fresh, clean and machine washed

Doing laundry in Berlin has been a job of work, to say the least. Laundromats (Waschsalons) are few and far between because everyone has their own washing machine. Despite hours of research, I couldn't find one that was easily accessible to me by transit, so I have become Queen of the Hand Wash.

It seems as if something is always hanging to dry in my bathroom. And some things take days. For example, I tried to wash my bedlinen and towels. I think they took a week to dry. I resorted to just buying more. And nothing quite says "you brought too many socks" like trying to dry 40 of them at the same time. I obviously put off washing them as long as possible. And yes, that also involved buying more.

A few weeks ago, I caved and brought my linen and towels to the dry cleaner. It was exorbitant - 20€ for 4.5 kg.  It took a week, but everything arrived nicely folded and wrapped in paper. Oh, and they managed to lose a blanket. My trust in the dry cleaner has been shaken.

There are three bus routes within seven minutes of my door. Last week, I was riding the 104 and something compelled me to get off the bus. As I was walking home, I looked across the street and saw that magic word: Waschsalon. I crossed the street, backtracked and stood in front of it for a minute to make sure it was not a mirage. No, indeed, it was an actual laundromat.

So, today was the day. I decided to bring clothing with me instead of linens and towels. When I arrived at the Waschsalon, I realized this was not going to be as simple as it is at home. I found the washers, but had no idea how to make them work. I eventually discovered this intimidating - and seemingly vintage - bit of technology.

Doing laundry here is crazy expensive - 3.50€ for 6 kgs - that's about five dollars just to wash. Plus an extra 50 cents if you need detergent. I deposited the money, but nothing happened. I couldn't select a machine button (the light grey panels with the red lights), and I was beginning to worry because there was no cancel button to return my money. Luckily, other people were there, so I asked for help. Two kind strangers explained how laundry works here. And, yes, that involved watching over my shoulder as I loaded delicates.

1) Put laundry in washer. Make note of the washer number. Go back to the money machine, insert 3.50€ in exact change, input machine number on keypad. Return to the washer, select temperature (40 or 60 degrees), then hit start. Wait 30 minutes.

2) Transfer laundry from washer to spinner. Make note of the spinner number. Go back to the money machine, insert 50 cents in exact change, input spinner number.  Go back to the spinner, hit start. Wait. This will spin the laundry for five minutes to help remove more water.  A laundry spinner. Really.

Now, if you are like me, you will have run out of 50 cent coins by the time you need to spin the second load.  So, fill the second spinner, go back to money machine, deposit a 1€ coin, input spinner number and then pick a random drier number to apply the remaining 50 cents.

3) Transfer clothes to pre-paid drier. Discover it is out of order. Move clothes to another drier. Make note of the machine number.  Go back to the money machine, insert change (10 cents per 10 minutes), input drier number. Return to drier, hit start. Wait.

You might have noticed that there is a lot of walking back and forth between machines. One might even call it inefficient.

I should have taken a photo of my folded clothes, but I think I was just so happy to have washed and dried all of my laundry in less than 90 minutes - not three weeks - that I was no longer thinking straight. I have never before felt so happy to fold laundry.

The total cost for two small loads? 10.50€. That's about $15.