Different materials, different people.

The laundry dreams I never knew I have had finally come true. A true angel knows what you need, even when you don’t know you need it.

When I was in secondary school, my routine was to wash my uniform every Sunday. In particular, I had to scrub off the stains on the white line designs of the sailor uniform with a brush. Then I would place the clothes neatly under the mattress and bed-press iron. For all the students except me, the white lines on the sailor uniforms got browner and browner. I wondered why they all stayed unwashed.

In other words, to wash clothes according to their material and design, it is still best to wash them one at a time. On the other hand, washing machines are one-touch washing, rinsing, and dehydration machines with high cleaning power. Jumpers and delicate items don’t want to go round and round in circles, so I set the machine to a speedy course and put in a detergent specially designed for delicate items. Even though there was some frustration with that, I just thought that was the way it was.

One day, my Japanese drum washing machine, which I had been using for 16 years, started leaking. I expected it would be the end of its life at last, so I thought, “Yes!”My apartment building was furnished with a washing machine, so it would be replaced with a new one free of charge.

A new drum washing machine has arrived, a German-made product called Miele. And when I checked the price, I was surprised. If I was to buy one myself, I would never have seen this machine. It was a complete encounter with the unknown.

After the installation work was finished, I came face to face with the new washing machine. The minimalist design looks like an iPhone. The technician explained to me how to use the machine, and I was surprised at the first thing he said. “Japanese washing machines focus more on removing dirt, whereas overseas-made washing machines focus more on the material”.

Dials are separated by material. For those who don’t have time, there may not be time to separate the materials in such a slow manner. But for me, who lives a slow life, washing time will be a happy time. I will be able to wash wool materials that I was wondering whether to wash or professionally dry-clean.

And I researched a lot about Miele washing machines. Japanese washing machines use cold water. However, in Europe and the US, hot water washing is the standard. That’s because of the hard water. And even ballet costumes and religious robes, which in principle are washed by hand, are washed in Miele washing machines!

Japanese washing machines have been equipped with various functions so that anyone can use them easily, and the emphasis has been on shortening the time as much as possible. The Japanese preference for pre-packed travel tours and the like so that people do not have to think for themselves is an existential crisis. We are not all the same, we are all different. Even materials have their own character and stain in different ways. Yet can we treat them all with the same program?

I immediately tried the wool wash. I was surprised that it did not spin at all. It must have been slowly floating through the dirt. When the wash was finished, I got a notification on my phone. I opened the round door like a spaceship. The fluff had been reduced and it looked brand new again! I had finally found the washing machine I had dreamed of as a child.