style washing machine downstairs to courtyard. Also ask big-strong man to fire up the generator, as the power from the street isn't strong enough to run the washing machine.

2) Sort the clothes into tiny 5 pound piles, as that's all the machine can handle. Don't sort according to color, sort according to how dirty the clothes are. You will need to smell nearly every piece of sweaty clothing to ascertain how dirty it is. Wash the dirtiest clothes first.

3) Begin filling the washing machine by hauling buckets of water from the cistern. Add detergent, then clothes, then start the machine. It will agitate (i.e. gently swirl & swish) the clothes for 15 minutes.

4) Wring the clothes out and place them in the spin tube for 5 minutes. Drain the water out of the washing tub - the water will just run into the grass. That is okay. Fill the washing tub again with buckets from the cistern. This is the rinse water.

5) When the clothes are finished spinning, place them in the rinse water and agitate for 10 minutes. Wring them out again, and into the spinner for another 5 minutes.

6) Hang the clothes on the line, making sure everything is inside out to protect the fabric from fading in the sun. Secure all clothing with clothespins, to prevent underwear from ending up in the church yard next door. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. If it does, your clothes will mildew & you'll have to wash them all over again.

7) Start again with a new load, using the rinse water from the last load as the wash water for the new load. This will conserve water, and if you're lucky, you will have enough water left to wash dishes & take a shower that night.

8) Repeat this process 6 times for every week's worth of laundry, taking care that the generator doesn't run out of gas and that you don't fall into the cistern.

9) When finished, dry the washing machine in the sun, then ask big-strong-man to haul it back up to the security of your guest bedroom. Take your somewhat-stiff clothes off the line, then fold them & put them away. It is optional to wait until the next day to put them away.

10) Remember with longing & fondness the small miracle of automatic washing machines & dryers. Try to think of a way to have the little Snuggles bear bring his fresh, clean softness to the Dominican.