WonderWash Video

I thought everyone would like to see how the WonderWash works for themselves. I put together a short video to help answer any questions you might have about the WonderWash.

WonderWash in Action

I started using my new WonderWash from the Laundry Alternative today. So far I think it works great. I was able to do much larger loads than my WonderWasher. This one uses a handle to turn a drum with the clothes inside. It only took 2 minutes and the clothes were clean. Here it is loaded and ready to go…

The whole unit is very easy to turn. I have it placed on the floor because, but if you have room next to a sink that would be even better. Here it is “spinning”…

To empty the dirty water there is a valve on the bottom. All you do is attach a tube to it and let it drain…

To rinse the soap out I just filled it back up with cold water and tuned it for about 30 seconds. This removed the soap very easily. As far as capacity it is pretty good. I was able to do 2 pairs of jeans in one load. A lot more lighter weight stuff can fit easily. In one load I did 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts.

So far the WonderWash meets or exceeds my expectations.

WonderWash

My new “WonderWash” arrived the other day. As you can see by the picture below, it does require some assembly. It is pretty straight forward which is good because it really comes with poor directions.

Here it is fully assembled…

At first glance, it looks to be just a little larger than my old Wonder Washer. This one say that it can handle between two or three pairs of jeans. I think that might be pushing it. I am going to hopefully give it a try tonight. I will let you know how it turns out.

Wonder Wash?

Since my Wonder Washer broke last week I have not be able to do any laundry. I have been searching high and low to find a replacement. How about this one?

It is called the Wonder Wash from the Laundry Alternitive Inc. Kind of funny how my old machine was called the Wonder Washer and this one is the Wonder Wash. The one thing I don’t like about it is that it is not powered. I will need to turn the handle myself. I guess that is not a bad thing. For only $42.95 I think it is worth a shot. Has anyone used one of these before? If I don’t hear any bad things about it today, I think I am going to go ahead and order it. I will let you know what I find out.

My Wonder Washer is Dead!

I have some really bad news. After seven months of intense use my Wonder Washer has died. The motor will no longer activate. The time works fine but the clothes won’t spin. I took it apart and it looks like there is nothing I can do short of replacing the motor. So now comes the big question. Should I order a new Wonder Washer or try to find something else to replace it. Any ideas? I would like something a little larger. I should order the replacement machine on Monday so I don’t get too behind on my laundry.

Steam Buddy Second Try

So I have had a lot more time to try out my Steam Buddy. I think I have gotten better at using it. This time I hung a shirt up on a hanger against the wall. This allowed me to “press” on the shirt a little more. It definitely got more wrinkles out of it. Once again I think the Steam Buddy would help remove wrinkles from light weight fabrics that could easily be burned by a regular iron. One huge plus the Steam Buddy has is the short warm up time. After filling up the water supply and plugging it in, it is ready to go in just a few minutes. The Steam Buddy is also great for traveling. You don’t use an ironing board with the Steam Buddy. Just hang the clothes on a hangar and steam the wrinkles out. If anyone has specific questions about my experience with the Steam Buddy feel free to email me at solitaryrefinement@gmail.com. Here is the shirt before and after using the Steam Buddy.

NOTE: I have stopped using the Steam Buddy and have gone back to a regular iron. I was not getting the results I was looking for. 1/28/09

First Review of the Steam Buddy

I used my new Steam Buddy for the first time today. My first impression is that it works fairly well. I think it is one of the gadgets that needs a little practice to master. I first tried a pair of pants. The pants were considerably wrinkled. A couple quick passes over them and the majority of wrinkles were gone. Not all the wrinkles were gone. I think with a little practice it will work really well. I did have some trouble with a heavy cotton shirt. The Steam Buddy uses the steam to “relax” the fabric and let the wrinkles fall out. The heavy shirt would just not relax. Maybe I am using it wrong. I think it would work really well on lighter fabrics. I still have not tried the creaser attachment, as soon as I do I will let you know how it worked. I will also post more about it when I have had time to try it out more. Here is a before and after of the pants.

Before…

After…

NOTE: I have stopped using the Steam Buddy and have gone back to a regular iron. I was not getting the results I was looking for. 1/28/09

Steam Buddy

The Steam Buddy has just arrived! Mr. and Mrs. T bought a Steam Buddy for my birthday. I can’t wait to give it a try. It is another product from the “as Seen on TV” people. I only had the time to take it out of the box. I hope it works! I should have a review up in a couple days.

NOTE: I have stopped using the Steam Buddy and have gone back to a regular iron. I was not getting the results I was looking for. 1/28/09

Wonder Washer and Spin Dryer Videos

I never expected so much interest in my Wonder Washer and Spin Dryer! After attempting to answer over 50 email with various questions I knew I needed to revisit these awesome machines. So below you will find two new videos and a FAQ. Feel free to email me with any questions you might have (solitaryrefinement@gmail.com). I hope this helps!

Q. How many jeans can you wash in the washer?

A. I found that one pair at a time is the best. Any more and the machine starts to bog down.

Q. Can you wash sheets in the washer?

A. Yes, but my sheets will not fit in my spin dryer.

Q. Can you wash large items like comforters?

A. No, too big.

Q. Is there a rinse cycle? Or how do you remove the soap from the clothes?

A. There is no rinse cycle. You have two options. Rinse the clothes out in the sink or empty the dirty water from the washer and add clean cool-cold water and repeat the wash cycle.

Q. Can you use fabric softener?

A. I am working on this. Does anyone know what cycle in a regular washing machine the fabric softener is introduced?

Q. How long does the washer take?

A. It has a 15 minute timer. I let the machine work for the full 15 minutes to make sure my clothes are really clean.

Q. Is this a replacement for going to the laundromat?

A. No, I still need to go for larger items. It dramatically cuts down on my trips though.

Q. Does the spin dryer use heat?

A. No, it just spins the clothes very fast to remove water through the drain hose.

Q. How dry do the clothes come out of the dryer?

A. Surprisingly dry. It all depends on how heavy the clothes are. I find after hanging them up for a couple hours they are fully dry.

Q. How much can you put in the dryer?

A. Not too much. I have the small machine, and find about one shirt at a time is about right. Or one pair of jeans.

Q. How long does it take for the dryer to remove the water.

A. 1-2 minutes is good for me. The timer goes up to 5 minutes.

Q. Can I buy you a beer?

A. Sure! Send me an email!

Hope this helps! Enjoy the videos! (No making fun of me)

Review of the Wonder Washer and Spin Dryer

I have received some emails regarding my Wonder Washer and the Spin Dry. First, let me give you a run through on how I came upon these machines and why I decided to give them a try. I live in a small studio apartment that does not have washer/dryer connections. I had to go to the Laundromat about once a week to do my laundry. There is nothing wrong with the Laundromat; it’s just a big chore and a huge waste of time. I started my search for an alternative method to do my laundry. Some people recommended just doing my laundry by hand and hanging it out to dry. There must be a better method than that I thought to myself. I first stumbled upon the Wonder Washer on Amazon.com. It had mixed reviews but was cheap enough to give it a try. Since this machine does not have a spin cycle the clothes come out soaking wet. That’s when I found a website called The Laundry Alternative. They had a number of spin dryers that remove excess water from clothing. These machine do not produce any heat, they just spin the clothes very fast. Since I never used one of these before I purchased the smallest one to try. I also got a drying rack to hang the clothes on.

Operation of the Wonder Washer:

This machine is about as basic as they come. All it does is spin the clothes in the water one direction, stops, and then spins them in the other direction. The first thing I do is put in the laundry detergent. I recommend using a liquid detergent. I use the concentrated kind and only add a ¼ cap in the empty bucket of the machine. I then add 10qt of warm water from a bucket I filled in the sink. Add the clothes and set the timer to 15 minutes, go grab a beer. When the 15 minutes is up I pick the bucket up off the machine and dump out the dirty water in the sink. Some people say you can use the water for a second load, but it looks real dirty. Now comes the part that is the only downside. I hand rinse the clothes in the sink under cold water to remove the detergent from the clothes. It is not that bad. That’s it! Easy! I can do about three pairs of pants in one load, or the equivalent size of other clothes.

Operation of the Spin Dryer:

This machine is awesome! All I do is set the machine on top of my counter and place the drain hose in a bucket lower than the machine. I bought the small machine so it does not hold much. I can do one pair of pants at a time or the equivalent size of other clothes. Just load, set the timer to 5 minutes and it spins them dry. Most of my stuff comes out just barley damp. A couple hours on the drying rack and they are dry.

The drying rack:

This is a great rack! It has plenty of rods to hold the clothes and folds away nicely for easy storage.

Downsides:

There are some downsides. I can not do large items such as my comforter. For items like this I still have to go to the Laundromat (or friends’ house). The hand rinsing is kind of a pain, but a small price to pay for not having to go to the Laundromat. The clothes also come out more wrinkled than from a heat dryer. So I do have to iron more clothes than normal. But there is something about ironing that I find relaxing.

If anyone has any more questions please feel free to email me at solitaryrefinement@gmail.com

Put some good music on, grab a beer and do some laundry!!

Also, for two short videos of the machines in action, check out my previous post here.