It's always there -- maddening, lurking, persistent. You can ignore it for only so long, shoving it into the corner of your mind, or your closet. But no matter how many times you take care of it, it always comes back to haunt you.


Laundry.


For foreigners unaccustomed or unwilling to doing their laundry in anything but a Western-style washing machine, Moscow can present something of a challenge. The typical Russian washing machine that comes with many rental apartments is a prime example.


Most of these works of vintage technology require that soap and water be added -- by hand -- before turning the machine on. After the agitation cycle, the water must be drained -- by hand -- and fresh water added for the rinse cycle. Then the water must be squeezed from the clothes -- by hand -- and hung to dry. Some say it's almost like doing your laundry by hand.


But not all Russian machines are so labor-intensive. Ingrid Juhlin, a two-year Moscow resident, has been washing her clothes in a Russian-made machine since December. She described it as a self-contained unit that includes its own rinse cycle. The entire cycle takes 45 minutes, she said. Before that, Juhlin hand-washed her clothes, a task so daunting when it came to large, unwieldy items like sheets that she usually just bought new ones, leaving the dirty linen behind whenever she changed apartments.


During this pre-machine period, she also went to the laundromat every month or so to wash a load of jeans and sweatshirts. These expeditions inevitably turned into all-day affairs. Juhlin said she would arrive around 9 in the morning and be there until 2 P.M. The trick, she said, was making sure that no one cut in front of you in line. Her last trip to the laundromat was about a year ago, when a single load cost 300 rubles, or about 25 cents, to wash.


Nowadays, laundromat prices are somewhat higher, but not very much. And at Chistka Odezhdy, the self-serve laundromat at 9 Ulitsa Butlerova, cutting in line is not a problem. In the middle of the day during the week, the place has plenty of open machines for the few people who were there.


Here, one load costs 700 rubles (about 35 cents) to wash, spin and dry. The whole process takes about an hour or so, depending upon the size of the load. Large flat ironing machines are also available. Most of the women there were ironing sheets.


There are dangers in the laundromat method, however; some who have tried it find themselves going back to hand-washing. Tim Avison, a 2 1/2 year Moscow resident, said he has been hand-washing his clothes for the last year and a half. He tried laundromats but stopped after one of the machines shredded his shirt. The hauling and traveling was also a bother.


Detergents pose another danger. Avison previously used Russian detergents, he said, until they turned one of his shirts purple. Now he buys Western brands. He has considered buying a washing machine, but the constant moving endemic to expatriate life makes that inconvenient, and the expense is also a deterrent.


John Reid, who has lived in Moscow just over a year, has run the gamut of ways to get his laundry clean.After using California Cleaners and laundry service where he works, he's now planning to return to the method he first used when he lived in Moscow -- having his cleaning woman take his laundry home with her to wash it for him. He originally gave up this tactic when the woman who did his cleaning began returning loads of laundry that were noticeably absent of matching socks. "And she used so much starch you could bounce the clothes off the wall," he added.


This time around, Reid is also relying on that indispensable element of getting good service in Moscow: personal recommendation. A friend -- whose own impeccable attire is a testament to fine laundering, Reid said -- has promised to find Reid a cleaning woman who will also do his washing. In laundry, as in life, it's who you know.





Chistka Odezhdy, 9 Ulitsa Butlerova. 8 A.M. to 3 P.M., without a break, Monday through Friday. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Metro Kaluzhskaya.


Cleaning women -- well, those you have to find on your own.