"We climbed a mountain and locked up some monks! Oh, no! The monks! We forgot to let them out of the laundry room!"
Laundry, it's something almost all of us have to deal with and we have different ways of doing it (do you sort by color or throw it all together?) but have you considered that there are societal differences to laundry?
I have, for example, friends who are missionaries in Tonga and for the first years they lived there they had no washing machine. They had to hand wash the laundry in buckets and squeeze it out by hand and hang to dry. It was hard work and extremely time consuming. Luckily, they were very blessed to get a machine a few years ago which has been for them a revelation.
Well, Germany's laundry situation isn't such a striking difference as Tonga, but there are definite differences. For one, the machines are different. In general they are much smaller than American washing machines (if you want a large style one it will cost you). They are also MUCH more energy efficient. Which is important to Germans because not only are they environmentally conscious but also because they also have the most expensive electricity in Europe. And while I have found the energy efficient machines can wash just as well as any machine (or better)than I used in the US, they take a LOT longer to do it. The standard cotton cycle washed on 60ºC on my machine is 2hours 54minutes. If you want the Eco version of that cycle (which is supposed to have the same washing performance with less water and electricity) that's going to set you back 6hours and 58minutes!
Another big difference is the drying situation. Most Germans don't own dryers. I can't tell you the exact reason, I certainly believe energy cost comes into play, drying clothes is extremely energy costly. I think some of it is generally that it is a waste, since the clothes will dry on their own eventually, so why buy a machine to do it? I suspect there is also just a level of tradition in there, i.e., my mom didn't have a dryer why should I? I must admit, it was a tough adaptation. When I moved in to our first apartment we had our own washing machine in the basement and a shared dryer. It was a real american style dryer with a vent pipe that they hung out the basement window (yes, the basement window was left open all year round) because unlike in the US the rare person who owns a vented dryer does not cut a hole in their house to vent it. But when I asked about using the dryer the landlord replied (in a somewhat haughty tone)
"I hardly ever use it, I just line dry my clothes."
So in fear of her judgement I tried to line dry most of the time.
I'll admit, I wasn't new to line drying. As a kid my mom had laundry lines in the back yard and in the summer since I had no job and was home all day, it was usually my job to hang the clothes out on the line. I used to like doing it a lot because I remember it was nice standing in the sun with warm sun on my back and dragonflies flitting about (they seem attracted to the clotheslines) with the smell of clean laundry. But it was only something we did in the summer since the sun could dry a load almost as fast as a dryer and my parents had 4 kids and the clothes to match. In the winter it was always the dryer.
As an adult I would also do some line drying to save money in the summer and reduce the discomfort of the dryer heating up my house. I did also like the sun for stain removal, when all other stain removers fail- the sun (sometimes aided with salt and lemon juice) can often remove stubborn stains. It was especially helpful with cloth diapers. They take a long time to dry (since they are meant to absorb a lot of wetness they take longer to dry than 1-2 layered clothing). The sun on a hot day did a faster job than a dryer with the added benefit of stain removal, but for the most part this was only a summer activity. In the winter I would occasionally still line dry certain diaper items and delicates to extend their life or to remove stains (the winter sun can still do that, though admittedly, sometimes stuff freezes to the line). But most clothing was stuck in the dryer without a second thought.
At my old apartment here in Germany we had a balcony on which I would put my clothing dryer and dry most of my clothes. We moved in June and we no longer have a balcony to dry the clothes on-but it has become such a strong habit that I feel the need to continue. There is also the fact that we bought a combined washer and dryer which my husband was very set on as a great idea, I was much more skeptical. Somehow we ended up getting it even though I do 98% of the laundry. Well my skeptisim was not unfounded. When your washer is also your dryer that means you can't run a load of laundry while the previous load is drying. Since the dryer takes 2hours and 40 minutes, that means to complete a whole wash and dry cycle you are looking at over 5 hours to complete a single load, if I were perfect at taking the clothes out immediately and putting in the next I could maybe complete three loads in a day. I am not perfect though so I probably would usually only manage one. So basically I never use the dryer unless I must. The dryer also frustrates me because it isn't an American style dryer with a window vent, it's some other type, I think maybe it's called condenser style? It does a lot of fast spinning (like the washer) and drains water out through the wash drain, and uses heat as well and definitely puts a lot of humidity into the room.
It is admittedly very nice that our washer is in our apartment in our bathroom, as opposed to the basement (I used to have to lug laundry up and down 3 flights). However, that means my bathroom is filled with humidity all the time. German houses are built with incredibly thick concrete walls (average German outer wall is 3times thicker than one in standard American construction) which hold in the air, and therefore heat, very well. Holding in the air though also means holding in the humidity, in addition to all the humidity we create by cooking, breathing, and sweating, drying a load of laundry can make an average room into a greenhouse. And if you don't get that humidity out, your looking a Schimmel-city (Schimmel=mold) So I have to leave the bathroom window open much of the time. This means I also need to strategically time our winter showers with when I want to dry laundry. I don't want to be taking a shower after I've had the bathroom window open for 3 hours to dry the laundry, because I'll freeze.
Anyway, it's a balancing act. I certainly hope all the energy saving of not using a dryer will help my electricity bill enough that the freezing bathroom is worth it.
References:
Title Quote:Futurama Season 4 Episode 5
Adventures of Tonga Man: https://theadventuresoftongaman.blogspot.com/2017/09/september-28th-we-leave.html?m=1
https://theadventuresoftongaman.blogspot.com/2015/04/millipede.html?m=1
German Energy Costs: https://www.dotmagazine.online/issues/powering-and-greening-IT/energy-is-expensive-in-germany