renting in setubal since january. i went thru the same washing machine trauma. ours is a washer dryer combo, which i recommend.After many 3.5 hour washes for tiny amounts, i figured out there is a button on the panel that is for a one hour wash. you can also adjust the temperature from 60-40. our button is on the upper right of the panel.
we have a dehumidifier from amazon.es that dries the clothes inside surprisingly quickly. plus you need it for general moisture in the air.
the dishwasher also offers a one hour wash. now if someone can help with our convection oven. but we did make the best roasted potatoe fries i ever had!
We were so excited to buy a hone with a laundry room. When we saw the house before buying it had a washer and dryer. When we got the keys after closing they were gone. So we went to Worten during their bay tax free sake and bought new machines. We oaniccjed when we realized there was no vent for the dryer and no hot water hook up for the washer. Silly Americans m! Dryers have to be self venting in OT and only cold water is hooked up. The machine will warm the water! But it took me over a week to find the quick cycle!!!
Ditto on the um, where did it go, and the um, where did it vent for a house we bought in St. Louis! We did have BOTH hot and cold water hookups, though.
The scented laundry detergent thing is hard because I'm allergic to fragrances in general and Pete really prefers not to smell like the perfume counter at a department store.
It's an issue for sure. As of now, we buy unscented bath soap from one grocery store, unscented hand soap from another, and unscented laundry detergent from a third. Because I can't find all three at the same store.
We try to find detergent for babies, which is still scented but not as heavily. I just looked at options on Amazon Spain and it looks like that's a possibility too.
There are only two things in my home life that would cause me to panic: (1) running out of rice and (2) inability to do laundry properly. So in the three times I have visited Portugal, this laundry business has caused me great anxiety. AirBnB washer/dryer machines we've used over there had the same mind-boggling quirks you wrote about. So I am seriously thinking of shipping a set of Speed Queens across the Atlantic when the time comes, customs duties be damned.
I've learned to wash without bleach. It leaves a nasty scent even after a second rinse ( an option thar seems unavailable to you?). Colored socks are ok.
I have a front loading washer and the places for detergent, etc. look like yours. I use Tide with bleach already in it and nothing else. I'll look in my manual and see what it says about using bleach separately and get back to you. Is nothing easy and straightforward over there?
Great story. Sorry about the clothes line. We were lucky enough to rent a place big enough to install our own heat pump dryer (on sale from Worten) that does not have to be vented outside. It's slow, but it does the job. And, if we move, it goes with us. :-)
This is possibly one of the biggest frustrations we have with the EU in general. In Denmark, they tout “energy efficiency”, yet how is it energy efficient to run a dryer for 3-4 hours? This is the same country that closes all the indoor during summer to save energy…
I understand about fragrance free! We need it too. Glad you found an option. There are also a lot of American direct selling companies that sell products in Europe. Norwex, for instance, sells environmentally friendly fragrance free laundry and cleaning products. Still not cheap but you can get them. And we use a clothesline all summer in Montana because our dryer runs on natural gas (we didn’t make that choice) and yes, the towels will be stiffer! You’ll probably make good friends at the laundromat though! So there is a perk.
The laundromat is usually empty. But I do think I've seen the a person there a couple of times now. Maybe if it happens again, there will actually be a conversation. :-D
Jun 30, 2023·edited Jun 30, 2023Liked by Scott H-K
Maybe this is another example of adjusting your old routines to fit your new life. What if you redefine your definition of what a "load" of laundry is? In the rainy season you could do smaller loads a few times a week -- it won't overload your tiny machine and you'd be able to use a smaller indoor drying rack. I've found indoor air dried clothing feels less scratchy to me than outdoor line-dried, although it's been a while since I've done either. Towels will still need a dryer if you want them to be fluffy.
That's a good idea. Thank you! We'd been talking about adding an extra load a week anyway. Not that I'm eager to do more laundry, but it's probably the best approach.
Hopefully, it won't actually be MORE laundry, just a different distribution of the required labor. Think of it as smaller bites, instead of a big to-do of a laundromat trip.
While it's a completely different scenario (yours is more of a best utilizing the tools you have issue), I've had similar outcomes with organizing clients who had become overwhelmed by the big to-do of laundry because they'd waited too long between efforts. Sometimes it wasn't even an actual long time, it's just they had a lot of people in their family, which required smaller, more frequent laundry sessions to keep it under control.
This could easily be a new concurrent habit. Throw a load in after dinner. Do your wind down thing. Pull things out and hang them before bedtime prep. Gather and put away dry clothes in the morning.
Of course, if you enjoy your laundromat time (which some people do) then that would be an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation. :)
My nephew was an only child until he was nine. All his numerous cousins had multiple siblings. Once when he was six, a cousin shared his empathy that Patrick didn't have any siblings to play with. Patrick responded, "That's okay. You don't have a laundry chute."
Hah! I'm torn between two responses so I will write them both:
1) Our first house - in Wethersfield, CT - had a laundry chute. This was, for me, at least, a new concept. One which I immediately loved. It was a narrow piece of metal wedged left to right between two studs and front to back between the bathroom wall and an adjacent closet. Anything bigger than a pair of jeans (and, occasionally, pairs of jeans) would get stuck in the chute requiring the intervention of a broom handle to push it down. Did this stop me from shoving blankets and towels in? Of course not! It was a LAUNDRY CHUTE!
When we moved to St. Louis, our bedroom was on the second floor and, alas, there was no chute to the basement.
When we relocated five houses down the block to a house with bedrooms on the first floor, there was a laundry chute in the bathroom! But we re-did the bathroom completely and needed to remove the chute. It was a sad day.
Our solution was to install a chute in my closet, cutting a hole in the floor and into the basement. We used an elbow coupling with an 18 inch diameter hole for the actual opening. I think *I* could have fit down that chute. We loved it. Worth every bit of the hanging space we gave up.
renting in setubal since january. i went thru the same washing machine trauma. ours is a washer dryer combo, which i recommend.After many 3.5 hour washes for tiny amounts, i figured out there is a button on the panel that is for a one hour wash. you can also adjust the temperature from 60-40. our button is on the upper right of the panel.
we have a dehumidifier from amazon.es that dries the clothes inside surprisingly quickly. plus you need it for general moisture in the air.
the dishwasher also offers a one hour wash. now if someone can help with our convection oven. but we did make the best roasted potatoe fries i ever had!
I'm a tad confused. If you have a washer dryer combo, why do you also need a dehumidifier to dry clothes?
We were so excited to buy a hone with a laundry room. When we saw the house before buying it had a washer and dryer. When we got the keys after closing they were gone. So we went to Worten during their bay tax free sake and bought new machines. We oaniccjed when we realized there was no vent for the dryer and no hot water hook up for the washer. Silly Americans m! Dryers have to be self venting in OT and only cold water is hooked up. The machine will warm the water! But it took me over a week to find the quick cycle!!!
Ditto on the um, where did it go, and the um, where did it vent for a house we bought in St. Louis! We did have BOTH hot and cold water hookups, though.
That's quite a story! I'd no idea the washing machines warm the water. Wow.
The scented laundry detergent thing is hard because I'm allergic to fragrances in general and Pete really prefers not to smell like the perfume counter at a department store.
It's an issue for sure. As of now, we buy unscented bath soap from one grocery store, unscented hand soap from another, and unscented laundry detergent from a third. Because I can't find all three at the same store.
We try to find detergent for babies, which is still scented but not as heavily. I just looked at options on Amazon Spain and it looks like that's a possibility too.
The detergent we had before Liberty Store was ok. Functional.
There are only two things in my home life that would cause me to panic: (1) running out of rice and (2) inability to do laundry properly. So in the three times I have visited Portugal, this laundry business has caused me great anxiety. AirBnB washer/dryer machines we've used over there had the same mind-boggling quirks you wrote about. So I am seriously thinking of shipping a set of Speed Queens across the Atlantic when the time comes, customs duties be damned.
I do think you could find machines you would be happy with here. Note what is important to you, and hunt. We have Bosch, which has English options.
Wow! If you do ship your Speed Queens, that is something you will need to write about!
I've learned to wash without bleach. It leaves a nasty scent even after a second rinse ( an option thar seems unavailable to you?). Colored socks are ok.
♥️
You have to love puzzles to live there I guess. At least you won't be bored. BTW, I prefer the drier too. Scratchy clothes and towels are no fun. ❤
Yes to both!
Definitely not bored 😆.
I'd stick with the laundromat. Cheap, close, and convenient.
Last fall/early winter we had 3 3-week spells of non-stop torrential rain. Not sure how to get laundry home dry in that case.
Unless it's raining, I think it will be the best option. But wow did it rain last November. Like, every day all month.
I have a front loading washer and the places for detergent, etc. look like yours. I use Tide with bleach already in it and nothing else. I'll look in my manual and see what it says about using bleach separately and get back to you. Is nothing easy and straightforward over there?
Is anything easy and straightforward anywhere? 😆
Great story. Sorry about the clothes line. We were lucky enough to rent a place big enough to install our own heat pump dryer (on sale from Worten) that does not have to be vented outside. It's slow, but it does the job. And, if we move, it goes with us. :-)
This is possibly one of the biggest frustrations we have with the EU in general. In Denmark, they tout “energy efficiency”, yet how is it energy efficient to run a dryer for 3-4 hours? This is the same country that closes all the indoor during summer to save energy…
I understand about fragrance free! We need it too. Glad you found an option. There are also a lot of American direct selling companies that sell products in Europe. Norwex, for instance, sells environmentally friendly fragrance free laundry and cleaning products. Still not cheap but you can get them. And we use a clothesline all summer in Montana because our dryer runs on natural gas (we didn’t make that choice) and yes, the towels will be stiffer! You’ll probably make good friends at the laundromat though! So there is a perk.
The laundromat is usually empty. But I do think I've seen the a person there a couple of times now. Maybe if it happens again, there will actually be a conversation. :-D
Maybe this is another example of adjusting your old routines to fit your new life. What if you redefine your definition of what a "load" of laundry is? In the rainy season you could do smaller loads a few times a week -- it won't overload your tiny machine and you'd be able to use a smaller indoor drying rack. I've found indoor air dried clothing feels less scratchy to me than outdoor line-dried, although it's been a while since I've done either. Towels will still need a dryer if you want them to be fluffy.
That's a good idea. Thank you! We'd been talking about adding an extra load a week anyway. Not that I'm eager to do more laundry, but it's probably the best approach.
Hopefully, it won't actually be MORE laundry, just a different distribution of the required labor. Think of it as smaller bites, instead of a big to-do of a laundromat trip.
While it's a completely different scenario (yours is more of a best utilizing the tools you have issue), I've had similar outcomes with organizing clients who had become overwhelmed by the big to-do of laundry because they'd waited too long between efforts. Sometimes it wasn't even an actual long time, it's just they had a lot of people in their family, which required smaller, more frequent laundry sessions to keep it under control.
This could easily be a new concurrent habit. Throw a load in after dinner. Do your wind down thing. Pull things out and hang them before bedtime prep. Gather and put away dry clothes in the morning.
Of course, if you enjoy your laundromat time (which some people do) then that would be an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation. :)
My nephew was an only child until he was nine. All his numerous cousins had multiple siblings. Once when he was six, a cousin shared his empathy that Patrick didn't have any siblings to play with. Patrick responded, "That's okay. You don't have a laundry chute."
Hah! I'm torn between two responses so I will write them both:
1) Our first house - in Wethersfield, CT - had a laundry chute. This was, for me, at least, a new concept. One which I immediately loved. It was a narrow piece of metal wedged left to right between two studs and front to back between the bathroom wall and an adjacent closet. Anything bigger than a pair of jeans (and, occasionally, pairs of jeans) would get stuck in the chute requiring the intervention of a broom handle to push it down. Did this stop me from shoving blankets and towels in? Of course not! It was a LAUNDRY CHUTE!
When we moved to St. Louis, our bedroom was on the second floor and, alas, there was no chute to the basement.
When we relocated five houses down the block to a house with bedrooms on the first floor, there was a laundry chute in the bathroom! But we re-did the bathroom completely and needed to remove the chute. It was a sad day.
Our solution was to install a chute in my closet, cutting a hole in the floor and into the basement. We used an elbow coupling with an 18 inch diameter hole for the actual opening. I think *I* could have fit down that chute. We loved it. Worth every bit of the hanging space we gave up.
2) Laundry chutes > siblings. 100%