a hurricane of yuck

Ever since painted_wolf  stopped working at the laundromat, we've had to pay to do our own laundry at the laundromat, so we're paying about $20 per week or so on laundry. While using a laundromat is more green than owning one's own machines at home (think communal resources, et cetera), we also need to be more frugal. This afternoon painted_wolf  found a great blog with ideas for going green, including some interesting laundry tools. The prices on this stuff are so inexpensive that we figure wemight as well go for it. If we are wrong and it doesn't work out, we're not out much money. If it does work out, and it seems like it will, we could save ourselves about $87 per month for a $200 investment that pays itself off in a little over two months. On top of getting rid of our storage unit full of stuff we either can store at home or get rid of (bye bye National Geographics!) we could be saving ourselves almost $150 per month b doing laundry low-tech-ish and not storing useless clutter, plus we'll be reducing our carbon footprint even more.

So, questions for everyone on LiveJournal and Facebook: does anyone have any experience with the following products or something similar?

Mobile Washer ("The Breather")
http://www.breathingwasher.com/index.htm

This is essentially a laundry plunger that agitates laundry to get it cleaner than just handwashing alone. We are in a very small cabin and plan to attempt tiny living for life, so this is much more space-saving than buying a hand-crank washing machine or washing tub with all the fixings, because we can just use our bathtub. We plan to get two of these so we can each go at it and get more laundry done at once in a bigger tub. It's $20 and based on a 19th century product design. It's made of plastic and wood, so we are somewhat concerned about the potential for breaking.


Rapid Washer
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing___Rapid_Washer___66RW?Args=

Basically a similar product as the Mobile Washer available at Lehman's, only made of tin-plated steel and wood. While it's $2 less expensive than the Mobile Washer, it is made of tin/steel that will rust, so we have the potential for not only ripping clothes (much as if the plastic one broke) but also staining our clothes with rust. I'm in favor of paying $2 more for the plastic to reduce hazards to our laundry.


Spin Dryer
http://www.laundry-alternative.com/products/Spin_Dryer.html

Okay, so this uses electricity and we are getting a little less green for some convenience trade off, but this will spin the water out of our clothes before we hang them to dry. It will increase our electric bill a little, but for all of the electricity and gas we're not using by not going to the laundromat it will still be a significant reduction in our carbon footprint and afford us a little modern convenience in a very portable and compact form that is compatible with tiny living.

Frost Drying Rack
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50095091

Or one like this. IKEA doesn't sell this through their website (only in stores) so we would likely find something similar made of metal, which is key. We both have experience using the wooden drying racks and know that they warp and potentially stain clothing, so we would much rather again trade some carbon impact for a more durable, less staining metal rack instead of a wooden rack made of a renewable resource.

As far as time spent doing laundry, I think we'll still make out better through this method because before we had to pack everything up and spend three to four hours doing laundry away from home. With this method, our clean laundry isn't as immediately available, but we can do our laundry at home, reduce our use of energy, get some exercise, and save a considerable amount of money.