The Laundry Alternative Nina Soft Spin Dryer

I don't write a lot of reviews, but this dryer has so impressed me that I felt the need to share. I live in NYC and like most people don't have a washer and dryer in my unit. For years I schlepped my laundry a few blocks to a wash and fold place, which was expensive, but they did a much better job of folding than I ever did, so it seemed like an OK deal. A couple of years back my local wash and fold place closed and luckily right around the same time the building put in a small laundromat in the basement. This has been cheaper than the wash and fold places, but the machines aren't as well taken care of and usually have lots of hair in them...and I still end up spending $10 a week or so.So I've started doing a lot more laundry by hand in the sink. After a bit of doing that I thought there has to be a better way to do laundry by hand. I was originally thinking I'd go all hipster and get a laundry board...but then I came across the rapid washer (the plunger like thing) and the Nina Soft Dryer that had pretty good reviews and decided to go ahead and get them. bought and received the rapid washer first, and it works well and makes rinsing especially much easier and thorough, but ringing out by hand and hanging in the shower to dry was still a lot of work and slow. So I got the dryer.I had read the reviews of the dryer talking about how almost dry clothes came out. I figured that I've had front loading washers before that do a rapid spin at the end to dry the clothes a bit before you throw them in the dryer, so I figured I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Clothes come out much dryer than they do from any high end front loader washer. When it first arrived I thought I'd test it out with the dirty clothes I had on hand. A couple of pairs of shorts, maybe 3 or 4 button down short sleeve shirts, a few pair of underwear, and I think a dress or two. Washed everything in cold water, rinsed, and threw into the dryer without any ringing out at all). Ran the dryer for exactly 3 minutes. I wasn't really expecting that much to be honest, since it didn't seem like all that much water came out of the machine (I set up the dryer in my shower, so no need for a basin to catch the water). But I pulled out the clothes and not only were they not dripping at all, they were almost dry enough to wear, shirts were dry enough to just hang directly in my closet. Other clothes needed to hang out for a bit to complete drying, but if I put them in front of a fan they would probably be finished in another 15-20 minutes.I've now had the machine for about two weeks, and it has already changed how I think about laundry. Before I would wait until essentially everything I owned was dirty, and then bunch it all together and take to the laundromat and spend most of the day doing laundry. Even back in the days when I had a washer and dryer in the house it was pretty much the same. But the Nina Soft means I do laundry in much smaller batches, either as it gets dirty, or when I want to wear something specific. The other day I unexpectedly had some free time during the day and wanted to try and make it to the gym, but my gym clothes were pretty smelly. Not a problem, give them a quick wash and rinse and throw in the Nina. Less than 5 minutes later I was wearing clean shorts and a shirt that were only the slightest bit damp. If I owned a washer and dryer I never would have wanted to do that small of a load, and even if I did, it would have still taken 45 minutes or so.* A small caveat to my enthusiasm. So far I've only washed and dried fairly lightweight summer clothes. I haven't had a chance to test heavier winter clothes, or things like jeans. I have a feeling I'll probably still end up taking those to the laundromat downstairs, but we'll see once the weather turns cooler.Update July 2015: I've now had the Nina Soft for about a year, and like it just as much as I did when I first got it. I've been through a winter, and as expected I didn't use it as much for heavier clothes like jeans. But that's not really the dryers fault. It's just that hand washing certain things like jeans doesn't seem to get them as clean. Running them through the Nina Soft works just fine, although you can't put very much else in there or else the dryer gets off balance. They come out pretty dry, definitely no dripping, but they are still wet enough that it will take a couple of hours hanging for them to completely dry.So I've pretty much fallen into a routine where things like jeans, towels, underwear and socks get done in the regular washing machine. Everything else gets done by hand and then put in the Nina.One tip: It's pretty easy for the Nina to get off balance. They say to put the heaviest things in at the bottom, but I haven't found that to make much difference. I tend to throw things in there randomly, but then after it's full reach in and toss them like a salad a bit until they are more evenly mixed. Then, when I'm closing the lid I push down on the Nina firmly to make sure there's no wobble as it starts spinning. I keep holding down firmly until it gets up to close to full speed. That's reduced my off balance issues a fair amount.

I live in an apartment building with a communal laundry room. Over the years I have grown increasingly disgusted with this arrangement as people seem to be washing some very gross things and the machines are filthy. It is my concern that laundromats are not much better. I also have a great fear of getting bedbugs and what better place to get them then in a communal laundry. So I decided to research all my alternatives for doing my own laundry in my apartment. There is not enough room in my place for full appliances and I am not sure the manager even allows that. So I tried doing laundry simply by hand entirely. It was a ton of work and the worst part was dealing with the soaking wet clothes. No matter how much I hand wrung them they still were dripping all over the place and they were heavy and took forever to dry. So, I looked at all kinds of drying options. After reading all the reviews and studying up a bit on the Nina Soft Spin Dryer I took the plunge and bought it. It is the best purchase I have made in a long time. I thought the reviews were too good to be true but I must say that is not the case. I am very surprised at how well this dryer works. It has made doing hand laundry a breeze. I use an old fashioned laundry plunger. I have seen it called "the Mobilewasher" here on Amazon though I have seen it called other things on other sites. With two buckets, the Mobilewasher and the Nina Soft Dryer I am able to wash my clothes as needed for the week in a very efficient, effective and relatively fast manner. When washing clothes by hand I used to step on the clothes in the bucket (like stomping on grapes in a barrel) but found that the mobilewasher is the better and easier option. It actually takes less work. because it suctions the clothes back up after plunging them down. You can't do this with your bare feet. Anyway I digress. With this combination i can get outfits ready the night before i need them. I say the night before because the clothes will need some time to dry longer after being taken out of the Nina Soft. But they come out fairly dry and don't take long to dry. Things like towels take longer to dry than a pair of underwear. I live alone and have no children. I am a single adult and do laundry for myself only and this has been a wonderful solution. I would probably use it even if I had free and CLEAN access to the traditional washing and drying machines because it is fast! The only thing I can say is I believe I still need to go to the communal laundry to clean heavy comforters or blankets. i have not tried these things in the Nina soft but if I ever do I will come back here and update. I have washed towels, underwear, jean shorts, blouses etc and I am satisfied with the condition of all of them coming out of the Nina soft. I think my clothes are cleaner and less damaged while using this system. Definitely does not age your clothes like heat from a traditional dryer will do. I recommend it highly.Update:It is Now November 17th and I have been using this dryer for about a month and a half. The novelty has worn off but the practicality has not. I still highly recommend this dryer. I wanted to make a couple of recommendations. One is I have noticed that some people in their reviews state that they dump the water directly into their bathtub or shower after washing their clothes in buckets or what have you. I try to avoid this as there is some lint that collects in the water as you wash and I worry that I will clog the drains so I pour the water into the toilet. I am considering getting a screen for the shower floor. Also I saw some complaints about having to rearrange the clothes in order to get the dryer to spin correctly. I found this sort of frustrating at first too but over time you learn how to balance it as you put the clothes in. Always put the heavy clothes at the bottom and the lighter weight clothes at the top of each load. Sometimes if I have a very heavy pair of jeans that I didn't wring out much I will just dry them alone. This goes relatively fast.The dryer doesn't get your clothes completely dry in most cases. I have had a few polyester, thin shirts that came out almost completely dry but most clothes are damp coming out of the dryer. I am okay with this. I just hang them up to dry and usually all clothes are completely dry over night. I bought this dryer after doing clothes entirely by hand and I think it is wonderful! No more dripping wet clothes hanging around. It serves my purposes well. Oh and I must mention that there are a few things I can't dry in this dryer. Comforters and I have a heavy winter jacket that I wouldn't dry in this dryer because it is too big. Other than that everything else works out fine.