Adventures in Overseas Laundry: The Winter Edition

Laundry overseas is interesting to say the least. Now in Batumi it is made even more so by the fact winter has descended on the area. Doing laundry in the winter in Batumi requires 4 primary things for success:

1. Planning
2. Patience
3. Pain
4. Good weather

Planning

This is the first aspect of successful laundry during the winter in Georgia. One needs to ensure that several days can be set aside for the clothes to dry, yet still have enough clothes to wear during those days. Without the luxury of clothes dryers, I dry my clothes outside despite the humid weather and wet conditions. Fortunately, at my house there is a covered and partially enclosed porch which helps to keep the weather at bay, which allows for faster drying. Whenever I do laundry I assess what is crucial to wash first, meaning which will take the longest to dry. I have one sweater here that I love, but I hesitate to wear it because the last time I washed it, it took about 5 days to dry.

As much as I hate to, I have no choice but to wear things more than once, a fact that has probably hastened the destruction of my clothes after living here. Much of my overseas wardrobe is comprised of items from the Old Navy clearance rack, simply so that if they are destroyed I haven't lost much. Over the holidays, my mom saw one of my old white shirts from Georgia versus a new one. She was shocked at how the old one had taken on a silver-grey colour. "Is that from living there?" she asked. All I could do was nod. I should probably change my bed linens, but I am concerned about being without even one of my blankets during this cold time of the year.

Patience

Drying in humid weather takes a long time...days. Consequently, I might have to wear my less desirable clothes until things are dry, such as today. Today I have to wear my light grey jeans, which I am not that fond of because the others are needed for work or are in the process of drying.

Also one needs to be patient with the European washing machines. For reasons that I cannot begin to understand, a 37 minute cycle does not take 37 minutes. It seems to get stuck on minutes 7 and 12 for about 10 minutes each. Try 1 to 2 hours. I feel like I have to babysit the washing machine. It is really annoying.

Pain

Winter laundry can be a truly painful experience. Hanging up cold, wet clothes in a cold, wet environment without the benefit of gloves, is really uncomfortable (to put it mildly). I can't wear gloves because then I can't get the clothespins to work. I try to work quickly, but end up with hands and fingers that burn from being so cold.

Good Weather

This is the last vital requirement for a successful winter laundry adventure. Any bit of sun aids in the drying process. Today is sunny, consequently, anywhere you go in Batumi you will see laundry out drying in the sun. There is something really refreshing about seeing laundry out on a line to dry, an increasingly rare occurrence in the United States. This fact saddens me, as many HOAs go so far as to forbid them. In Southern Utah, I put one up over the summer. A few gusts of the dry air, and the clothes, though scratchy, were good to go. When I worked inside Zion National, I advocated for a clothes line. The National Park Service said one could exist only if it could not be seen from the road. NPS should be promoting such behaviors not inhibiting environmentally sustainable practices. Needless to say, the location of the building prevented a clothesline that couldn't be seen. Consequently, machine drying continues.