HOW TO AVOID H There's no denying the appeal of a pile of freshly THIS MONTH IN OUR SERIES ON WHAT GOES ON ironed sheets or a row of crisp shirts and dresses INSIDE THE HOME, WE GET TO GRIPS WITH THE hung up and ready to wear. PLEASURE AND PAIN OF DOING THE Transforming the crumpled contents of a laundry basket into something Words: CLARE GOGERTY pressed and orderly is an attractive proposition. But let's face it, ironing is most MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE a washing the house something is getting done. often a chore. machine is so easy to use that we do more The ease of washing creates its own There arc, however, ways to iaundry than ever. Clothes that can be worn problems, however. You may forget to make it easier. Doing it in more than once arc often popped into the separate colon reds from whites, or accidentally front of the TV with a glass machine for a quick wash. Or maybe it's throw a cashmere jumper into a hot wash. But of wine at your elbow is one. because doing the laundry has actually when it goes to plan, it's so satisfying to pile a Here are some others: become pleasurable. You can pile dirty bundle offresh clothes into a laundry basket. 1. Add distilled white laundry into a machine, add washing powder, And on a crisp, sunny day, there is the pleasure vinegar to the wash's rinse adjust the dial and walk away. This leaves you ofhangingit outon the washing line and water. This eases the creases free to do other things, or do absolutely watchingit dance about in the breeze. Ironing, so less ironing is required. nothing at all, knowing that.somewhere in though, that's still a hard one to crack... Vinegar also softens and disinfects your clothes. Add a quarter to half a cup before the rinse cycle. 2. Do not over-load the - do so and you will end up with a crinkled, tangled and poorly washed ball of clothes. 3. Hang things up as soon as they are dry, giving them a good shake first, and hope the creases drop out. Steamy bathrooms are good places to do this. 4. If you use a tumble dryer, fold clothes as soon as they come out. The heat will act like an iron and eradicate most creases. 5. As a last resort, wear only clothes made of fleece or buy a Corbv Trouser Press.

114 HOW WE LIVE Make short work or NEST yoursmallsand give everything an airing

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WASHING MACHINE If you've ever wandered into a in a large National Trust property*, you'll have been beguiled by the mangles and other paraphernalia. It looks so attractive, but back then, the laundry was a scene of back-breaking scrubbingand rinsing in a room full of steam. As the housemaid muses in Jo Baker's novel, Longbourn, a retelling of Pr/t^e andPrejudice, from the servants' perspective: "If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her petticoats... she'd be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields." The even less fortunate had no devices to help. All was handwashed in water that had to be carried and heated, before it was pummelled and wrung out. Which makes us grateful for the advent of the automated electric washing machine in 1937. Surely, little charts man's evolution like the ability to shove a bundle of dirty clothes in a machine and pull them out clean.

WHICH AIRER? If you can resist the energy- gobbling temptations of a tumble dryer, you'll need a good alternative to dry your clothes. The best option is to peg out the laundry on a SHEILA MAID CLOTHES AIRERI£59-£88 line and watch it billow The original wood-and-cast- cinematically in the breeze, iron ajrer. Hangs from the see next page, but for those ceiling, nutscene.com of us who live in fiats, have no outdoor space, or need to wash whatever the weather, SLIMLINE EASY UP AIRER I £34.99 FROST DRYING RACK | £10 an airer is the thing. Concertinas upwards into a trim Tho wings fold out to spread The key to drying clothes shape to minimise space taken your laundry wide. Good for successfully on an airer is up. lakeland.co.uk trousers, too. ikea.com to move it around following the sunlight. If sunlight is in short supply, put the airer near a radiator or wood-burner. Which airer you choose depends on the size of both your rooms and your wash. Ones with adjustable wings that fold out are good for drying longer garments like DRYSOON TWO-TIER HEATED trousers and skirts and also ASH LAUNDRY LADDER|£276 AIREftI £78.99 Hangs on the wall and is Dries clothes as it airs them on for more delicate items that operated by a pulley system. Its adjustable, heated shelves. heed to be laid out fiat to dry. brilliantlvbritish.com Probably essential, lakcland.co.uk

'The ones at Ormesby Ha\i in Yorkshire and Castic Ward in Northern Ireland are especially awe-inspiring. 115 The average HANGING OUT THE WASHING household does Peg out the wash on a fresh spring morning and everything feels right almost 400 with the world. That short walk irom back door to clothes line, basket under loads of laundry one arm, offers not just a step away from life indoors, but a moment or two each year of contemplative activity. Before the arrival of the tumble dryer, lines of freshly laundered clothes flapping in the breeze were a matter of iJtl|JWii.l pride and a sign of respectability. These days there is still much to recommend WE MISS it if you have the space. It can save you money, for one, and it could extend the THE AIRING hfetime of your clothes by reducing the CUPBOARD wear and tear of the dryer. Sunlight An airing cupboard filled also - for really white sheets, with neatly folded hang them out to dry - and has an laundry is one of the anti-bacterial effect - UV kills bacteria mostcomfortingplaces that may survive a cool wash. But perhaps in the home, rivalled the best reason is the indescribably only by the well-stocked fresh feel and smell of the clothes when pantry, perhaps. you bring them back indoors. It promises beds For more on the joys of pegging out, dressed with crisp sheets check out The Simple Things, May 2015. and pillowcases and the fluffiest of towels for post-bath cosseting. The combination of a water heater and slatted YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND: wooden shelves enables THE ROTARY LINE warm air to circulate freely, creating a dry, The rotary dryer was once an ugly snug environment. One rotary dryer has and immovable presence in the This not only removes enough line for an entire' garden. Cemented-in and rusty, it residual dampness from wash or two often outlived its owners, endingup the wash but handily a tangled mess of wire and steel. provides a place for cats These days, it's a thingof slimline to snooze, bread dough elegance and usefulness. It's to prove, home brew to removable, for a start, folding up ferment and spiders like an umbrella and light enough to to gather. be tucked under an arm and taken The gradual takeover indoors. It holds a whole heap of of the combi-boiler, laundry: up to 60 metres of line. however, has meant that And it spins around pleasingly so many immersion heaters you can stand on the spot with a and boilers have been handfiil of pegs and hang the whole removed from airing wash up. Not so good in high winds, cupboards. What we are though, especially if dryingsheets, left with is simply a when the danger of the whole thing space to store stuff... a f^appinglike a spinnaker is high. cupboard, in other Try the Topspinner by Brabantia, words. Which is not the £68-£84 (brabantia.coni). same thingat all.