The Laundry Alternative Nina Soft Spin Dryer

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.

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 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.

This product works well and is big enough to fit our king size duvet cover in it. It also will take jeans. It spins well and leaves the clothes a little drier than my washing machine and they dry quicker as a result. I use it for hand washing to first spin out the soapy water and then to spin the rinse water out. A standard dish pan fits under it which is what I was using to rinse my clothes with. When I finish spinning and unplug it I tip it forward to get the last of the water out before storing it. Make sure you remove the shipping bar from the bottom of the unit before using, it is secured with zip ties that can be cut with scissors. Be aware that if the clothes contain enough water that the water will drain out by gravity without the motor being on so make sure you have a container under the drain before you start to load it. As with other spinners like this the clothes center better if they are not wadded up but are loose before you dangle them in the top to load it. If you squeeze them into a ball to get some liquid out before spinning it they often don't distribute well and the spinner will crash around and not work properly, you have to then open the lid and reposition. Make sure to put a hand on top of the machine for the first second or two, there can be a little wobble as it starts up. Also be aware that the spinner takes a second or two to completely stop so don't allow children to play with it. Whenever it is plugged in it will start if the lid is closed. I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because it arrived noticeably broken and used. I obviously received a returned item from Amazon (not third party) as it had been unpacked once before and the bar that you have to remove on the bottom had already been removed. Amazon correctly this promptly but I don't expect to have this happen in the first place. Also a deduction for the messy styrofoam that is packed inside. There has to be a less messy and environmentally unfriendly way of protecting this machine for shipping.

I ordered this as a companion to my portable washer, which does medium size loads (1.46 cubic feet). I wasn't sure what to expect, but I have to say that I am very impressed with it. I live in Arizona, which is very hot in the summer. Air conditioning is expensive to run, costing about $300-$400 a month in July/August, when it is triple digit hot and very humid. We try to save energy by air drying our clothes as much as possible, then tossing them into the dryer to soften them up and remove the lint. If clothes are too wet when hung to air dry, they will be stiff and crunchy and sometimes smell funky. I washed clothes in a Basecamp countertop washer, then put them in this Nina Soft spin dryer. A LOT of water came out, so much that I had to replace the water collection bowl twice (you have to supply your own, I bought one at the dollar store) during spinning. Next, I put clothes in here, including a pair of jeans, a towel, uniform pants and some shirts, all separately, that I had laundered in my regular portable washer. I didn't think much water would come out since they had already been through a spin cycle, but quite a bit did. By the time one of my son's tee shirts came out, parts of the bottom were completely free of water and already dry to the touch. I think it took about 45 minutes to fully air dry indoors with the fan on. Next, the jeans. Lots more water came out and the jeans were dry and soft within a couple of hours. Keep in mind these were clothes that had already been through a washing machine spin cycle. I love this unit. It not only takes out a lot of water, saving you money and time, it leaves clothes soft and wrinkle free and with very little lint. They dry so much faster, eliminating any mildewy smell that might linger. This will pay for itself in a matter of months in saved electric costs for us. Some things to consider: the dryer is much larger in real life than it looks in photos. the tub isn't large, so you have to be mindful not to overload it or it will shake and not work right. A pair of jeans in it for a minute or two is sufficient. Be sure to have the water collection bowl underneath it ready as soon as you start loading clothes, as it will leak even if not spinning. If you have a very small space, it might not be ideal for you, and you may want to consider a countertop spin machine instead. This is a great investment if you're trying to go green or save some money on a clothes dryer. I highly recommend it!

** UPDATE Broke after 10 months. it literally will not respond at all when plugged in, although I can hear that it's on when I put my ear up to it. no spinning. I used it several times a week for the lady 10 months. Works Well. I'm in an apartment, and I do not want to trek to the laundromat. After I wash clothes, I put them in the spinner. If I put them in for a few minutes, it wrings out excess water. If I keep clothes in for 30 minutes or so,. SOME thin clothes are dry, like underwear and very thin sheets I own. Be sure to find a bowl that fits the bottom curvature well so it doesn't leak onto your floor. This is not a clothes dryer. The directions say to spin clothing for a few minutes until the water stops coming out. At this point when you take them out, they're damp, and will dry much faster than just hanging them up right from the wash. I like my Ninja Spinner, but I'd prefer a real washer/dryer in my apartment. One day... You can only put in small amounts at a time, so it is time consuming to "spin" a load of clothes.

Update 2: They did get back to me about the smell and told me it was normal and would happen at the start but should fade with time. They were right, we don't have the smell anymore. I also happened to find two of my cloth wipes between the inner tub and the outer plastic, oops! So that could have been it as well! So be sure to check the gap where the "spinner" cylinder spins to see if any clothes got lost/stuck outside the inner part. Update: I just wanted to update consumers who were curious on the customer service from this company. Our spin dryer stopped working in December. I sent a simple email to the manufacturer's email address I found on their website with my Amazon order number. I got a response within 24 hours asking for my address. A new unit was shipped to me and I had it within two days, so I believe they used expedited shipping. They got in touch with me of their own volition once it was shipped and sent me a tracking number as well. The unit I got looks new and works well. I have noticed a burning smell that comes from it every time I use it. We have used it quite a few times now since I do cloth diaper laundry every day. Since it seems to work as intended and I still see a lot of water in the bowl at the end, I think it works as intended. I did send them an email about the smell asking if there was any cause for concern. They have not gotten back to me and it has been 3 weeks. I sent them another one today readdressing my concern. I will update on if they get back to me or not. Overall, my ease of working with them and getting a new unit shipped out so fast was much appreciated on my end. The unit does appear to be brand new and works as intended. Other than the burning smell which I did not experience with my first unit, I have no qualms with it at this time. The smell always dissipates a few minutes after use, but does reappear every time the unit is plugged in. I suspect I might have gotten a defective unit, I'll have to wait and see. They informed me that there is a 3 year warranty on this spin dryer. I was not asked to ship back my old unit, rather to keep and recycle the old unit, which is what we did. Original Review: We bought this along with the Haier 1 cubic foot machine so we could keep cloth diapering in this apartment which has no washer/dryer hookups. Initially I thought this was a waste of money and discussed returning it with my husband. After having used it for a month and a half now, I do find this machine is worth the investment for us. Even though the Haier machine has a spin cycle, this still extracts quite a bit of liquid from all the pieces of clothing which enables them to dry faster. I line dry everything. I tested this on my cloth diapers since those take the longest amount of time to dry. When I used this and hung my bamboo/organic cotton blend prefolds to line dry around noon (in the sunlight) they took about 6-7 hours depending on how much cloud cover there was. When I didn't use the spin dryer it took noon till whenever I woke up the next day thus doubling the time. Bamboo prefolds are pretty absorbent so they take quite a while to dry. Even my towels dry in just a couple of hours compared to the prefolds. So for us, at this time this is almost a necessity since we do cloth diaper laundry every day or every other day and need those to be dry within a day for use. I would guarantee that those who do not use spin cycle or don't have one to use would benefit from this spin dryer even more so!

This little guy is amazing. I live in an apartment with multiple children. Doing laundry in the laundromat is a pain in the neck, so the best bet for us is to handwash a few things at a time. Drip drying takes forever normally - I got this, and we've done four loads' worth in two days! Best part: The KIDS like to operate it (and can, it's that easy). So we wash stuff, they put it in, then close the lid and start it up. Cons: 1. If it isn't perfectly balanced, the noise is terrible - you have to stop it quick and rebalance the load. I'd want to do that anyway, since I wouldn't want to run the motor when it was thwopping around inside there, but it's a little alarming the first time. 2. You have to sit with it for the first few seconds - no toss-and-run here. Put in the clothes, close the lid, put your hands on the sides of the top, and watch it spin up. If it's well balanced the motor spins up perfectly with only a little bit of movement to the sides. 3. It only holds a little bit of laundry - don't overload it, or the motor will hate you (like all little motors, you have to take care of it). 4. Laundry is never perfectly dry coming out of this. No matter how much you spin dry, you will have damp clothes coming out. However, see the pros on this point! Pros: 1. Laundry comes out hangable to dry! It may be damp, but that's all it is. I don't get drips. I would confidently hand a dress coming out of here right over a hardwood floor - there won't be any water drips. And the dress would dry before the next day. We hang ours on the shower rod to dry, and still manage to get showers every day. 2. You can run it a lot, or just a little. We put a metal pot under the spout to catch the water. My kids start the machine up and run the clothes "Until it stops peeing". :D You could get the clothes a bit more dry by leaving them in longer, but it's really not necessary - and our way literally only takes a minute or two. This is a genius little device, and worth every penny you spend on it. An air dryer just needs so much more space, so much more power, and produces heat like crazy. This thing is wonderful.