The Laundry Alternative Nina Soft Spin Dryer

I purchased this machine last week because I am tired of dirty laundromats and I still remember the spinner machines some laundromats had in the old days. For 50 cents, washed clothes could be spun and then dried in a dryer for half the cost without the spin. Essentially, this machine offers the same convenience.Appearance -- This spinner arrived today and it is EXACTLY as pictured. As many others have commented -- this unit is a whole lot bigger than the pictures would lead you to believe/ I appreciate the larger size of this item as it will handle more clothes in fewer loads on laundry day. The packaging is flimsy for such a large item so when you unpack it, check closely for any cracking or damage from shipping. I lucked out and this unit arrived undamaged.First Use - Mandatory: remove the metal bar off of the bottom and cut and remove the heavy duty zip ties that hold the bar in place. This allows the motor to spin the basket during use. For my first load, I spun sopping wet underwear, t-shirts, washcloths, and one pillowcase. After just a few minutes, they were all drier than after a washing machine spin cycle. This unit cannot completely dry the clothes because there is no heat source. this unit starts automatically when you close the lid and it runs so quietly I had to touch it to see if it was running!! It wobbled for a few seconds until it forced out enough water that it could self level. After that, it ran with almost no vibration and stayed put.Placement - For convenience, I put it on a counter so it could drain directly into the sink because I didn't want to deal with emptying buckets. Plus, the drain is always open on this unit so when a bucket is removed to empty, water will continue to drip. The drain is direct and always open so stray water drops are always possible. This beneficially means there is less chance of water sitting in the unit and going moldy or stinky. I plan to always leave the lid open to air dry between loads because I am super sensitive to mold and mildew.Now, here's the downside of using a vanity sink (as several other reviewers have pointed out) -- the unit will be very high above the floor. My counter is 36 inches tall which means the top of the spinner is 5 FEET above the floor and that does not include the additional length needed to reach inside the unit. Even at 5 feet 7 inches with average arm length, I struggle to reach the clothes so lowering the unit and and using a two bucket relay may be in my future.I anticipate that this spinner will save a minimum of $50 a month normally spent at the laundromat. If line drying is not appealing, a short dry cycle at the laundromat will finish everything nicely. Just like laundry day but for only $1. This spinner is a win - win for me!

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.