Adventures in Laundry...

Well, not so much an adventure, but a new experience nonetheless...which is nice since I've been here almost two years.  It's nice to know there are still new things for me to do.  Anyway, on to the story.

When the weather was shifting from winter to summer...with spring days altering between hot and cold.  The nights are still a bit cool, but I'd finally gotten to pack away all the heavy coats, hats, gloves, sweaters, and long underwear.  The challenge came with putting away my winter blanket...I wanted to put it away clean and fresh (because otherwise, ewww!).  I knew from experience that the blankets (which are more like American-style comforters) will not fit into my apartment's washing machine.  What's a girl to do?

She pulls them off the bed and drags them to the nearest "Self-Laundry"!

So, "self laundry" is what we call a laundromat (or a "washeteria" if you are a Southerner...I have no idea why).  The one just around the corner from my apartment is small, 3 washers and 3 dryers with a change machine and laundry supply vending machine.  It's also nice that there is a free water dispenser (with cups) and a coin operated coffee machine.

I won't lie...I have wanted to use the self-laundry for a long time, but was intimidated because 1) I was sure the instructions would be in Korean and I would mess up the laundry, the machine, or both; and 2) because I just don't like doing laundry...it's horribly tedious and NEVER ends...literally, there is always laundry to do.

Any, to my relief the machines had English instructions as well as clearly illustrated pictures on how to do the machines properly.

It was 4500 won for a 30 minute wash cycle...and there were only three options: whites, colored, and bright colors, which I assumed was hot, warm, and cold water washes.  You just stuff your laundry in, put detergent in the dispenser, insert coins, and select your cycle.  Then sit back and wait. 

Drying was 500 won for 5 minutes, and I ended up paying for a 30 minute dry cycle (so, roughly 3000 won) which all you do is put in wet laundry, add coins and push start.

I also bought a 1000 won washing powder/dryer sheet set (well, 2 since I had to use 2 machines) and a 1000 won giant, plastic laundry bag to get my clean blankets home in.  So all in all the experience was an hour of my time about about 10,000 won.  But the take away is I know how to use the self-laundry now.

Edited to Add: At the time, 1 USD was about 1100 won.  You can do the rest of the math.