Let's face it, the joy of laundry ranks right up there with cleaning toilets. Alas, its essential to get that garlic smell out of your clothes after a night of short ribs and soju. But add into the mix a drum that's big enough for only a few pairs of underwear, Hangul on all the buttons, and a sub par dry cycle and you have a recipe for a Korean laundry machine. I took a photo of my Hauzen so you too might figure out what your machine is telling you. The first time I used it a standard wash cycle took 3 hours! But press buttons until you can get to a manageable time. My clothes feel clean on the shorter cycles. Don't expect the dry cycle to work well. At least that's what I gather from my fellow expats. Plan to buy a dryer rack, or be like me and keep the kitchen counter clean and lay everything out. ;) Have comforters and rugs to wash? Time to get to know your local dry cleaner.
Thank goodness for shopping on instinct and being a native English speaker. I managed to buy a bag of detergent and some bleach. (Thank you Clorox for having a strong brand I can recognize.) I did not buy fabric softener, but will pick some up at E-Mart next time I go. Water in Seoul tends to be a bit hard. Not sure? Your clothes will let you know.
Costco sells the brands Americans are used to using: Tide, Snuggle, Downy and even Kirkland brand with bilingual labels. Be prepared to pay a premium though. Its worth it if you miss that clean, fresh smell. As you'll quickly learn, the smell of cleaning products here aren't exactly what we're used to in the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment