杨舟 供稿

When Americans do laundry， they usually use both a washing machine and a dryer2. Even if they dont have their own washing machine and dryer in their own house， they usually use them in their apartment building. There might be some shared washers3 and dryers， or in a laundromat4.

In many homes， the laundry area is in the basement5 of the home， but in newer homes the laundry room is often on the first floor. The laundry room or the laundry area in a basement often has a laundry tub6. People do all kinds of washing in there， not only for laundry but also for any kind of heavy-duty household7 washing.

In some small apartments， they have their own washers and dryers， but they are too small to have a separate laundry room， so instead the washers and dryers are inside the closets8 in order to save space.

Many apartment buildings have a separate area with several washers and dryers that the tenants9 share to do their laundry.

For people who dont have a washer and dryer or who may need to use a larger washer and dryer， they also have laundromats available where they can go and just pay to use the washers and dryers that are at the laundromat.  There are different sizes of machines. Some of them are quite large so that they can wash large items like blankets， or sleeping bags， or comforters10.

People also hand wash some clothes and hang them up to dry instead of using the dryer. When people in the cities and suburbs11 hang their clothes to dry， they usually hang them indoors. It would be unusual to see clothes hanging outside in many cities.

美國人洗衣服时，通常会同时使用洗衣机和烘干机。即使他们自己家里没有洗衣机和烘干机，他们通常也会在公寓楼里用一些共用的洗衣机和烘干机，或者去自助洗衣店。

许多家庭的洗衣区是在地下室，但较新的房子的洗衣房往往是在一楼。洗衣房或地下室的洗衣区通常有一个洗衣盆。人们在里面洗各种各样的衣服，不仅仅是洗衣服，任何种类的繁重的家庭洗涤都可以用到这些洗衣盆。

一些小公寓里有洗衣机和烘干机，但是它们太小了，没有单独的洗衣房，所以洗衣机和烘干机就放在衣橱里，以节省空间。

许多公寓楼都有一个单独的区域，里面有几个洗衣机和烘干机，房客们共用这些洗衣机和烘干机来洗衣服。

对于没有洗衣机和烘干机或可能需要使用更大的洗衣机和烘干机的人，他们还有自助洗衣店。他们可以去那里，只需付费就能使用自助洗衣店的洗衣机和烘干机。自助洗衣店里有不同尺寸的机器。其中一些相当大，所以你可以洗一些大的东西，比如毯子、睡袋，或者被子。

人们也会手洗一些衣服，然后把它们挂起来晾干，而不是用烘干机烘干。城市和郊区的人们通常把衣物挂在室内晾干。在许多城市，很难看到衣服被挂在外面晾晒。