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Laundry woes

Maya

Veteran

Ok, apparently I have been very spoiled and sheltered as far as laundry goes all these years.

At home, the world was my oyster. I had a hand wash, delicates, heavy duty, jeans, and sanitary setting along with a variety of temperatures and durations to choose from.

Now I have exactly 3 options: Hot, warm, and cold.

I can't afford to dry clean (and dry cleaning bras would be ridiculous), so I'm just going to have to do a lot of hand washing now.

I ended up buying this:

http://www.laundry-alternative.....rwash.html

which I really hope works. If it doesn't, I'm not sure what I will do. My sink is nowhere near big enough for me to wash things in, and there is no way I am washing clothes in my bath tub.

Any other tips on making apartment laundry easier? Particularly regarding drying. The same company offers a salad-spinner like drying device, but it's quite pricey and I'm not sure I'd have room for it.

General

17 replies

Latest reply was from nicoleb

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

In my apartment, I bought a baby tub from a garage sale ... you know, the ones people use to wash babies in. It's bright blue and has a yellow baby seat. I use it to wash my bras. Once they've been hand washed, they get to sit in the yellow seat until I'm done with the other ones.

So far it's bigger than my sink, and smaller than my tub (and better on my back!)

Diana

Veteran

Maya, I totally sympathize w/ you about apartment laundry being so frustrating! (In addition to having no options regarding cycle length, etc, and being expensive, I also have to lug mine up and down 4 flights of stairs. Good workout though).

I'm really curious to hear how that laundry contraption you bought works out! What I do is mostly wash things in the machine on a cold cycle in lingerie bags if necessary, then I take stuff that can't be dried out and air dry them. If I only have a couple of things to air dry, I put them on hangers and hang them from my shower curtain rod; w/ the bathroom window open it usually only takes overnight to dry. For knits and such that shouldn't be hung, I lay them out flat on a towel on the floor.

For larger quantities, I have a couple of drying racks like these that fold up when not in use: http://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-.....038;sr=8-4

I do wash things on occasion in my teeny tiny bathroom sink including all of my big handknit sweaters, but can only do 1 at a time. There is not really room to wring and agitate, but I figure for things I am washing in the sink, it's not good to agitate them too much anyway. What I do is soak for a while w/soap and cold water in the sink, then I rinse them out under the faucet in the bathtub (this is far more fast and efficient than rinsing in the little tiny sink). You can roll up the wet clothes in a dry towel and squeeze (or even stand on it) to get the excess water out, then it dries pretty fast on the drying rack.

rosee

Veteran

I like lyn*'s idea of a baby bathtub. I use the large rubbermaid bins (not overly large though) to handwash. I use woolite/zero (same product now as one company bought the other out) or a gentle shampoo (without too many conditioning ingredients).
To dry: if you have an IKEA or other home store, try getting a portable drying rack for flat or hang drying indoors (I usually leave it in the bathtub when not using the shower). Another good thing to have is old towels: you place the just-washed item in the towel and roll it up and then press (or step on it) to help extract the extra water, then hang or lay flat (on another old towel) to dry.

I don't like the gimmicky contraptions b/c I don't trust them.

Another trick: wash your bras, delicates and sweaters in the regular washing machine by placing them in a mesh bag or pillow case then tying it shut. The delicates don't get mashed up by the machine b/c they are protected by the case.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I second the mesh bag trick. I also stuff my nylons in one bag, my bras in others, and let them go into the laundry when I am very lazy.

I think I got the bags at the dollar store. $1 for 2!

Steph

Veteran

Wow..."a hand wash, delicates, heavy duty, jeans, and sanitary setting along with a variety of temperatures and durations to choose from." Am I out of touch that I had no idea a washer existed with so many settings? I have a pretty nice stackable, and all I have are regular, permanent press, and delicates.

Sorry that I don't have any good suggestions on what to do without a delicate cycle...other than to take your clothes to your parents' when they need to be washed!

Maya

Veteran

I have a drying rack but I just wasn't sure how to extract such a large volume of water first without being hard on my delicate items. Wringing them out seems like a bit much, and drip-drying sounds like it would take ages. I'll try the rolling thing. Must buy more towels...

Steph, as I said, I have apparently been very spoiled. What's funny is that I'm the only one who would ever use those settings. My parents (as in the people who paid for this fancypants machine) didn't have any use for them. I wish I could trade! They'd be perfectly happy with having hot/warm/cold as their only options. I can't really travel out here every week just to do laundry, although it IS tempting..

There's a video review of the Wonder Wash on the website and it seems to be pretty effective and only takes maybe 15 minutes from start to finish. If it works it will be life changing...

Washing in a pillowcase is a great idea. I will try that on some of my only moderately delicate items first. To make matters worse, the machines are top-loading, so besides being inefficient they are also more agitate-y. Sigh.

rosee

Veteran

...don't buy towels... ask mom and dad for old ones (they're laundry towels after all).

Pillow case /mesh bag will work fine in top-loaders... that's how this whole method started.

Elly

Veteran

Maya-- I feel you. We have the fancy washing machine here and it turns out both of the ones we have gone through in the last 10 years or so were evil--- I haven't been able to dry anything but socks and the big t-shirts I sleep in in years because the dryer either blows HOT or it takes 10 cycles on air dry and that is such a waste and hassle and the washer eats clothes. I was so much happier with my super-basic model. Of course, mine wasn't industrial, but I find a lot of the cheaper ones aren't rough enough to destroy anything. In the summer I dry clothes on a drip line, indoors or out. I NEVER leave extra water in delicates though and do press and wring gently because the extra water weight stretches everything but wovens out. I have a drying rack similar to the ones the ladies posted and also a rolling hanging rack that I can hang clothes on in front of the woodstove in the winter, which doesn't apply enough heat to damage but helps with drying time.

The only time I have ever seen one of those contraptions before was when it was a request from an military friend of mine when he was overseas in Afghanistan--- they didn't have laundry. I guess it worked great for him.

Personally, I like to hand wash in the tub, if you keep a nice clean tub (once I lived with a man that was a tradesman and the tub got a nice dose of construction and oil grime each day). Except, I cheat---- I like to sit on the edge of the tub or get in and wash because the kneeling and bending over kills me. But then again, my doggies take "showers" with me too. We have a glass shower enclosure to lock 'em in, and it keeps them from shaking all over the bathroom.

taylor

Veteran

Ah yes, the joys of living at home:)

when my son first moved out 10 yrs. ago...I told him "be sure and save quarters for the laundromat" He was totally baffled "You mean they make PAY to use a washer and dryer" I still remind him of that

Sounds like mom has a super machine...one that will be missed:(

elpgal

Veteran

I used to hear about the Wonder Wash a lot on the natural living type forums and the consensus was that they work well. I'd be curious to hear your experience with it.

Kate

Veteran

Maya, I just bought this: http://www.breathingwasher.com/ because I'm tired of making trips to the coin wash, especially since I can line dry my clothes so easily at home! I'm hoping that it will work as well as the videos on the website say it will, and will definitely post a review once I get a chance to use it.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Thanks for the link to the wonder wash Maya. It looks good, although it does not wring clothes which is tough for denim. This looks good for lingerie and knits though.

My suggestion to you is this: try airing your clothes out first before washing. I hang mine near an open window. I will also spray it with my diluted solution of Chanel No. 5. My clothes are fresh and most importantly, I am preserving the fabric as washing is very hard on garments. This is true for delicates such as silks and knits as well as denim. I would rather treat a spot with Zout or plain water, then air it out, rather than degrading the fabric through repeated washing.

Stephanie

Veteran

How often do you plan to visit your parents? Is it practical to just buy more of certain items (like lingerie and socks) so that you can just do laundry less frequently? When I lived in the UK one of my best friends went to M&S and bought 30 pairs of white cotton panties. I thought it was quirky at the time, but I came--my rather dear tastes in lingerie notwithstanding--to see the wisdom in her choice.

Gaylene

Veteran

Sales assistant at my bra store recommended this product when I bought my new bras. http://www.soakwash.com/

While getting ready for bed, I just fit the bathroom sink with cool water, squeeze a couple of drops of Soak from the bottle, toss in my undergarments, and leave everything to sit for 15 minutes or so. No rinsing is required, so when I get back, all I do is plop the garments onto a hand towel, press (not wring!) out the most of the moisture, and hang to dry overnight. Just takes a couple of minutes every night and I never have to worry about putting delicates in the washer/dryer. LOVE the stuff!

Works great for traveling as well. And, no, I don't own shares in the company, but think I ought to considering the number of people I have turned on to this product.

Patty

Veteran

You might be surprised how versatile a regular hot, warm, cold washer can be. I modify the cycles on my machine all the time---play with water temps, start on one setting (regular) end on delicate for spin and vise versa. It might take some washing machine baby sitting to know your cycles but you may find it more helpful and less wrist wrenching in the long run.---That is provided it's not a pay per wash machine.
And to help drying indoors on a clothes horse-- run a small fan nearby.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Maya, I hope your contraption works for you. I have a tiny stackable top-loader set and for my delicates I do them in cold on the delicate setting. For super delicate items I put them in a mesh bag first. Then I just hang them on the shower rod or anywhere else I can find to let them dry.

When my sister lived in Europe they had only a very small washer and no dryer, but there was a retractable clothes line that when over their tub, and they used that to dry.

For delicate sweaters I handwash them in the sink (a baby tub or the like would probably work for you) and roll them in a towel. if you put your knees on the roll for a bit and then let them dry between two dry towels (one on top to avoid the cat sitting on it...lol) it only takes about 24 hours to dry completely.

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

I use Dryel for dry clean only clothes. And i also use the mesh bag trick for bras and delicates. Hash wash stuff i do in the sink.

Let us know how that little contraption works out for you. I remember when i lived in an apartment it was practically a war to get any laundry done. People would literally move my stuff out of the machines if i wasn't standing there when the buzzer went off.
-_-