The laundry room is called a tvättstuga (tvätt = wash, stuga = cabin or cottage; in Sweden you take a sauna in a bastu, short for "badstuga" = bath cottage). As usual for Europe the washing machines take forever. I thought it was because they were gentler than US washing machines. Emily has an XP or Agile methodology essay on the wall at work using washing as a metaphor for software development. It says the wash takes 25 minutes. I pointed that out to her and she was surprised at how short that was. Wash here is usually an hour or more. Same in South Africa.
I think it was Laura who pointed out that washing machines here are only connected to the cold water tap. They have to heat the water too. That explains some of the increase in time. Is that the only reason?
The tvättstuga also has a torkskåp. That's a drying cabinet. The Swedish Wikipedia entry has a good picture. Open the cabinet doors and pull the rack out. Hang the clothes on the rack and close it back up. Press the temperature button (40C or 60C). Wait. Rather like a mechanical clothesline. I visited Rhoda many yearss ago. In winter she ran a line across her basement. It worked albeit slowly because of the moisture. I imagine that's the reason for developing the torkskåp.
Google reports several hits for "drying cabinet". The first page's hit were all from manufacturers and appliance sales places. Staber reports:
The Staber Drying Cabinet is a very unique product that will be a new concept to the U.S. This new high-end product would be an alternative to a conventional clothes dryer, and is simply a different way to dry laundry.
It operates like an accelerated clothesline, circulating air throughout the cabinet. You can put anything in it at the same time (winter boots and heavy jackets), and use it for delicate items or things you do not want to shrink. The drying cabinet uses a 1,500 W heating element, using just 2.8 kWh for a standard load. In comparison, traditional tumble dryers commonly use a 4,000 W heating element.
The life expectancy for the drying cabinet is around 15 years, and there is very little maintenance if it is ever required. Drying cabinets are a common way to dry laundry in Scandinavian countries, and they are used in addition to traditional tumble dryers.
Laura and Jacob's old place on Linnégatan had a torkrum (rum = "room" in English). Not a cabinet but a whole room, with air pipes above head level acting like the clothesline. Heated air was forced through the pipes, to dry the clothes.
My load should be done by now. Oh, and a neat thing is that since I dry at 40C which is about 100F I don't have to worry about keeping some of the laundry in too long. It doesn't get that hot tortured feel of leaving things in too long in the tumble dryer.
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