Tvättstugan Expressions
Sweden's most passive-aggressive room — boka tvättid, tvättlås, torkrummet and the note on the door.
Tvättstugan — Sweden's most contested territory, fully mapped: the booking technologies (cylinder, bricka, app), the room's organs (torkrum, torkskåp, mangeln), the oskrivna regler (rensa luddfiltret, lämna som du vill finna), the crimes (tjuvtvätta, dra över, lämna kvar tvätt), the etiquette dilemmas (maskinen går fortfarande — tolv minuter kvar — vänta ut det, or ta ut någon annans tvätt och lägga den snyggt vikt), the pink-wash disaster — ending with the genre it birthed: en anonym lapp i versaler, följd av en smiley.
- 1
tvättstugan
the communal laundry room
Tip: lit. 'the wash cottage' — a Swedish institution and battlefield.
- 2
boka tvättid
to book a laundry slot
Tip: lit. 'book wash time'.
- 3
bokningstavlan
the booking board
Tip: lit. the same — the old system with padlocks.
- 4
tvättlåset
the laundry padlock
Tip: lit. 'the wash lock' — your name on a little brass tag.
- 5
torkrummet
the drying room
Tip: lit. 'the drying room' — hot, and always occupied.
- 6
torkskåpet
the drying cabinet
Tip: lit. the same.
- 7
mangeln
the mangle
Tip: lit. the same — for sheets, and nobody knows how to use it.
- 8
dra över sin tvättid
to overrun your slot
Tip: lit. 'pull over one's wash time' — a capital offence.
- 9
lämna kvar tvätt i maskinen
to leave laundry in the machine
Tip: lit. the same — the cause of most notes.
- 10
en lapp på dörren
a passive-aggressive note
Tip: lit. 'a note on the door' — always ending in a smiley.
- 11
rensa luddfiltret
to clean the lint filter
Tip: lit. the same — rule number one on the wall.
- 12
torka av maskinerna efteråt
to wipe the machines afterwards
Tip: lit. the same.
- 13
lämna som du vill finna
to leave it as you'd like to find it
Tip: lit. the same — the sign in every laundry room.
- 14
de oskrivna reglerna
the unwritten rules
Tip: lit. the same — more binding than the written ones.
- 15
tjuvtvätta
to jump the queue
Tip: lit. 'thief-wash' — using an unbooked slot.
- 16
ta någon annans tid
to take someone's slot
Tip: lit. the same.
- 17
är den här maskinen upptagen?
is anyone using this machine?
Tip: lit. the same.
- 18
maskinen är trasig igen
the machine is broken again
Tip: lit. the same.
- 19
anmäla till vaktmästaren
to report it to the caretaker
Tip: lit. the same.
- 20
en felanmälan
a fault report
Tip: lit. the same.
- 21
den fina tiden på lördag förmiddag
the good slot on Saturday morning
Tip: lit. 'the nice time on Saturday morning' — booked months ahead.
- 22
köra tre maskiner på en tid
to do three loads in one slot
Tip: lit. 'run three machines on one slot'.
- 23
hänga upp tvätten
to hang it up to dry
Tip: lit. the same.
- 24
vika direkt
to fold it straight away
Tip: lit. the same — the warm-clothes trick.
- 25
det försvinner alltid en strumpa
a sock always disappears
Tip: lit. the same — a universal law.
- 26
lukta nytvättat
to smell of clean laundry
Tip: lit. 'smell newly washed'.
- 27
konflikt undviken, med nöd och näppe
conflict avoided, barely
Tip: lit. the same — the Swedish laundry room in five words.
- 28
en bokningscylinder
a booking cylinder
Tip: lit. the same — the old brass lock system.
- 29
ett digitalt bokningssystem
a digital booking system
Tip: lit. the same — increasingly common.
- 30
en bokningsapp
a booking app
Tip: lit. the same.
- 31
en bokningsbricka
a booking tag
Tip: lit. the same.
- 32
två tider i veckan per lägenhet
two slots a week per flat
Tip: lit. the same — a typical rule.
- 33
tiden förfaller efter trettio minuter
you lose the slot after thirty minutes
Tip: lit. 'the slot lapses after thirty minutes' — if you don't start.
- 34
ta en obokad tid
to take an unbooked slot
Tip: lit. the same — allowed if nobody has booked.
- 35
maskinen går fortfarande
the machine is still running
Tip: lit. the same.
- 36
tolv minuter kvar
twelve minutes left
Tip: lit. the same.
- 37
vänta ut det
to wait it out
Tip: lit. the same — passive-aggressively.
- 38
ta ut någon annans tvätt
to take someone's washing out
Tip: lit. the same — controversial, but done.
- 39
lägga den snyggt vikt
to leave it neatly folded
Tip: lit. the same — the diplomatic version.
- 40
en korg för borttappade strumpor
a lost sock basket
Tip: lit. the same.
- 41
en röd strumpa i vittvätten
a red sock in a white wash
Tip: lit. the same — the classic disaster.
- 42
vittvätten blev rosa
the whites came out pink
Tip: lit. the same.
- 43
kolla trumman innan du startar
to check the drum before starting
Tip: lit. the same.
- 44
ett städschema på väggen
a cleaning schedule on the wall
Tip: lit. the same.
- 45
vems tur att moppa
whose turn to mop
Tip: lit. the same.
- 46
en anonym lapp i versaler
an anonymous note in capitals
Tip: lit. the same — the Swedish scream.
- 47
följd av en smiley
followed by a smiley
Tip: lit. the same — which changes nothing.