How To Wash A Shirt
One of Sim's highlights for the week was to help a family she knows find temporary work washing clothes in Poipet. I asked Sim yesterday to explain what it takes to wash a shirt?
Firstly, you need to look at the shirt. Don't just start washing it straight away. Check the areas that are commonly dirty, such as the collar, the cuffs, the lower back section and underarms. Focus on these areas.
Then you wash the shirt. Most of the time you can use a brush, but it depends on the fabric. Some people think that just sitting on a low stool, brush in hand, surrounded by foamy water you look like you know what you're doing?! Nope! Use the brush but only when you need it!
Wash the shirt until it is clean. Then you need to rinse it two to three times until there is no trace of soap. Before you hang it to dry, shake it out... and make sure you hang it properly so the shirt doesn't wrinkle. Also, it is easier if you can hang the clothes near to where you wash them. You can waste a lot of time walking back and forth from where you are washing the clothes to the place you have to hang them.
It's quicker and easier to work in pairs. One washes the shirt while the other rinses and hangs.
The going rate is 1 Thai Baht per shirt. If two people are skilled and hard-working, they can earn 400-500 Baht for a full eight hours of work (approx US$13.30-$16.70 between two people). It's decent money... but don't forget that dirty clothes in Cambodia are not like dirty clothes in Australia! You go from the office to your car to your home. We step out of our houses into the mud!
It is important for Cambodians to know how to wash a shirt properly. If you only ever wash your own clothes, then I guess it doesn't matter so much. But if you ever want to work washing other people's clothes, you need to know how to do it correctly. My two older kids wash their clothes now. I think everyone should learn before they are ten years old. My mother taught me and I teach my kids.
Firstly, you need to look at the shirt. Don't just start washing it straight away. Check the areas that are commonly dirty, such as the collar, the cuffs, the lower back section and underarms. Focus on these areas.
Then you wash the shirt. Most of the time you can use a brush, but it depends on the fabric. Some people think that just sitting on a low stool, brush in hand, surrounded by foamy water you look like you know what you're doing?! Nope! Use the brush but only when you need it!
Wash the shirt until it is clean. Then you need to rinse it two to three times until there is no trace of soap. Before you hang it to dry, shake it out... and make sure you hang it properly so the shirt doesn't wrinkle. Also, it is easier if you can hang the clothes near to where you wash them. You can waste a lot of time walking back and forth from where you are washing the clothes to the place you have to hang them.
It's quicker and easier to work in pairs. One washes the shirt while the other rinses and hangs.
The going rate is 1 Thai Baht per shirt. If two people are skilled and hard-working, they can earn 400-500 Baht for a full eight hours of work (approx US$13.30-$16.70 between two people). It's decent money... but don't forget that dirty clothes in Cambodia are not like dirty clothes in Australia! You go from the office to your car to your home. We step out of our houses into the mud!
It is important for Cambodians to know how to wash a shirt properly. If you only ever wash your own clothes, then I guess it doesn't matter so much. But if you ever want to work washing other people's clothes, you need to know how to do it correctly. My two older kids wash their clothes now. I think everyone should learn before they are ten years old. My mother taught me and I teach my kids.
posted by pip @ 11:01 am
4 Comments:
At 6:41 am ,
Anonymous said...
haha...I know how to wash the cloth, but I am a lazy one. I've never done it well. One day, I was in the rain and my pains started to make bubbles
:)
At 9:18 pm ,
pip said...
Hey Malis!
I think I remember you telling me about the day your pants started to bubble and foam! Haha! It sounds like you washed them okay.. just took a short-cut with the rinsing part ; )
At 10:16 am ,
Gail said...
I thought you had grown your hair longer - and it was someone else on the bike!! Great to have a new challenge and be able to tell folk that you are trying a new sport too! We are still 'with you' Pip!
At 9:17 am ,
pip said...
Thanks Gail! Yes: triathlon at the end of November and I just signed up for my first bike race in December too. It's 100km but in Cambodia I'll bet it's a flat course!
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