The Wash.
My clothes never get very clean when I wash them by hand. The dirt comes off, and they smell superficially nice, but in no time they're back to their old stinky selves. And I spend a whole lot of time washing them. And though I know the Peace Corps is supposed to be all about expending enourmous amounts of time and energy on work that returns little or no result, it's starting to get to me, at least as it regards my clothes.
Washing machines in America get my clothes plenty clean. And if you think about it, they don't do much. They just kind of swish them around for fifteen minutes. There are no scrubbing mechanisms. The swishing isn't even that violent. Which makes me think maybe I (and everyone who's been teaching me how to wash clothes here) have it all wrong.
The Kazakh method of washing is to violently attack a single article for thirty to forty seconds, rubbing it between your fists up and down wherever you think dirt might lurk, after which you swish it a just a little, maybe five more seconds, wring it out, and put it in a separate tub for rinsing. While you do this all the other clothes are just sitting, not swishing. Maybe instead of forty-five seconds of blistering abrasion, fifteen minutes of gentle swishing would do. All the clothes would swish together, and none would lay fallow. I certainly spend at least fifteen total minutes scrubbing, and swishing wouldn't hurt my knuckles.
This is consistent with the theory, too. At least with my theory. When I wash clothes, I'm mostly not trying to get the dirt off the outside, which is what scrubbing would be good for. I'm trying to get out offensive organic oils of mine that have seeped deep into the fibers and which are clinging there like odious octopuses in thick underwater kelp forests. All metaphors aside, what will flush the oils out is not surface scrubbing, but lots of clean soapy fluid passing through the weave of the fabric over a long period of time, carrying oils away bit by bit. That is, swishing.
Next time I do my laundry, I'll give it a shot. Swishing will be more relaxing, anyway. I'll listen to some nice songs that I can sing along to that last fifteen minutes total, and just stir. After which, I'll rinse, dry, and sniff. I wish I had some objective measure of stankiness so I could do a proper experiement, but while I was wasting time designing one, I'd smell funny and have blisters on my knuckles, so I'll go ahead with what I have.
Washing machines in America get my clothes plenty clean. And if you think about it, they don't do much. They just kind of swish them around for fifteen minutes. There are no scrubbing mechanisms. The swishing isn't even that violent. Which makes me think maybe I (and everyone who's been teaching me how to wash clothes here) have it all wrong.
The Kazakh method of washing is to violently attack a single article for thirty to forty seconds, rubbing it between your fists up and down wherever you think dirt might lurk, after which you swish it a just a little, maybe five more seconds, wring it out, and put it in a separate tub for rinsing. While you do this all the other clothes are just sitting, not swishing. Maybe instead of forty-five seconds of blistering abrasion, fifteen minutes of gentle swishing would do. All the clothes would swish together, and none would lay fallow. I certainly spend at least fifteen total minutes scrubbing, and swishing wouldn't hurt my knuckles.
This is consistent with the theory, too. At least with my theory. When I wash clothes, I'm mostly not trying to get the dirt off the outside, which is what scrubbing would be good for. I'm trying to get out offensive organic oils of mine that have seeped deep into the fibers and which are clinging there like odious octopuses in thick underwater kelp forests. All metaphors aside, what will flush the oils out is not surface scrubbing, but lots of clean soapy fluid passing through the weave of the fabric over a long period of time, carrying oils away bit by bit. That is, swishing.
Next time I do my laundry, I'll give it a shot. Swishing will be more relaxing, anyway. I'll listen to some nice songs that I can sing along to that last fifteen minutes total, and just stir. After which, I'll rinse, dry, and sniff. I wish I had some objective measure of stankiness so I could do a proper experiement, but while I was wasting time designing one, I'd smell funny and have blisters on my knuckles, so I'll go ahead with what I have.
9 Comments:
Well, have you experimented? Countless others are waiting to hear if they too can avoid blistering their knuckles! :)
WHOO DOGGY
I have been waiting for complete verification to publish my findings, because their implications are huge, and I don't want to get people's hopes up for nothing.
Besides, I've been travelling and with bad internet access.
But a very good (former Boy Scout) friend emailed me a suggestion upon reading this blog. And it is this: get a 40 liter bucket with a lid (Russian - plasmasevaya bochka - Kokshetau price - 1200 tenge), a clean (!) plunger (Russian - vantus, Kokshetau price - 150 tenge). Punch a hole in the lid that the plunger can go through. Fill the barrel half full with sudsy hot water, insert clothes, and agitate for ten minutes. Dump out the soapy water, put in clean water, and agitate for one minute. Dump and repeat until the water is no longer sudsy. And your clothes will be as clean as clean can be. What's better, it's easy, faster, and you can literally read a book while you're washing your clothes.
This is awesome. I have now done several loads of laundry on two different prototypes, and everything from bedsheets to socks to towels to dress shirts come out cleaner and easier than ever before.
This will be featured prominently in the next PC Kazakhstan Vesti.
Don't let ~R fool you..she has a Korean guy do her laundry. He delivers.
Agitating ones clothes seems an appropriate revenge for their having forced you to scrape your knuckles for so long. Kudos to your wise pal. And thanks for being responsible with this news. The ramifications are huge for knuckles worldwide. Hands down. :)
I can't blame anyone for hiring out laundry-washing. That is, unless they have the plung-o-matic. (Actually, if I were to brand this, I think I would call it "Dee-Plunge".) But getting it delivered? I don't know, ~R, that's maybe a little too far.
This is tough on plungers, though, so buy the best one you can find. We already destroyed a particularly ne-katchestvennii kitsaiskii vantus on towels and running shorts.
I think the lesson learned is to buy high quality plungers, and to avoid adding running shorts into one's wardrobe. Quality research = quality findings. I'm going to need this soon, if all goes to plan...
And please, no dissing of my laundry delivery. I am currently in withdrawal, having moved into a neighborhood where one has to actually pick up one's laundry oneself. ;)
As the Kids in the Hall said, if a man is living his life right, he should be going through plungers like toothpicks.
Karen, one of the serious bad-asses of Kaz15, writes of the Dee-Plunge:
I am thinking about writing an article in praise of the new washing machine I have at my own home. So if you are including the directions in the next Vesti and want a user recommendation, I am your girl. Oh my gosh. It is so wonderful. I bought a different shape than the one you found in Panfilova area, but it works just as well. Sit on the porch, push the clothes up and down for a while and then rinse. Life is good.
Thanks so much guys, you really have made it better here for me. I am glad you are both my friends. BIG HUGS! Karen
Wow, a testimonial already! Dee-Plunge looks set to be marketed!
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