how to use the dominican special washing machine

[AlterEgo]

"Right Again" AE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Department stores call it "Shrinkage"", we call it having a Dominican maid!
To ALL who claim that their maid never steals Anything, I say,...You Never CAUGHT your maid stealing Anything!!!!!!
Are you doing a "Stip Search" before she leaves???
Then you don't Know!
And even if you are, there are "WAYS"!
They throw out the "Beans, Rice, and Salami" with the garbage, then, either they, or an "Amigo" picks up the "Goodies" later. :bandit::bandit::bandit:
Doesn't really matter if your maid "borrows" or not, if you are married to a Dominican, your "Family" is "Borrowing"!
Just like the Department store accept a 10% loss, so should you.
Welcome To Paradise, "Dominican Style".
I did have a really sexy maid once.
I wanted to do a "Cavity Search" on HER!
My wife fired her before I got the opportunity!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Great minds DO think alike Criss. Your garbage story reminded me of this one.

I stopped at one of the roadside stands and bought a couple of bunches of onions, you know, the kind with the greens still attached. I think they were 40 peso a bunch. Gave one bunch to my mother-in-law, kept the other. Her maid went out back to 'clean' the bunch of onions, cut off the stems and loose skins, put them in a bag and brought them back into the house.

My suegra was a sharp cookie. She noticed all the onions were the same size. She went out back and found several larger onions hidden near a tree stump.

That maid lost her job over about 5 or 10 pesos worth of onions that she tried to steal. Typical. They don't consider consequences.

 

[Celt202]

"Celt" and how many "Loads" do you go through in a month?? :cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:
I mean, one person doesn't wash clothes very much.
With 8 people, and SOME going through 2, or more, outfits a day, plus 3 kids with school uniforms,sheets, towels, etc.,we USE our washing machines!...All my clothes eventually have a "Reverse Dalmation" pattern!
White "Spots" on a dark background!
And I KNOW, I am not ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha... "loads" :laugh:

I wash for one. My electric bill is killing me, 738 pesos for February.

Just this morning I washed about 20 caba?a towels and dried them on the line on the roof.

I spilled some coffee on a t-shirt this morning so I also washed 2 t-shirts and 3 pairs of white socks. They're hanging up inside.

Years ago before I sprung for the washer I had someone do my washing for me. She washed the clothes in a bucket but that didn't last long. She ruined a bunch of t-shirts with printing on them by wringing them out too vigorously. There were cloro incidents. Adios muchacha.

 

[Criss Colon]

Let's play, "I Can TOP THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
When I first moved here, I thought "maids" were like extended family members. (Dumb Gringo!)
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo, we hada maid who, after a few weeks asked if she could bring her 5 year old daughter to stay with her during the week,she slept in, because there was no one to watch her???
I said, "OK', why not"?
After a few more weeks, my wife noticed food and detergent missing.
Of course it was "No Fui Yo" all day long from the maid!
On e Saturday, as the maid was packed up, and ready to leave, my wife sent her to the colmado down the street for "something".
We checked her bags.
Not only rice, beans, cooking oil, and detergent, but MEAT TOO!
You MUST, "Live And Learn" from life experiences here in the DR!
I actually asked the maid to eat meals with us when I got here!
An "Old Timer" here, once told me that if you want a Dominican to take advantage of you, just be nice to them!
How True!
The Dominicans call it "Demasiado Confiansa".
It basically means, "Don't let others into your comfort zone", especially before you really trust them, if EVER!
I still WANT to give some "Extras" to the maid, but now I KOW better!
You give them a "Bag of Rice" once, next time they just take it!
And the beans and salami to go with it!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[Criss Colon]

"CELT", that's NOT the kind of "LOADS" I was talking about!
Notice the, :cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:
"ONLY" 20 cabana towels???
You slacking off?
When you coming back for another visit, or did I scare you off for good gre:gre:gre:
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Was that "Coffee", or the same "Coffee, that "Monica" "Spilled" on her shirt????

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes Criss, it's still hard for me to leave the American mentality home. It's mandatory to maintain a distance between homeowner and maid. I have to pinch myself sometimes when I start to say or do something contrary to that.

It happens more frequently that I'd like to admit.

 

[Criss Colon]

"Mantra" for living in the RD.
"NO Good Deed Goes UNPUNISHED!!!!!!"
CC

 

[La Mariposa]

You need two extra basins.. You fill the washer with water, detergent, and clothes, you let it wash for the time you feel it needs.. when done, you wring out the clothes one by one, toss into the basin of water and you rinse them by hand. The second basin you add your fabric softener in it. When you are done rinsing it goes into the fabric softener, then you ring again... and then you put it in the spinner. The thing about the spinner is if it gets too wet, it stops working until completely dry.. (Crazy I know).. So make sure the tube in the back is down so it can drain. Make sure you ring out best you can.. And make sure the clothes are even in the basket before it spins and keep fixing till it spins and doesn't hit in the sides.. There, repeat, repeat repeat until all your clothes are done. I hate washing clothes here, but I do it.

Dominicans HATE normal machines because they say it uses too much detergent. Dominicans reuse the wash water till they can't possibly.. lol.. Saves water and soap..

If you are going to spend 500-800 pesos 2 times a week to wash clothes might as well get someone who can clean and cook too because you will be spending close to what a worker would cost..

Good luck!

My way for the clothes I did not want the maid to put her hands on:

-When the washing is done, I put the clothes in the spinner (no ring) and let it spin with water runing in (at the beginning of the spinning).
-Put the clothes in a basin with fabric softener a couple of minutes.
-Put the clothes in the spinner (no ring and the clothes bien doblado y no tirado)and voil?. Sometimes I did not let it spin a lot so no iron was necessary. No way I would have let the maid iron the clothes and the iron and I are not very good friends, I hate it.

Yes, yes you will need a lotttttttttttttt of water to do it my way but I did not have water problems.

 

[dv8]

the way i wash clothing: throw some powder in, start the machine, when it's filling up with water i get clothing, dump it in, close the lid. then i take a nap.
after the nap i strip to g-strings and go out to hang the washing in a false hope i will tan evenly.

 

[Twix]

I honestly like those "dominican" washers. it does not use very much electricity and if you know how to use it right you will use less water than a normal washer. I have not read all of the replies here but from what i did read it looks like most people here do not know how to use it. What i do is after washing the clothes i put it in the spin dryer for a few min, open the top and spray water until its all soaked and allow it to spin dry again. Then you hang them outside to completely dry. For those of you that put your clothes back in the washer to rinse in water, try using less laundry soap as there is no need to rinse them like that unless you are using way too much soap. Another thing is when putting the clothes in the spinner you need to put them in carefully so that the clothes do not weigh down on one side, don't just stuff them in. When you see no more water coming out of the tube thing then you can take them out

 

[Luperon]

the way i wash clothing: throw some powder in, start the machine, when it's filling up with water i get clothing, dump it in, close the lid. then i take a nap.
after the nap i strip to g-strings and go out to hang the washing in a false hope i will tan evenly.

Sounds very complicated, perhaps some instructional photos are in order.

 

[Harleysrock]

I did have a really sexy maid once.
I wanted to do a "Cavity Search" on HER!
My wife fired her before I got the opportunity!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Why did your Wife Fire her? B/c of her hotness?

 

[dv8]

Sounds very complicated, perhaps some instructional photos are in order.

you need to talk to that dude getting coconuts in our area. one day i was out putting the washing with our dog going bonkers in the garden. took me a while to realize rottie was barking because that dude was atop of a coconut tree right outside. at least back then i was wearing a bra too. but the guy seems to showing up a lot on saturdays, my washing day. i swear he has it all planned.

 

[CaptnGlenn]

you need to talk to that dude getting coconuts in our area. one day i was out putting the washing with our dog going bonkers in the garden. took me a while to realize rottie was barking because that dude was atop of a coconut tree right outside. at least back then i was wearing a bra too. but the guy seems to showing up a lot on saturdays, my washing day. i swear he has it all planned.

I wish I could climb coconut trees.

 

[granca]

We've had two automatics, they both went wrong, they didn't wash very well either. Now at my wife's insistence we got a Dominican washing machine. My wife loves it although I think all this changing of where to put which clothing and water makes alot of work. When she's not looking I use it too, dead easy, mind you back in the sixties we had what's called a twin tun in the UK. I don't see much difference in them.

 

[Celt202]

The dials on my Chinese washer

Left: Washer timer. Since the motor was replaced the timer now starts at -2 and goes to 12
The timer knob has been replaced twice.

Middle: Drainage (Drenaje), replacement knob

Right: Spin dryer (Centrifugado), original knob

When I replaced the spinner motor two of the four screws reattaching the top plate went missing.
(There's an entire separate thread to be written on where screws go in the DR.)
====================

In my condo there's a drain for a washer about knee high on the wall. Since the drain hose on the washer is on the bottom I elevated the washer on cement blocks.

The dog bowl came with an order of ice in a caba?a.

The dogs love to pee on the cement blocks when I'm not looking. I replaced the affected blocks and sealed them with two coats of Lanco sealer. I sealed the bottoms of the blocks that rest on the floor with cemento blanco before sealing them with Lanco.

If you own property in the DR you will know Lanco's miracle products. (Columbus would have used Lanco
products as ballast had he known where he was going and had he been planning to build with cement block.)

====================
Floppy (left) and Bugi (right) were both born on the street. A friend gave me Bugi when he was five weeks old. I met his mother later. He's now six years old. I found Floppy on the street in an industrial area in Ensanche la Fe when he was about ten weeks old (vet's estimate). He's two now.

To control the dog's access to the area where the washer is I bought a doggie gate online. That's detriorating because of the dog's peeing on it. Notice the dark streak on the wall; the dogs like to scratch themselves as they walk down the hall. I painted the place (and the cement blocks) in May.

The walls need washing. I'll bet Thoreau was a crappy houskeeper too.

If I don't latch the gate properly Floppy can open it.

====================

Here's my other dog, Mickey. He's five years old. The yuppie couple next door gave him to me when he was four months old because they were horrified at his output.

Here he is checking out the storage box that Cris Colon gave me that somehow didn't look as big when I got it home.

BTW if you want to get to know CCCCCCCCCCCCCC pop in around lunchtime. His mother in law spends all day in her kingdom, the kitchen cooking for a small army.

If you don't know a Chihuahua named Mickey in the DR you don't know the DR.
Creativity and lack thereof in naming dogs in the DR is another thread that needs to be written.

To sum up. For one or even two people the plastic upright is a perfectly acceptable appliance. There are people who can repair it in abundance.

If you're washing for a houseful of people take your laundry over to CCCCCC's house.

 

[DOMINCAN JOE]

http://www.dr1.com/forums/clown-bin/130899-beko-washing-machine-move.html

 

[windeguy]

You need two extra basins.. You fill the washer with water, detergent, and clothes, you let it wash for the time you feel it needs.. when done, you wring out the clothes one by one, toss into the basin of water and you rinse them by hand. The second basin you add your fabric softener in it. When you are done rinsing it goes into the fabric softener, then you ring again... and then you put it in the spinner. The thing about the spinner is if it gets too wet, it stops working until completely dry.. (Crazy I know).. So make sure the tube in the back is down so it can drain. Make sure you ring out best you can.. And make sure the clothes are even in the basket before it spins and keep fixing till it spins and doesn't hit in the sides.. There, repeat, repeat repeat until all your clothes are done. I hate washing clothes here, but I do it.

Dominicans HATE normal machines because they say it uses too much detergent. Dominicans reuse the wash water till they can't possibly.. lol.. Saves water and soap..

If you are going to spend 500-800 pesos 2 times a week to wash clothes might as well get someone who can clean and cook too because you will be spending close to what a worker would cost..

Good luck!

Yes, you have the actual Dominican method. That is how it is nomrally done here. My description is the hybrid Gringo/Dominican style developed after several seconds of close observation.