This Plug-in Dryer Is Like a Salad Spinner for My Clothes
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your account’s‘Saved for Later’section.
Comment
I live in an apartment three blocks from the closest laundromat. It’s not the in-unitlaundrysetup of my dreams, but it gets the job done: I drop off, I pick up, I pay the kind clerk between $20 and $45, and I’m on my way. In New York, laundromats are considered essential businesses allowed to operate during the stay-at-home order. But I’ve also noticed more and more voluntarily closing to protect their employees from the virus. I’m comfortablewashingmy clothes in the tub, but have neither the indoor laundry space nor theMamma Mia!line-drying setup to let my clothes dry for hours on end. I needed a solution.
And my husband, apparently, needed an internet rabbit hole to fall down. After a few hours reading online reviews and watching YouTube videos for portable spin-dryers, he landed on the Panda. The “ultrafast portable spin-dryer” is the size of agarbage can, comes in white or stainless steel, fits one load of wet laundry, and plugs right into the wall. It’s essentially a giantsalad spinner: It whirls your clothes around for five minutes and barfs the water out through a spigot. Ever dry your Speedo in one of those small dryers at the gym? That’s a Panda. At $150, it was expensive, but cheaper than a few months of wash-and-fold.
When my Panda arrived, I went on a cleaning spree.
New! You can now save this product for later.
I filled my tub with water, a little bit ofOxiClean, and an even littler bit ofdetergent, let my clothes soak and whoosh around for 20 minutes (I used the end of aSwiffer Sweeperas my stirrer, like a witch at her cauldron), then emptied the tub and refilled it with cold water to rinse off remaining soapy residue. I drained the tub again, put the Panda into the tub, plugged it in by the sink, filled it with clothes, and turned it on. The appliance, whirling and spitting the clothes’ excess water (if you don’t want to put this in the shower, you can just put a bucket underneath the spigot), managed to get thin items (T-shirts, shorts,leggings) very dry and thicker ones (towels, denim, sweatshirts) pretty dry. And watching it work was like a magic show … for extremely bored people … trapped in their homes during a pandemic.
I was possessed. I took down the shower curtains and washed those. I cleaned the duvet covers. I cleaned every pair ofsweatpants and leggingsI own, which I have been pairing withbutton-down shirtsand earrings for Zoom meetings (in the beginning, I wore pants with zippers — no more). Now, I can’t wait for the workweek to end so I can spend whole days stress-cleaning with my cute little dryer friend. My Panda. MyWilson.
Other at-home laundry tools
New! You can now save this product for later.
If you do have room for a drying rack, Marilee Nelson, a nontoxic consultant and co-founder ofBranch Basics, recommends a drying rack, like this one, which she suggests should be placed in a room with an exhaust vent, “like thebathroomor laundry room, to speed up the drying process.”
New! You can now save this product for later.
Our managing editor Maxine Builder uses thishanging drying rackto maximize her air-drying area. “Designed and manufactured by Dutch home-goods company Brabantia, the clever little thing hooks onto an open door and stays there, letting me hang all the laundry I need without taking up an inch of precious floor space,” she writes.
The Strategistis designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the bestacne treatments,rolling luggage,pillows for side sleepers,natural anxiety remedies, andbath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
