If you’ve ever lived in a college dorm or an apartment on a budget, you’re probably well aware of how much of a fuss dealing with laundry can be. If it’s not collecting change for the machines, it’s walking back and forth or fighting with cut-throat grad students over the two working machines on the other stide of the complex.
A few months ago, I was finally relieved of this problem, for a new Haier XQBM22-C was delivered to my door by the friendly (and relieved that I was home) UPS guy.
I didn’t know at first that it was going to solve my problem. In fact, some of the reviews on Amazon.com let me to believe that it would only be good enough for some of my clothing and very light duty washing, but thankfully they were wrong.
I’ve washed everything from t-shirts to queen size blankets in that little machine (though I’ll admit that the latter was a tight fit) and have been pretty pleased with the results. I obviously need some way to dry everything, so for most purposes the Polder 8310-05 Chrome Clothes Rack works great.
When I run out of space on that rack, I’ve found that hanging up the clothes on hangers well spaced in the closet works great. The pole in the closet is also great for hanging blankets and towels.
Obviously, there are few downsides to doing my laundry this way, but I’m definitely willing to live with them:
- I have to wait a good while before the washed clothing dry. This isn’t really a problem because I rarely need my clothes immediately and if there is a case where there is a real sense of urgency (one hasn’t presented itself yet) then I can always fallback on the dryers in the laundromat down the street.
- Dried clothes tend to be stiffer. I’ve found that while clothing doesn’t tend to be any more wrinkled than coming out of a dryer, it is a little bit stiffer. Most of the time, wearing the clothes for a short period of time or otherwise moving the fabric around tends to get rid of the “stiff” feel.
- Drying tends to consume a fair amount of space. I’ve got a walk-in closet with plenty of room, so it’s usually not an issue.
- The small tub requires more small loads to complete a wash. Before I had the mini-washing machine, I would tend to let clothing pile up and then do it all at once. I still do that sometimes, but when I do, I have to split the loads into smaller bits. As a result, it tends to take more time overall to wash, but since I’m usually at home it’s less work than going outside to the laundromat and shuffling things around.
- Lack of care with the drainage tube can be catastrophic. If you’re not careful with the drainage tube, it can come off the side of the sink and make a royal mess. The same applies for adding too much soap.
Even with all of that, I find that I spend less time overall worrying about laundry and more of my time doing other things so it’s worth it to me.
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