As a House Manager, what does Laundry Service entail?

In Kenya, housekeeping by house help involves a range of services, including laundry service. Laundry service is an important aspect of housekeeping, as it ensures that clothing and linens are kept clean and fresh.Laundry service typically involves washing, drying, and ironing of clothing and linens. This can be a time-consuming and physically demanding task, especially for households with large families or frequent guests. As a result, many households in Kenya employ house helps to take care of their laundry needs.

The laundry process begins with sorting the clothing and linens. This is done to separate the items based on color, fabric, and level of soiling. Whites, light colors, and dark colors are often sorted separately to prevent color bleeding. Delicate fabrics such as silk, lace, and wool are also sorted and washed separately from heavier fabrics such as denim and cotton. Sorting is important because it ensures that each item is washed properly, preventing damage or discoloration. Once the sorting is complete, the laundry is washed using either a washing machine or by hand. 

In Kenya, most households still wash their laundry by hand, especially in rural areas where access to washing machines is limited. Hand washing involves using soap, water, and sometimes bleach to remove dirt and stains from the clothing and linens. The laundry is then rinsed several times to remove all the soap and left to dry in the sun or hung on a clothesline. In households that have access to washing machines, laundry is often washed using detergent and water. 

The washing machine is programmed to run on a specific cycle that ensures that the clothing is properly cleaned. Once the washing cycle is complete, the laundry is removed from the machine and transferred to a dryer. In many cases, households in Kenya do not have access to dryers, so laundry is often hung outside to dry in the sun.

Once the laundry is dry, it is ironed to remove wrinkles and ensure that the clothing and linens look neat and presentable. Ironing is often done using a flat iron, which is heated to a specific temperature depending on the fabric being ironed. Delicate fabrics such as silk and lace require a lower temperature setting than cotton and denim, for example. Ironing is often a time-consuming task, especially for households with large families, and can take several hours to complete.

In some households, house helps may also be responsible for mending or repairing clothing that is torn or damaged. This may involve using a needle and thread to sew patches or holes or taking the items to a tailor for more complex repairs.It is important to note that laundry service by house helps is not without its challenges. In many cases, house helps may be overworked and underpaid, leading to poor performance and low morale.

 Additionally, house helps may lack proper training in laundry care, leading to damage to clothing and linens. To mitigate these challenges, it is important for households to provide proper training and supervision to their house helps and to ensure that they are compensated fairly for their work.

In conclusion, laundry service is an important aspect of housekeeping by house helps in Kenya. It involves sorting, washing, drying, and ironing of clothing and linens and can be a time-consuming and physically demanding task. To ensure that laundry is done properly, it is important for households to provide proper training and supervision to their house helps and to compensate them fairly for their work.