Fran, the washing machine, washes out stains from clothes and exposes the lies of the people who wear them. Fran is a washing machine in a laundry, dry-cleaning and minor repair business in an up-market neighbourhood where many wealthy and politically well-connected people live. She is the favorite of the business owner, Max, who gives her the laundry of his favorite clients. Fran thus gets to wash the bed linen, clothes (eg trousers, dresses, underwear, shirts, handkerchiefs) etc of some very wealthy, famous and important people. While being washed, the linen and clothes tell Fran about their “lives” with their owners — that is, the lies and secret activities of their owners. In other words, the items being washed gossip. Max is unmarried, lonely and not particularly bright. He has worked in the laundromat since he was in his mid-teens and only owns the laundromat because his childless aunt left it to him when she died. Max often leans on Fran and talks to her when he feels the need to communicate. And, he mostly talks about his clients — saying what lovely people they are (mainly because they are nice to him) and how exciting and good their lives must be. What Max does not know is that Fran has, over the years, learnt to understand what he is saying. However, she has no obvious mechanism (eg mouth, speakers) to reply to his conversation. She wants to tell him all the gossip that she has heard from the panties, trousers, sheets etc – but cannot! She is consequently very frustrated. Thus, each story starts with a scene of someone bringing in laundry, having a conversation with Max and lying. When Fran is washing, Max leans on her saying what nice people his customers are what he thinks about their lives based on what the clients have just told him. Later, as Fran starts washing, and talking to the items being washed, the truth — and generally negative side of human (customer) nature — emerges. Finally, the customer returns to the laundromat to collect their clean items, and the truth is revealed in a more human form to the reader — although Max is rarely smart enough to understand and recognize it.
This site — ie Fran Wash Gossip “Com” — aims to expose the professional activities, lies and secrets of public figures. The sister site — ie Fran Wash Gossip “Club” — focusses on the “private” lives of people from all walks of life.