Life and Laundry: Surviving the Spin Cycle

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A functioning machine is key when washing your laundry, so scoping out the best ones will be beneficial in the long run.

Before you commit to one or the other, take some time to evaluate the condition of those available. For dryers, check for any funky smells or substances inside. Also check for any defects or broken parts on the interior that may snag your laundry as it tumbles.

When looking for a washer, watch out for the universal sign of a defective machine. If your storage also facilitates separation, or transforms into a portable something-or-other, then it will be even more helpful. That way you can rinse and apply stain fighters, and then allow to soak until laundry day. Because you let your extra-dirty clothing soak, it will come clean easier, and it will look and smell better once finished.

We will all encounter situations where we need to wash one or more items in between laundry days. With certain supplies on hand, this will be easy to manage, so you can avoid an emergency trip across town, and still make that hot date or work meeting.

A single shirt is pretty easy to wash by hand in your sink, but having a line set up in your bathtub or shower will make it a whole lot easier to get them dry. Using a blow dryer can speed up drying times, and there are detergents specific to hand washing to prevent you from making a mess by using the stuff you put in a machine. Separating laundry is important, but doing it at the laundromat can be a real pain.

You should have at least two categories when dividing your clothes, but those working with a large amount may want more than just whites and colors. You may want to do a jean load, or a sheet load, and you may want to wash delicates separate from others, or keep baby clothes away from your work clothes. If you make separate piles before you head out the door, you can have each load set up and ready to go, right when you get there. Nobody wants to spend the whole day washing clothes, so efficiency can be key to a good experience. When you use your time wisely, you can cut the time it takes without compromising cleanliness.

If you try to go late at night, or early in the morning, you should be able to use more than one machine without forcing someone else to wait. By staging your dirty clothes ahead of time, you can prep each load before you leave home.

3. Transportation Is Key

When you get to your laundry location, you can get right to work instead of setting things up after you arrive. Different locations may not offer pickup or delivery, but even when you drop it off and pick it up yourself, it can be much easier than doing all the work alone.

You can get a compact and portable washing machine and dryer, and stay home on laundry day, or wash individual loads while you hang around the house. You can get water from your kitchen sink, and you can plug them into any regular outlet. With a wide range of choices available, you can find ones that use no electricity at all, ones that offer basic automatic function, and ones that are computer controlled and require absolutely no baby sitting or effort.

WonderWash A hand-crank washer that uses no electricity. Although it has a crank at the side, the pressurized container is what actually does the cleaning. Simply add in clothing along with water and detergent, then secure the lid tightly. After a couple spins your clothes will be clean, and the dirty water will drain out into the sink. MiniWash Plus This is a fully automatic washer with computer controls and a rinse cycle.

It holds more clothing than the WonderWash above, and it also offers hands-off operation. Simply hook it up to your kitchen sink faucet, then direct the drain hose into the sink. Once you load with laundry, simply add detergent, turn on the water, and then push a button to turn it on. Water will pull from the faucet when needed, and dirty water will drain into the sink automatically.

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It has an agitator at the center, so clothing mixes back and forth and spins around just like in larger machines. Whether you continue to make the trek to facilities downstairs or across the street, hire a service to do it for you, or if you decide to get a counter top unit to avoid leaving home altogether, you can easily manage life without these appliances in your apartment, condo or dorm.

If you have your own tips for efficiency, or if you have an idea not mentioned above, please share in the comments section below. Leave this field empty. Your first piece of advice about setting a schedule is probably the most valuable.

Organisation is always the key to making a difficult situation easier. Long ago, I had to change my idea that doing laundry meant doing all of it at once.

'Miracle' kitten survives 30 minute spin in washing machine as owner panicked

It is much more efficient to only do your whites when you have a full load and to do your color loads as often as necessary. Thanks for the comment Daelin. We would all be better off to realize that laundry is never actually done. Thanks for the great tips for going out to wash the laundry. Hopefully your new storage spot will help you remember to bring it with you. The barrister said it wasn't until after the machine had finished its cycle that she noticed the "little monkey" was nowhere to be seen.

I started searching all the rooms in our house but I couldn't find her.

But when I started to sort through the clothes which should have been very light, I noticed I had something very heavy in my hand. She meowed and my first reaction was to scream as I thought she was dead. I felt sick and terrified. In a blind panic, Ruth rushed the cat to Taverham Vets who told her she was hypothermic and wouldn't make it through the night. But the next morning, we were told she was fine. Nurse Hayley Hyam, who treated Kitty at Taverham Vets, said it's unheard of for a cat to survive a washing machine cycle. Unfortunately because of the temperature and the detergent they pass away either through getting really hot or really cold.

Also the toxicity of detergent usually burns the skin. A pet owner spoke of how her 'miracle kitten' survived a 30 minute spin in a washing machine Image: Google Get daily news updates directly to your inbox Subscribe See our privacy notice More newsletters. Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice. Subscribe to our Daily news newsletter Enter email Subscribe. More On Cats Washing machines. News all Most Read Most Recent Climbing Ben Nevis climber, 21, dies after falling 1,ft from UK's highest mountain The man was with a fellow climber from Cardiff University Mountaineering Club, who miraculously survived the same plunge with just a couple of broken bones.

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