Flightless Bird: Laundromats

I'm David Farrier, a New Zealander, accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick. Now. a big part of being a human being is trying to stay clean, washing our bodies, and the things we put on them. Clothes. And as I've wandered around the United States, I've noticed that many Americans love washing their clothes at a laundromat.

Laundromats.

Laundromats.

No, no, no. Laundromats are not American.

Today, I'm here in an attempt to prove Monica's thesis wrong. Laundromats are American. I propose that laundromats are as American as flying the American flag or eating a juicy cheeseburger. After all, there are over 30,000 laundromats in the US, employing 39,000 people, making $5 billion in revenue each year. So, grab your disgusting, smelly clothes and a handful of quarters, because this is the Laundromats episode.

David, David, David.

I thought it was time for some controversy, for butting heads. It's been too calm for too long.

Well, you picked the right topic, because I stand by my original thesis.

Yeah, and I'm curious about this, and I want to sort of investigate it together. But first, I was curious how often you wash your clothes. Because I think I wash mine more than some people do. I will almost wear something once, like a t-shirt once, and then I'll put it in the washing basket to be washed. If there's any danger of smell, then it's going in the wash.

It depends on the type of clothing item.

Underwear versus a sweater, for instance.

Oh my God. Everyone washes their underwear after one use.

After one use. I've done a day, too, if there's no accidents.

You take it off, and then you put it back on later?

Not all the time. Not all the time. Sometimes I'll do it.

Are you just trying to be provocative right now?

No, not all the time. Some days, you don't even go to the bathroom. On a day like that, I don't think you need to necessarily wash the underwear. Did you fart in it? Yeah, but that doesn't do anything.

Fart particles are exactly poo particles. That's literally what it is. Air from your poop.

So gross. I just want to say, I don't do that often, but just occasionally.

Okay, I need you to never do that again.

Okay. Okay? I'm not proud of it. I'm being honest.

I have another friend. My God. It's like I have to teach you guys. about this life, and this person only washes their hands sometimes after they go to the.

bathroom. What's the deciding factor? Like how crazy it gets in there? What informs that decision?

Right. So it's confusing, because I noticed it once. I was with them, and we were at a public place, and I was like, hmm, they didn't wash their hands. Now, if you're not washing your hands in a public place, what that tells me is you are never washing your hands in private.

Yeah, at home? Yeah, it's not happening. Did you hit them up that day? Yeah. Or you did?

And you were like- Like 20 minutes later, I was like, so what was that about?

And what? They said. sometimes they don't do it.

Yeah.

That's no good. I disagree violently with that.

Okay. But, and I-.

You've got to wash.

You've got to tell this person that 100% of the time in public, you must, and if you are pooping, you have to wash your hands. There's no exceptions.

Oh, there's no. Oh, 100%.

Yeah.

You'll get pink eye.

They'll get pink eye. And, yeah, true.

And all sorts of other horrible things can be- And give it.

It's giving it-.

100%. Yeah.

Away to other people. that is unacceptable.

My friend rescues cats. Okay. And they recently got super tired and exhausted and they went to the doctor and they had caught what you can get from your cat litter tray. You can get a thing from cat poop that really wipes you out. Now, I've never met anyone that's had it before, but it really, and again, I imagine they were washing their hands, but you've got to wash your hands.

It's like a flu type thing?

It just makes you incredibly weak. It's like a virus of some kind.

Well, you know, they have that in Canada. I think I just learned about this from one of my Canadian friends, not Liz. It's called beaver fever or something. And when they're in lakes- Yeah. They accidentally eat some of the beaver poop in the water.

Incredible. Horrible. Okay.

That's what you're getting to. beaver episodes. You forgot to mention beaver fever.

I did forget to mention that. Beavers, part two. We'll go there immediately.

Anyway, sorry. You are to always change your underwear once a day, or if you haven't showered in two days and you've just been at home for the weekend.

Still change your underwear in the morning.

Yeah, yeah.

I just want to say I usually do. It's very rare. Twice a year, I might get a bit cheeky and think I can get another day's use out of these, you know?

Yeah. Okay. But you just have more money than you think.

Laundromats-.

Okay.

Are a way to wash your clothes.

Yes, they are. They are. They are.

Actually, just quickly before we segue into laundromats, a few quick ideas for future episodes. Okay. Milk. You were just getting milk in your tea. American milk fascinates me because there's so many different types.

Well, they don't have that in New Zealand.

Not the extent. Not this 2% shit that you've got over here.

They don't have 2%? No.

I still don't know what it is. No one's explained it to me.

What is 2%? It's less fat.

Okay. Okay.

So then, yes, this is good, but you have to make it specifically about 2%, skim. Okay.

I can do that.

I'm down for that.

Americans love a dead animal more than a live animal, so they love putting their heads on the wall.

Taxidermy.

Taxidermy. And they also love, touched on this a bit in the dating episode, but I've been thinking about it more and more, men love, I was in Denver over the weekend, and every diner we went into were just walls of photos of people, mainly men, with big fish. They love fishing. American men, they love posing with big fish.

Okay. Do they have fishing in New Zealand?

They've got fishing, but we don't put the photos everywhere.

Yeah, but you still kill. You even told us a story about your dad was a wild game hunter.

Yeah. No, we definitely kill, but I think in America, it's much more like, on a dating app. in America, if you're flicking through guys, there'll be a lot of men with dead animals. That doesn't happen in New Zealand.

I think that's more of a photography.

Yeah. I don't know about this, David.

This doesn't feel-.

I'm going to look into it. Discuss the photos. Okay. 50%. Planes crashing?

No one can hear this episode. They'll freak out.

It was a terrifying episode. Okay. Okay. We won't do that one. It'll scare people too much.

Oh, that I like.

But the more I talk to people that aren't American, the more surprised they are that Americans keep their shoes on indoors.

Yes. That's a great episode.

Natalie will love that. She hates shoes indoors.

And some people in America, I've seen people get onto a bed with their shoes on.

Yeah. Yeah. I've done it. It's like you with the underwear. Maybe once every four years.

Okay. This is fascinating. I want to look into this more.

I suggested, and I think you said okay, but then you decided not to listen, so I'm going to say it here.

Quilts. Quilts. Yeah.

That's so American. They don't have quilts in New Zealand.

I'm putting it on my list.

Because you didn't even know what it was.

Quilts. So specific.

Yeah. It seems very Pilgrim-y. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

Americans love quilts on the bed.

It can be on the bed for decor or their bodies. It's passed down. Like grandmas, will make their granddaughters a quilt.

Oh, that's cute. Okay.

Sometimes you make it with fabrics. You can have a t-shirt quilt with all your old t-shirts.

What?

Yeah.

You make the quilts out of old t-shirts? Yes.

You know how you accumulate so many fucking t-shirts?

That's all I do.

Yeah. If you realize like, oh my God, I just have 4,000 t-shirts, but I don't want to throw them away because they're all meaningful. You could turn them into a t-shirt quilt.

Okay. I'm on board with this now. T-shirts into quilts.

America.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to play you my little documentary about laundromats in America, and we're going to discuss the hell out of it. Can I just get $20 worth of quarters?

Yeah, of course.

Cash or out of your account? Uh, cash is good. Once every few weeks, I go to the bank, wait in line, and then request $20 worth of quarters. I'd get more, but there's a quarters shortage, apparently, or maybe my bank just hates me. It's an annoying process that I've actually come to love.

My name is Brian Wallace, and I serve as President and CEO for the Coin Laundry Association, which is a trade association for laundromat professionals in North America.

Brian Wallace loves laundromats. He's been in this game for over 30 years.

It was my first gig out of college, looking for a job in communications and marketing, and I saw this ad for Coin Laundry Association. Is that such a thing? And that was 31 years ago.

Brian knows this world inside out, so he'd be the one to confirm a story. I'd read online. A story that's found on the website of a lot of laundromat businesses. A story that claims the first ever self-service laundromat in the world opened in Texas in 1934..

Well, believe me, I'm very familiar with that Fort Worth, Texas part of the legend, so I've got no reason to dispute that.

It was April 18th, 1934, that a Texan named C.A. Tannehill opened the world's first coin-operated laundromat, except it wasn't called a laundromat. It was a washeteria.

There's multiple origin stories. That's the one that seems to be most popular, and some people will split a hair between self-service and coin-operated, right? So before there was a coin-operated mechanism and that innovation came along, there were automatic washers that could be purchased based on time. Oh, I want to buy an hour's worth of time with that washer and dryer. So that puts it at roughly an 80-year-old industry here, which is something that has been primarily an American concept.

An American concept that gained traction during the 50s as cities got bigger. L.A., Chicago, New York. More dirty bodies meant more dirty clothes. Apartments didn't always have room for a washer and dryer, plus they're expensive. Enter the laundromat.

I can't believe how much laundry people come with. I mean, minivans, full, pickup trucks, full, miles of laundry, hundreds of pounds of laundry.

The laundromat has become a popular location in music videos, TV shows, and Oscar-winning movies.

I don't know what it is. Whether it's crime procedurals or rom-coms or I don't know what to call everything everywhere all at once. I think the reason those settings come up is because it is a familiar place. It's a neighborhood place.

Over the years, the industry has changed. Americans are innovating and finding new ways to keep the laundromat thriving.

30 years ago, it may have been more people that had it as a kind of a side gig or a side hustle these days, or a moonlighting opportunity, where now people are getting into the business full time. They're adding a lot of technology. They're trying to scale to multiple locations. And what I like the most about that is it generally means that more and more customers are finding a much better place to do the wash than they did just a few years ago.

In short, laundromats are getting fancier. There are nicer chairs to sit on, better ambience, TVs mounted on the wall, vending machines dishing out snacks.

Some have called it sort of the Starbucks effect. I think in the old days, it was more utilitarian, institutional, white walls, white floor, white ceiling. Get in, get out. And I think the stores that I love to see today are the ones that have warmer finishes, that are more comfortable, softer lighting, seating areas. When you really think about it, there aren't too many other places where people are spending two hours a week outside of home or work.

I find it sort of funny thinking about it. This thriving business where you get paid in quarters, hundreds of quarters, tens of thousands of quarters, millions and millions of quarters.

Sometimes customers see one of our members with a five gallon bucket full of quarters rolling in a laundry cart, say, oh boy, boy, you're making all the money in the world. It's like, well, we've got to pay the rent out of this, we've got to pay the utilities out of this, we've got to pay our people out of this, insurance, accounting, et cetera. It's a mechanical miracle in a lot of ways. You're building a plant, you're building a factory that's going to generate clean clothes.

It strikes me that the American laundromat is a modern miracle, full of machines with names like Whirlpool and Maytag, Electrolux and Speedclean, Dexter Laundry and Laundry Lux. Sometimes I go to the laundromat just to take it all in. The smell of fresh linen, the gentle heat of the dryers, the whirling and swirling, the best kind of ASMR. In a busy, scary world, the laundromat is a refuge.

I was going to ask. Okay.

But sometimes for a little fun weekend trip, I'll go out to a different laundromat and just hang out and see what's going on.

And you enjoy it.

Yeah, I do, because everyone is different. They all have different setups and different vending machines and different video games. It's a whole sort of culture and you meet some real oddballs there as well. I kind of love it. So where do you wash your clothes?

I have a washer and dryer in my unit. In your base. Yeah. But not, I mean, a lot of buildings, don't. In cities, I could see it being more common.

You'd always have it in your house.

Yeah, it would a hundred percent be in your house.

Do you admit, though, that the first coin operated laundromat was invented in Texas?

I just need to know about this guy's credentials a little bit more.

He seemed very authoritative. He had a really nice office. He's been doing this job for 31 years. He does advocate for coin laundries, so technically he could be quite biased in that direction. So he's probably going to play into a story of an origin in America more than someone else.

I guess I just feel like the only time I've ever used a laundromat ever has been out of this country.

Yeah. When you're traveling.

When I'm traveling.

Yeah, totally.

Or like studying abroad or something. In which case, if I'm studying abroad, I live in a place, it just doesn't ever have laundry or laundry in the building.

I think they're like two different worlds, because we have laundromats in New Zealand as well, and I had a washer and dryer in my apartment, so I wouldn't go and use a laundromat. So I think you're divided. It's like two worlds. You've got the world where you're washing your underwear at home, and then there's this other world going on, which is 16% of America that doesn't have a washer, and that is out in the world carrying around bundles of underwear.

I know.

And cleaning and drying it. It's just these two different things. I think. if you don't do one of those, if you win one world, you sort of don't even notice the other worlds.

But I guess, but our fight is that-.

Oh, there's no fight.

No, there's a big fight.

Our fight is that- Laundromats are American.

No.

Laundromats are American. No. Yeah, they're American. No, they are not. They're everywhere in America.

No.

They're getting-.

They're getting bigger?

They're getting bigger. There's more technology being pumped into it. And I just think- That is not true. You'd see more laundromats. Okay.

Nope. I need him to do a little bit of research, which is how many laundromats in America? Yeah.

There's between 18,000 and 35,000 laundromat businesses in the US.

18,000.. Do Europe. Do Europe.

I've got 30,000 laundromats. See- In my stats.

I said 18 to 35, so that's-.

Okay. 18 to 35. Okay.

Okay. 18 to 35-.

Thousand.

Thousand laundromats in the whole country.

First coin-operated one invented in Texas.

8,326 laundromats in Europe.

What?

Oh! Oh, no. Oh, this is-.

Really?

This is a beautiful moment. Rob!

Why are you doing this?

It's okay, because if you don't use laundromats, you don't notice them. That's what I find so fascinating about them. Oh, my God. If you're not needing to use them, why would you ever think about them? And that's fine, but I think that's so interesting to me, that these two different dimensions you can live in.

That's so antiquated, though. Why don't they have Apple Pay?

Oh, I know. Some laundromats do.

Okay.

So, the market size measured by revenue of laundromats in the US was $6 billion in 2022, but in Europe, by 2028,, it's supposed to reach $7.5 billion. Oh!

Okay, so it's on the up?

So, it's comparable-.

It's comparable. There's just fewer, but more people.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, that's-.

That's noted. That's on the rise in Europe as well, but America still blazingly leads the way. But, here's the thing. I think you noticed it when you were in Europe, because you just didn't have one at home, because you needed it.

Yeah. That's probably right.

It's a good thing. America should be proud of it. I think it's this really neat feature that America has. I love being a part of that world.

Are they counting the ones in the buildings of apartments? They probably are.

Yeah. They are coin-operated. They do. Yeah.

Okay.

But, the number of 30,000 coin-operated laundromats, that's like outside of the apartments.

You're sure?

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm at 80% confidence.

Okay. Wow. I mean, I did use one in college, the dorm. You had to.

Yeah. It is funny that it keeps you on your toes, because you've always got to have all the bits. You've got to have your coins. You've got to always have your sort of traipsing around with your laundry powder and all that and your big bag of washing.

I guess you have to be more on top of your laundry. For me, I let that laundry pile up so much.

Just so you do one big dose.

Yes. I do a huge laundry day. But if you're going to the laundromat, you can't, because you'd be there all day.

Absolutely. It has to be this really planned, well-thought-through trip. Probably something that's angered me more than anything else that's happened since I got to America, is that I'd put my clothes through my little laundromat in my building, and I'd forgotten to come back. in the half hour that it takes to take them out. I'd left them in for maybe an hour and a half.

Uh-oh.

When I got back, someone had taken my laundry out and put them in a big pile on top of the other machine.

That's common.

That made me feel so angry, and I'd wash them again. Because I didn't know whose hands had been all over my underwear.

Oh, my God.

So that's one thing you do have to be on top of with. the coin operator, is being on time.

I've had that happen in college.

Man, I got so mad.

In LA, I find, if you're living in an apartment, normally, you have to choose whether or not you're going to get laundry in unit or a dishwasher.

Oh, so it's one or the other.

It's very rare, I have found. It's very rare to find a apartment that has both.

What would you rather have?

Laundry in unit. I don't have a dishwasher.

Oh, yeah, no. See, you can survive without a dishwasher pretty easily.

Yeah, but I am getting sick of washing all those dishes.

Is it European to have a laundry machine in the kitchen, too? I have a friend that has an apartment in LA with it in his kitchen.

Mine's right off of the kitchen, but it's in its own little room.

I don't know.

Okay, well, I'm upset, because I still think I'm. ... I still think like ...

You've got conviction. I like that. you have conviction in all the ways.

But I'm wrong. I have to listen to facts.

This is a huge day.

Ugh.

Wait, wait. In the UK, the majority of properties have their washing machine built into the kitchen, partly because we don't commonly have electrical sockets in the bathrooms, so it's normal for them to put it there.

But it would never be in the bathroom, right?

I guess in some places.

Yeah, in New Zealand, we'd often have them in the bathroom.

I think it's American that you have a laundry room.

Yeah. We don't really get laundry rooms. unless it's like a fancy house. Yeah. They'll go in bathrooms, or ...

Primary closet.

Yeah.

Closet's kind of cool, because then you can just put it right into. ...

That's fancy.

Yeah, that's actually more fancy.

Pop it in a bedroom. Mix things up.

In planning my house, for a while. ...

Oh, yeah. Where's it going?

For a while, there was going to be two.

Oh, incredible.

I've thought about it. I'll throw one in the master bedroom.

Yeah, one upstairs. Are you going to have one upstairs and one downstairs?

But I'm not anymore. I decided not to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah.

It's kind of handy, though. Right. I get it.

You should.

I know. It reminds me of another American thing, the laundry chute.

Right. That's old school.

We don't have those. Is that old school America? We don't really have those in New Zealand.

That probably speaks a little bit to the laundry room, though.

Yeah.

Totally. That it's not just throwing it into the kitchen on the floor. Yeah.

Oh, God, I love this.

Laundry chutes are cool, though. I wish they had kept that up. They stopped doing that. After Home Alone. Yeah.

They scared me, the idea of a chute, because you could fall down in there. Or there could be a monster in there, as well, that pops out. That would be my worry.

I'm sure there were deaths.

Oh, there must have been, right? Like, kids would play in them and absolutely fall down.

Yeah. Oh.

That's probably why they stopped them.

Yes.

And thanks to Warby Parker, I got my first pair ever of subscription sunglasses.

You did, and you picked me up in an upcoming episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You picked me up for a field trip, and you were in your sunglasses, and they were really cool.

I'm actually really happy with them.

They look great.

They also offer a wide variety of contact lens brands, which I want to get, because I need them when I go into the mosh pit at metal shows. Oh, wow. So I'm going to get some contacts from them. And that includes Acuvue and By Affinity. You can also save 15% on your first order of contacts.

Our laundry, I love too much. Our owner, the best man.

Masida works the afternoon shift at one of my favorite laundromats in Hollywood. It's got some arcade machines inside and a bunch of TVs on the wall. She's from Armenia, originally coming to America to help her mom, who is already here.

I come to see my mom. She's very old, 94 years.

She ended up staying, and ended up teaching me the ropes of the American laundromat, from what wash cycles are used to the best washing products to get from the vending machines. Her laundromat's a fancy one. I can use my credit card here, doing away with quarters altogether. Ruby comes here most weeks to help her mom with the washing.

Personally, not for me, but for my mom, because she's very social, very extroverted. She just comes here and she knows everybody from the neighborhood.

That neighborhood aspect is the other magical thing I've discovered about the American laundromat.

The laundromat is a mirror held up to the neighborhood. If you want to understand what's going on in that couple of blocks, go to the laundromat. You're going to learn a lot. Obviously, the people are there. It's a very localized business.

Brian of the Coin Laundry Association says this cultural and community aspect of the laundromat is important to him and his organization. So much so that seven years ago they formed a charitable foundation called Laundry Cares.

Among. our mission is to really give back to the families that support our business.

They realized that some people at the laundromat could do with extra resources, so they made that happen.

We are often under-resourced families, especially here in the U.S. We do everything from free laundry days to my favorite project, which is we're building hundreds of mini library spaces and laundromats across the country and distributing free books. I think we have this unique reach into neighborhoods that can sometimes be hard to reach with other types of resources. And we see the laundromat as a conduit for pushing through some of that help directly into the hands of the families that need it most.

Of course, some Americans can't afford to do their washing at all. Enter Jason Sowell, who's also very enthusiastic about the importance of the American laundromat and runs a non-profit called Current Initiatives.

Our main initiative that we do across the United States is something we call the Laundry Project. So we work with laundromats in largely lower income areas and provide free laundry services for financially struggling families that are using laundromats across the U.S. We will take over a laundromat for a few hours, typically on a Saturday, have a team of volunteers come in. We're putting quarters in or swiping cards. We're providing all the laundry supplies that they need.

I hadn't really thought about this before, but laundromats mean different things to different people, depending on where you live. Like, a person using a laundromat in New York may have a very different life to someone using one in Florida. The users are different, and how they're perceived is different depending on where they live.

I've learned more about laundromats and the laundry industry over the past 15 years than I ever cared to know about laundry. So, one thing that I've learned is that major cities like New York, Chicago, it's more common for the average middle class person that's financially in a normal spot that would be using a laundromat because their buildings that they live in, their older buildings, don't have those things to work with. So that's a little more normal for the average everyday person. In places like Florida, where I live, or other areas that don't have massive metropolitan, older type places, it's a little bit different. What tends to happen in laundromats is the majority of people using those laundromats are people that are lower income, financially struggling, usually in areas of town that are deserts.

While I've been thinking about this, about status and laundromats, my mind's drifted to another thing I find fascinating about America. And that's the country's pathological hatred of washing lines. See, in New Zealand, after we've washed our clothes in a washing machine, we tend to hang them outside on a washing line to dry. We've discovered a thing called the sun, which acts like a big heat lamp drying our clothes. Since I've lived in LA, possibly the sunniest place on earth, I don't think I've seen a single washing line.

One is time. I'm assuming the lifestyle in New, Zealand, much like other places in the world, is a little bit slower paced than it is in the United States. You've lived here long enough, I think, you know the U.S. is like, we're out the door and moving as fast as we can to everything that we're doing. So the automation of a dryer is one thing.

Second, the weather can be unpredictable in the United States.

I think there's probably something to the area of the country. In Florida, for example, right now, this time of year, if you did that, it's a crapshoot on whether your clothes are going to get rained on, because it rains every day, just about.

I'm skeptical about this one, because, as I said, LA is always sunny and I've never seen anyone using a clothesline. Third, status.

Some of it, too, in that becomes a status, just like anything else. The type of vehicle becomes status, having a washer and dryer. I don't think anyone these days in America would think, I just need to buy a washer. Everything that's marketed to us over decades now is, it's a pair. It all comes together.

Brian from the Coin Laundry Association agrees that Americans love their dryers. Of course, he's biased. He would say that. He loves laundromats. But I do think him and Jason have a point.

We like our hot dryers here, and we pack them full of clothes, and perhaps also part of that convenience factor. I've done a lot of consumer research over time here. Laundromat customers are looking for time savings and convenience in a clean, safe environment that's close to home. I'm not making excuses for not line drying, but I kind of see it through that lens of getting it done all at once. Getting that chore knocked out in one foul swoop.

One foul swoop. Very foul. As a New Zealander, I'll constantly be annoyed that in LA people don't use clotheslines. The sun is the best dryer we have. While a modern tumble dryer has a maximum heat of around 150 degrees Fahrenheit, the sun burns at 10,000 degrees.

Another surprise about the business is the incredible volume of clothes that are abandoned at the laundromat. I'm talking about hundreds and hundreds of pounds, but it's always been puzzling as to what happens in that person's life, where they just leave all their clothes never to be seen again.

It felt good learning about the American laundromat. One of the backbones of America. A thing that keeps it clean and fresh. Laundromats mean different things to different Americans. Some may never set foot in one.

Oh, my god.

You were getting so angry over there. I was sort of loving it.

Of course you are. I'm going to first start by saying I was wrong about the amount of laundromats in this country.

I think a lot of people would be surprised at that, though.

Thank you. Also, that number that Rob said, about $7.5 billion, is interesting in that I think more people are going, especially for how many people there are percentage-wise. Now I'm going to stop there.

I like that apology.

No, I was wrong. I had no idea that there were so many, and that is leading to another apology or acknowledgement, which is definitely due to my economic privilege, that I didn't know that.

I'm the same in New Zealand. I have them in my building. When I was in New, Zealand, I never thought about laundromats. You just don't think about them at all. I'm in the same boat, but it's just.

In cities, it makes more sense to me and I can understand it, but I assume in other areas that they didn't exist at all, and they obviously do, because people who can't afford a washer and dryer have to use them.

Once you see it, you don't unsee it, and you're driving through any American town, you'll just be like, oh, laundromat, laundromat. It's like when someone mentions a thing you never thought of, you just see it everywhere all of a sudden.

Now that we've said that and I'm owning my privilege here, I'm going to push back majorly on the clothesline. First of all, number one, your clothes then smell like the outside. The whole purpose of washing your clothes is so that you get that outside smell off of your clothes. Do you know the outside smell? It's a very specific smell.

See, this is something that I haven't clocked in thinking about this at all, because in New Zealand it's sort of like the outside smell is generally kind of.

fresh. That's what you think.

Do you think the outside smell in America is different to New Zealand? No. Or do you think it's the same?

Well, I don't know. There's a good chance that they're different based on what's in the air, like maybe L.A.

Because definitely L.A. has got to be more smoggy and crazy. What's the outside smell?

When you're outside and you're just walking around a ton,

which you do,

or imagine when you were a kid and you were outside playing and you were playing in your tunnel and you're running around. You go inside, you have a smell. It's from the outside. I call it the outside smell. It is!

Are you sure you're not talking about inside smell from your body getting sweaty?

No, because if I'm running on the treadmill inside, that's a different smell. That's a sweaty smell. There's an outside smell. You do notice it a lot with kids because kids play so hard. So if they're out on the playground, like if you pick up Calvin from school,

and he comes.

into the car, he has an outside smell.

It's like a sunny smell.

No, it smells like the outside. It's very specific.

I'm curious about this.

If you use a clothesline, your clothes are going to have the outside smell, even if they're clean. and that's the whole point.

So from a dryer, you want to like shove your face in it and just inhale. I cock that. it's a much better smell than off the line.

Do you use a line at your apartment?

Well, we don't have them. You could make one. So this puts me onto another topic. I want to know what you think of the inside clothes rack.

I have that.

That's an efficient thing. You put it in the sun and that's another way to do it.

You don't put it in the sun.

In the house, but in a window where the sun's coming in.

Right. Mine's pretty dark.

But it still works?

It's just air dry. No, outside smell.

put them in the dryer. Don't you think it's unusual, just in general, that you don't see There's no space. Some people have backyards and I'm yet to see someone with a clothesline. In New Zealand, every flat, every house, there's clotheslines everywhere, but you can't move for getting hit by a clothesline.

That sounds inefficient.

I feel like it would get dirty if you did it in LA. Our table in the backyard gets dusty and dirt on it. If it was out there for 10 hours, it wouldn't be clean.

Our air is dirty.

I went to dust my bookshelf the other day and I just ran my finger along it. It's bad here, isn't it?

The closer you are to the highway or a busy street, you have to have all these air purifiers.

in LA.

Let's take it out of LA. if you're in a city, I don't see how there's any room for it. Where are you putting it?

We don't have room for a laundry machine, but we've got room for a clothesline.

Some places definitely don't have room for it.

Weather is a factor, for sure. Not here, but in Georgia you don't know when it's going to rain.

You hang your stuff out in the morning and it just gets rained on when you come home. It's even more wet than when you put it out. Mud. Was mud being flicked up onto the clothesline? Where's the mud coming from?

From the ground and the dirt.

it splashes up. These are some good points.

I just want you to go to a playground where kids are playing.

Sounds like a setup. And just start sniffing. Just start sniffing the air around the kids?

And you'll know what I mean.

And we'll get some bail bonds.

That's an easter egg.

No, good point. My only theory about it was always in horror films. there's always washing in the breeze and there's a killer on the other side. and I thought maybe Americans just got so scared of washing lines from horror films they just stopped hanging their washing out because they're so scary.

I think it's more of a southern thing that you're using clotheslines, and that's usually where a lot of horror movies are in the south.

They're in cornfields. Imagine it with cornfields and porches and stuff.

Maybe certain parts of America. there are clotheslines everywhere.

Where you have more space.

It is a space thing. LA, no clotheslines, because there's not enough space.

It's space, but it is true. I don't know anyone who uses a clothesline. Everyone uses a dryer.

You'd meet one person that's always hanging their clothes out to dry.

I think it's convenience, efficiency, speed and smell. It really makes a difference.

It's like you don't know people that are using typewriters still they're using computers because it's faster.

You guys are so inefficient.

We just like using the sun. That big heater in the sky.

I do love the sun. It's better for the environment, for sure.

In New Zealand there's a certain type of clothes rack. that's plastic. Every student has one in the house. You've got one of those. They're universally hated because they're so ugly and you get into someone's house and there's ten clothesources out covered in stuff, and it's so iconically gross.

Oh god, I have that.

The folding wiry ones.

You're folding wiry ones. Where do you put it when you're not using it?

It's in the laundry room. Luckily I have a laundry room. I agree. I hate the way it looks.

It's horrible.

And it's too small. I need a lot, but I don't have space.

You always run out of room.

Again,

Also, you've got a bit of room for hanging clothes indoors.

It's not really good for your clothes.

to dry them.

Outdoor smell is not an option. I smell it on people, guys. I don't like it.

I'm going to look more into this. I'm going to find a washing line in LA, do a round of washing, hang it out and see if you notice a different smell.

Haven't you ever been around someone who's been golfing all day?

Not in a while.

You're doing construction outside.

Can you come up with an example for me?

It's more golf because there's something about grass. Grass has an added impact on outside smell.

I know what you're talking about.

Everyone knows if they really start clicking in.

Yeah, I want to smell this outdoor smell. Next time you smell it, Can you tell me if I'm near you and just be, that's the smell.

It's not body odor.

It might be exacerbated by body odor, but, it's added. It's different than if you're sweating in your house indoors or in a gym versus when you've been running on a track outside.

It's different. A bit grassy, a bit earthy, because I remember the smell from my tunnel as a child, and that was a certain. I didn't love the smell.

Yeah, and if it's on your clothes, that's how you smell.

Interesting.

As opposed to that nice, fluffy.

cottony smell. There's nothing better than getting into a bed that you've just made and the sheets have just come out of the dryer. It is the best thing in the world.

Yeah.

As a little prank. sometime, I'm somehow going to figure out a way to somehow wash your stuff and hang it out and get outside smell in your bedding or something, and you'll just lie down and be like outdoors smell.

Ew.

Laundromats.

That was fun. I'm wrong.

I think today, Monica, I think you have become more American.

I think you're right.

I think you're heading up towards where you'll be pushing. I mean, you're so American. You'll be 102%.

Well, now you know that I am 100% American, as you learned.

Even though you were brought here at two.

Look, I've learned about that. now. I know. Oh, I'm going to do another episode as well about tampons, because I just found out that in America, there is a plastic applicator and in New Zealand, we just use fingers.

Wait. No. Stop.

So no, this is something I'm fascinated by.

You mean they use paper applicators? Or what do you mean? they use fingers?

No, there's no applicator. There's no applicator. So I'm obsessed with this. So in America, you're American woman putting plastic to apply the tampon.

I've heard of it.

In New Zealand, we're just using a finger. Think about that.

I am interested in this.

Culturally, I'm so fascinated by the different styles and why and how we think about it.

Well, good thing my friend lives in America, because if she lived in New Zealand and then wasn't washing her hands...

What's that smell?

See? That's a different smell. That's different than outside smell. That's inside smell.

Okay. Next week. Have a good week. Love you guys.