apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I got a washing machine as a present when I moved in with my boyfriend, so I don't need to leave my rental apartment to do the laundry! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2665141078_f4497a6acf.jpg?v=0

The day I bought my washer must be one of the happiest in my life : no more packing clothes, dragging them to the laundromat, and carrying wet clothes back home. I was so excited I washed about everything you could wash in the apartment the very day.

The washer is in the bathroom, we here in Europe have smaller washers than in the US.

I'm not a renter and I have my own W/D (so I didn't answer the survey). Having my own W/D was part of my criteria in my condo search. However, I decided some years ago when still renting never again to live without a W/D at least in the building, since I HATE the laundromat more than most things on earth.

I've always prioritized laundry in my rentals, except when I lived in a high-rise building for one year. Going downstairs was the worst.

Laundry, it seems to me, is an intimate task. I like to do it over the course of time, while watching TV, or tossing a load in on the fly if I need something. Having it in my house is absolutely critical to me now.

Though I'm blessed with a washer and dryer right in my own home, I'm cursed with the strangest washer/dryer setup known to man.

When my boyfriend and I moved in about a month, we assumed that the stackable w/d was in normal working condition - normal being the operative word here. This, however, is not the case. While both work just fine, they are not connected to w/d hookups. Instead, the washer drains into a utility sink and the dryer - well, the dryer vents straight out into the utility room. Thankfully, it has a door to the outside and a door between it and the rest of the house.

As renters, we can't find any affordable way to rectify the situation. (Suggestions? Anyone?) But, godalmighty, does it make doing laundry a chore!

We have one in the place we rent. I do miss doing multiple loads at once at the laundry mat though. It is nice to get 5 loads of laundry done at once, provided you hit the laundry mat at the right time.

My building has a small laundry room on each floor, which is very nice; we use a card system rather than coins. The little house I was renting before I bought had a washer/dryer in the unfinished, damp (moldy, smelly) basement, so although this laundry room is down the shared public hall and I can't exactly stroll there in my pajamas it is much nicer than going down steep wooden steps never sure what I was going to find (bugs). When we were renovating the family house (where my father lives) we converted a small back bedroom on the upper floor into a laundry room overlooking the garden -- it has space to fold, room to store linens, a stacking washer/dryer in a closet, and a window seat. It's one of the best spaces in the house, actually! A dream laundry room.

What brands make combo washer dryers like that?

Ive looked around and havent seen any in the big box stores.

That would be great for my house. Better than the washer and dryer living in a plastic half shed since theres no real space for them both in the house.

I dream of the day when I have my own washer and dryer... no more schlepping laundry through the mud, rain and snow. That will be a dream come true.

I don't rent and have a Miele washer and [condensation] dryer in my bathroom. Not cheap but they're very good and requires no venting.

i actually had a washer/dryer as a renter, but have no room for one in my condo. i don't mind though. it's just a few yards away and forces me to be a little more efficient about laundry (can't let anything sit, have to organize the loads). they have a big utility sink and an old fashioned clothesline area which is handy. having to shlep to the landromat is indeed the worst. :(

I moved and am now W/D-less. I thought it was going to suck until I discovered that here in New Orleans there are several laundromats with a bar, restaurant and game room attached. I really don't mind doing laundry now!

the combo washer dryers - hard to find ones that dry well.

we have the washer in the kitchen and a condensation dryer in another room, it requires no vent, just a jug that you empty every few cycles.

Wow, a bar combined with a laundromat? That would be quite successful in up here in Boston!

I have a washer and dryer but I don't use them very often. I discovered a wash and fold service a couple of years ago and now I consider it to be the best $20 I spend every week. When I factor in the cost of my time to do my own laundry, it's not such a bargain and sending it isn't really a luxury.

No washer/dryer in my apartment, but we have a communal laundry room in the building. There's only 2 washers and 2 dryers, but it's enough for out building and everyone seems to be pretty good about keeping it clean.
I don't mind it, and it is better than my last apartment, where the laundry room was this tiny dark, dirty room next to the electrical room in the subterranean garage (i.e. no windows). And the light switch was through a little hallway and IN the room, so if you did laundry after the sun set, you had to walk into a pitch black hallway and try to find the light switch before you got attacked by monsters and ghosts. :P

Yeah, I never did laundry there, I always drove a couple miles to a neat little laundromat in Culver City. As much of a pain as it was to haul my laundry there, I did enjoy being able to spend a couple of hours just hanging out and relaxing. They had a cafe next door with free internet and some pretty tasty food and coffee. So laundry was more like a relaxing trip to a cafe than a chore. :)

My apartment unit came with a stacked washer/dryer, which is right next to my bedroom closet. Theoretically it should make it much easier for me to just take clothes out of the dryer and hang them up, but I'm still a lazy slob and often just pile up the clothes...

we were initially thrilled to have a little washer/dryer combo in our apartment when we moved in. It's a Eurotech (no idea of any other model info) - however, it takes almost 5 hours to wash and dry a load (and it's not always dry at the end). while it's better then lugging laundry down the block, it still requires some planning ahead.

the agitator also makes the floors in our (and presumably our neighbours') apartment vibrate so we try not to do loads at night when it might disturb sleeping. and man does stuff ever come out super super wrinkly! I had never ironed sheets before this apartment, but the wrinkles would never come out otherwise... however, I think this is a problem with most front-loading models.

Nesagwa, I bought an LG ventless combo washer/dryer (Model: WM3431HS) at a big box store about 1.5 years ago.

It replaced a ugly white stackable unit that took up precious kitchen cabinet and countertop space. My LG fits perfectly under my new kitchen countertop and blends in just fine with all my stainless steel appliances.

The unit uses condensation for drying, so it takes longer for a load to dry than a typical dryer; but aside from sheets, I air dry most of my clothes anyway so it's never really been an issue. I'm quite content with the purchase overall.

I've seen some online sites that also sell combination units. Good luck!

Thanks mdunlop.

They do look a tad expensive, but the fact that you can hook them to a standard voltage outlet and dont have to have ventilation makes it seem like it would be a fairly easy installation.

My building theoretically has a washer and dryer for my use, but the dryer takes at least 2, and often 3, cycles to dry a small load of clothes. Forget drying towels or sheets there, you'd spend a fortune in quarters and an entire day. So I lug my clothes down to the laundromat every other week or so. It sucks, but I can do everything at once, and the dryers are FAST, so it really only takes about 2 hours to do everything.

A couple of years ago I spent 12 months living in a historic building that is now something like 80 condos. The ground floor's laundry room was well equipped with eight washing machines and eight dryers, but what tore apart the fabric of the community was the snarkiness rampant among comments about use of the w/d. I think what made the set-up work for me was that I invariably did laundry on weekday mornings (rather than dreaded, congested weekends) and that I actually paid attention to the timers so I could be in the laundry room at the precise moment that loads ended their cycles.

other - valet in my building... i drop it off and they deliver.

i used to do laundry on the first floor of my 3rd floor apartment. they had 3 washers and dryers for like 40 residents!. it was horrible. when we moved into our townhouse our laundry was in our basement. BEST THING EVER.

My washer and dryer are concealed inside a floor to ceiling cabinet in my dining room. This may sound strange but the dining room/area is one of the best places to have landry equipment because you have a table and some free space immediately available for folding, ironing and stacking clean clothes. This is not the first time I"ve done this as I housed the washer in the kitchen and dryer nearby in the dining room closet of my first apartment.

When looking for an apartment, one of my requirements was having a washer and dryer in the unit. So I am very happy to not have to haul laundry around. It's just outside the bedroom door. Yet, the dryer doesn't dry extremely well.

I live in an older building in LA which came with a back door, its own water heater, and a tiny space for a washer. I decided to buy a stackable washer (This was a huge luxury that i treated myself too). I hate going to the laundry (even though its less than a block away). I hate laundry in general. I don't have the room (or money) for a dryer, so i use a clothes line. My neighbors rigged dryers in their kitchens!

I rent a cottage from a friend. Part of my rent includes using the washer/dryer in his main house.

Frankly, I've given up space (nearly non-existent living room because the cottage is tinier than one can imagine) in order to have this set up and that's fine with me. I couldn't drag myself to another public laundry. I think I'd rather just continue to buy new clothes...........

I used to own my own washer and dryer... before I moved to NYC. Then I spent many years dragging my laundry to the basement of my building (from the fifth floor) but at least there was an elevator. Now I live in a ground floor apartment, with a laundromat next door. It's really pretty awesome. It's less distance than walking to the elevator in my old building, and I can get three loads of laundry done about an hour.

two W/D's in the basement of my apt bldg that take quarters. people are pretty good about taking out clothes on time too.
not the best atmosphere, but better than lugging it all to a laundry mat.

When I first viewed units at my apt complex, they didn't have the studio apt I was interested in available for viewing. But when the leasing agent said that the studio had full size w/d hookups...I applied and paid the application fee sight unseen. I then went to a big box appliance/electronics store where I used to work and purchased a washer and dryer from one of my friends (and got a great deal to boot).

I had to wait 2 months prior to moving in, but it was worth it. People are surprised when they walk into my 550 sq ft studio and realize that I have a full size w/d. I'm in heaven!

I've done laundry every which way you can: by drop off service when I lived in NYC; in a laundry mat when I moved; in the communal laundry room of an apt. building, where I somehow "lost" all my pink underwear; and now in my home.

While it's not a spacious laundry room, it's ours. And that's what matters most. (Plus, I haven't lost any of my girlie unmentionables.) Socks? Yes. Undies? No.

There is a communal laundry room in my condo building, but I must admit that I don't really enjoy the idea of sharing washers with my neighbors. The service they have only collects the change from the machines and doesn't seem to do much to keep the machines clean. While I don't mind pitching in to help clean, I guess I am scarred from past laundry issues in my previous apartment building. Call me a little germphobic, but it just grosses me out a bit to use shared facilities now.

Currently, I take loads over to my friend's house and do my laundry when we are hanging out. This works out pretty well, but it is sometimes hard to lug everything up to the third floor.

I probably should have made in-unit laundry a higher priority in my condo search, but I hope to possibly get a portable washer (GE, LG, and Haier make models) on casters that I can store in a closet and then wheel out to my kitchen when I need to do a load. These hook up to your sink faucet. I would be OK with line drying my clothes if I could at least get this type of washer.

Unfortunately, the layout of my condo does not have any closet space that backs up to a water supply, so the possibility of getting a stackable set in a closet seems slim.

Nesagwa, Check LG. They make combo washer/dryers. I own one and love it. The previous brand I had was Equator, it was very small and took longer to dry clothes.

Where I live (Istanbul) everyone has a washer, and it is always installed in the bathroom. If you are renting, you take your washer with when changing the house.
Dryers or washer/dryer combos are not common, we airdry. I have a combo though, but use it only in urgent times.
I recently renovated the main bathroom and the guest bathroom. Previously the washer was in the main bathroom and there was a shower in the tiny guest bathroom. After the renovation I put the washer to the guest bathroom, where the shower used to be. Here's the link if you're interested.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64943956@N00/2775707422/in/set-72157605839082256/

I almost purchased a condo that had a washer/dryer combo, like the one in the picture. I am not sure of the brand, though.

My friend that did purchase the unit has lived there for less than a year and has had to replace his washer/dryer combo twice. He detests it. Either his clothes don't dry, or come out so hot he can't touch them.

I would cry if I had to leave the building. I have laundry in the first floor and I am on the third floor. Even the adjoined (not really sure I am using that word correctly) building tenants have to come over and use the laundry in my building. In my last apartment, I could get to the laundry in the basement without going outside, while the fella upstairs had to enter the basement from outside. At least it was free then, and I could do as much laundry as I felt like if he wasn't waiting for it, and shared it with nobody else. I miss that. I don't miss the mice though.

Does anyone in NY live in a building that has the mini washer/dryers in their units (stackable kind). Do these work effectively?

I have a laundromat in the building, which is nice but I still have to drag it all up and down four stories. It's better than my current place where I had to drag it to the Brown Line, up the stairs, south two or three stops, down the stairs and to the laundromat.

My husband and I will be looking to buy a home soon and the #2 requirement is a washer/dryer, or w/d hook-up. (#1 requirement is having two bedrooms because we're suffocating in our 500-sf one-bedroom rental.)

ahhhhh--I just got my very own washer and dryer in my apartment. Sometimes I just go and look at them--they make me so happy!

having just bought a place after renting for like ever in nyc i can tell you that the washer/dryer was the deal breaker going in. we wouldn't even look if there wasn't one in the condo, we swore we wouldn't make any concessions this time. and let me tell you, i adore my washer/dryer. oh how i missed having them and oh how i will not ever give them up again!! there is nothing better than doing laundry at your own pace in your jammies :)

Stuck going to Satan's Laundrette, the only one in the neighborhood.

Sickly broken-down machines that fail to clean when they work at all, crazy street people that love to chat, passive-aggressive little janitor that loves to sweep around your feet, little old ladies that have to stop their dryers and arrange things every 2 minutes, tv that seems to blare Tyra Banks 24/7, zero parking, mysterious stains that appear AFTER the cycle..what's not to love?

so many funny comments..see..what a great group..!..neutopian:hysterical..so exactly true it seems wherever you live..and Beth1..don't blame you!..I have washer/dryer for a buck each in cellar/shared by two other tenent families..oh and do i so block out the germ factor..now i'm reminded again..laundrymats are fine if you just want to go get it all done at once..rainy day:good book and coffee..but eesh..the crazies and the 'little old ladies'..stopping/fixing/then starting again..look how many comments on this..hahah!

I used to have to go to the laundromat, but then I moved into a rental with sets in the building. I wanted them in my apartment but after looking at a lot of really disgusting places with washers/dryers, I decided that clean and safe was worth more than in unit laundry facilities.

my parents just moved to my town, so now I take my laundry to their house--I feel like I am back in college. but it is free and my mom feeds me :)

I take my stuff to Binkies/bar/sex shop/laundry on Drinkmore street in the south part of town.

OMG...who am I??? I see that I wrote: laundrymat...I should just go wash my stuff in the gutter...

There're 3 coin-op. machines in my building's basement. The distance is ok, but my family produces a lot of dirty laundry, so it's expensive and time-consuming. I also don't appreciate having to scoop pet hair and other assorted vestiges of neighbors' households out of the machines before they're fit to be used.
I'd love any suggestions for compact 24-inch washers and vented dryers that can use regular outlet power! We're re-doing the kitchen, which is big enough to accommodate a couple of compact machines under the counters. Contractors tell me the plumbing is suitable, but the electrical situation is more limited. Also, we have to get the co-op's rules changed!
We had a combo machine in London that didn't do much about drying. Ultimately, we bought a tumble dryer for our spare room, plugged it in and stuck the hose out the window when it was in use.

Dont' you worry (keeeks) I'm much to srunk dooing lawndry to even notrice *

After lugging my stuff a block to a laundromat for almost 10 years in San Francisco, I made having a washer a requirement in our recent Paris apartment search. My husband at first thought I was being unreasonable until I pointed out that we could either spend Saturdays at the laundromat or out exploring our beautiful new city.

The new place has a fantastic washer/dryer combo (in the kitchen, which is pretty common here.)

: ) to poptart...

I'm lucky enough to have a W/D in my apartment (while in college, nonetheless). It's coin-operated, but I don't pay utilities and rent went down when it was installed, do it seems fair.

I just miss being able to run a load in the dryer to let it re-fluff when I would leave it sitting too long. That luxury now cost me $1.25.