A laundry excursion

Yesterday was a bit of an excursion for us. Our washer/dryer unit has been acting up in the last few weeks and after numerous cleanings of filters, drain pipes and more, it’s still not completing a wash cycle. My guess is that the pump is out and I can only hope that it won’t be too expensive to replace. A repair person from Siemens was supposed to come out yesterday afternoon but apparently something more important came up because he didn’t show. So when Stefan got home from work, we decided to gather up the laundry and take it to a laundromat. If I had any hope that the repair would take place before a week’s time, this wouldn’t have been necessary. But since New Year’s is almost here, I’m sure the next available appointment won’t be until late next week (if we’re lucky). And our laundry baskets were all over flowing (especially Mackenzie who was nearly out of clean pants) so waiting another week to do laundry was not an option.

Stefan’s first instinct is just to buy a new machine. And I was also inclined to suggest this. But I really would like to be a bit more frugal in 2010…and if they can repair the machine for 200-300 euros (I really hope it’s far less actually) then it’s still a good deal. Replacing the machine will probably cost at least €1000 because we want to get a washer and a dryer next time. We got both in one back in 2001 because we had no space for two machines in our apartment. Now we have the space but also want something with a higher capacity too. So it’s going to get pricey. We had some repairs done at the beginning of 2008 too, so after the machine breaks down again (or if the repair is too expensive) that will be the end of this machine in our house.

I never would have thought it to be true, but finding a laundromat (or waschsalon as they call them here) in our area is nearly impossible. I guess people that live in the suburbs all have their own machines? I know we bought one when we first moved here to Germany and that’s the machine we still have 8 years later. But I know they’re not cheap either and most of the apartment complexes we’ve seen or lived in didn’t provide community machines. So are all these people just being forced to buy machines if they live away from larger cities? Most of the dry cleaning places also have some laundry services but really, I don’t need to have my t-shirts pressed at the price of €1.30 per shirt.

We scoured the internet for suggestions on where we might be able to wash our own laundry and finally noticed an article from 2003 that mentioned a laundromat which had opened in the parking garage of Hanau where we usually park. It was a long shot but Stefan was fairly certain he’d seen one around that area anyway so we gathered up the clothes and hit the road. We circled the area around the Hanauer Parkhaus a bit and then finally spotted the tiny little laundromat connected to a tanning salon. Six regular-sized washing machines, 1 heavy duty one for blankets and big stuff, and 4 large driers. It may not have been a huge laundromat but it was enough.

We parked in the garage and then tried to figure out how to carry two overflowing laundry baskets and the kiddo between too people. Hmm. Then I spotted the almost child-size shopping carts from tegut (a supermarket that caters to organic junkies) nearby. It was just the right size to hold Mack’s basket inside the cart with our full size laundry basket on top. We must have looked really interesting going down the street with a bunch of dirty clothes piled up. Some probably even thought we might be homeless. Stefan was ready to crawl under the nearest parked car. But I just kept on trudging (in the rain) around the corner and into the laundromat. Because although we looked crazy, the wash needed to get done. And it’s not like we really know anyone in that city so at least the likelihood of bumping into someone we knew was low.

We paid our 18 euros for 4 washes and 2 dryer sessions…then loaded up the machines and prepared for the wait. Thankfully the machines there are much faster than ours at home so we were still out of there in about 2 hours…at home I would have gotten one load done in that time. That’s just one disadvantage of having both washer and dryer in the same machine.

This is not to say that we are all caught up on laundry. Those were just the vitals. We still have dog towels, our towels, sheets and so on to wash. I mentioned to Stefan that when the washer went out, I thought back to a DIY washing machine that I’d seen a video about. You build it out of a garbage can, a broom stick or similar handle, and two bowls which create the agitator. You fill the garbage can with enough water to generously cover your clothes inside, add some soap and then use your broom stick with agitator on the end to wash the clothes. Very ingenious and I’m sure we have the materials necessary to build this here already. Have a look at the video:



As I said, we haven’t built this yet, but I am seriously thinking about it as a little something over the New Year’s holiday (cause we don’t have enough little projects to do already lol). Stefan has the rest of the week off so it will be a nice 4 day weekend. And although it’s not too warm out, all the washing action is sure to get the blood pumping quickly anyway. The good news is, the dryer on our machine is still working so I could even dry them normally if they fit in the machine. I really am liking this idea more and more by the minute. Plus I could wash big stuff like the dog’s blankets and a few rugs we have that won’t fit in our washer. Heck, if I could get the dog to stand in there on her hind legs, I could wash here in there too!

But back to the present. After our washing excursion last night, we decided to stop in at a Chinese restaurant about 5 minutes from our house that we’ve never braved. We were starving and they have an all you can eat buffet so it seemed like a good choice. Mack can already eat almost half of an adult portion so we were sure to get our monies’ worth. 🙂

Unfortunately for us, the China Haus (Zum Ruebenberg 2a in Nidderau) only does their buffet for lunch Monday–Saturday and on Friday and Saturday nights. So we just ordered a 3 course meal for two (cost of €24) and chowed down. The food was bland but not bad. With some soy sauce it was actually quite good. And the portion was HUGE. We got egg rolls as the appetizer which seemed to be home made and were very good. Mackenzie definitely enjoyed them…she ate almost half of mine. Then the main dish was beef, chicken, duck and shrimp (I may be leaving something out) with cabbage, broccoli and carrots. I swear there was not more than 5 pieces of broccoli in there and maybe 1 whole carrot. There were more vegetables garnishing the dish than actually in the food. Not that I’m complaining about the meat lovers dinner supreme. We only ate about half of the food and brought the rest home. Because it was already getting close to 8pm (and Mack is usually in bed by 7) we asked if they could wrap up our fried bananas for desert to eat later. They had absolutely no problems with this and actually offered to package up the rest of dinner without us asking.

We will definitely be giving their buffet a try some other time and the prices were fair anyway. We just need to make sure Mack isn’t exhausted next time because although she’s not fussy when she’s tired, she is ALL OVER THE PLACE and just won’t sit still. When the food comes, she chows down until the last bite disappears in her little mouth…then it’s back to be restless until the next course. 🙂