Laundry

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

A Home’s Hidden Laundromat

Living in a small apartment typically means living without a washing machine. While far from an end-of-the-world scenario, it can be a pain, especially if you have kids. Dropping off and picking up heavy bags–either to in-building machines or laundromat–being subject to laundromat hours, making sure you have tons of quarters, etc. But wedging a huge appliance into a small space is seldom feasible. Often when people do manage to fit one in, it’s in the kitchen or bathroom and looks a bit out-of-place.

Parisian Architects Studio d’Archi came up with a smart solution, sticking a full-sized, top-loading washing machine in a kitchen island. The washing machine is fully concealed and accessible via a top-hinged butcher-block countertop. The lower panels come off permitting easy maintenance. Amazingly, the apartment it goes into is only 375 sq ft.

In terms of a dryer, Studio d’Archi’s blog links to a fold down rack (not clear if it’s in the same apartment). It’s not quite as clever as the washer, but small, green and does the job. Check here for some of our suggestions.

via Dornob

July 29, 2013August 3, 2013

3 Ways to Dry Clothes that Don’t Blow

Drying clothes in small spaces can be difficult. Either you have no dryer or a slow-drying condenser model. Hanging your clothes on a clothesline off your fire escape is illegal in many state. And even when you have a dryer–either your own or at a laundromat–you might not want to use this appliance that is neither kind to your clothes or the environment (standard dryers create about 4.4 lbs of CO2 per load).

With all that in mind, here are three products that provide space-and-energy efficient ways to hang dry your clothes in your small space.

I. Leifheit Rollfix Retracting Clothesline

Rather than using a traditional clothesline that needs to be coiled and uncoiled and wrapped around some random object, the Rollfix has five lines that coil in a discreet case that mounts your wall. Just pull the lines out of the case and affix it to it’s mate on the other side of the room. Each line extends up to 13′ making for an incredible 69′ of drying line. We found this extremely useful product on Amazon for only $30.

II. Leifheit Telegant Mounted Clothes Dryer

The Telegant is ideal for smaller loads. Available in either 28″ or 40″ wide versions, this wall-mounted rack is an ordinary towel rack when closed, but features a telescoping drying rack with eight lines totally 26′ of drying line when opened (five and 14′ for the 28″ version). Prices on Amazon are $32 and $43 respectively.

III. The New Clothesline Company LOFTi

If you have high ceilings, this pulley mounted ceiling drying rack is pretty ideal. It has 22′ of drying rack space and a number of accessories such as a mobile-like sock hanger that help increase capacity. It’s available for $80 through IPPINKA.