The name sounds like a mid-century ad.

I feel like it would take a whole day to wash my clothes instead of one cycle in a normal washer. Like towels for example, would they even fit in there?

I'm with angxannette -- they market similar things for dorms and you get to wash one pair of jeans at a time, or maybe a dozen pairs of undies. Forget fitting any kind of fluffy bath towel, or more than a single outfit (if that).

wow. you can fit a whole one shirt in there. plus, the spin dryer just spins, correct? no heat?

Fascinating. Is that a hand crank? And does it work for cold water (which won't build up the pressure?) It sounds like a lot of manual labor to be buying a machine for.

I just Googled a bit on this. According to the review at about.com: "Big enough to wash 7-8 dress shirts, 10 t-shirts, 4-5 bath towels, or 2-3 pairs of blue jeans." Another review says, "It's still big enough for a pair or two of jeans, or some towels, or a few tshirts." I think I saw a woman saying she thought it was about half a normal load size.

I'm considering it.

I just did some Googling on this. According to the review at about.com, it's "Big enough to wash 7-8 dress shirts, 10 t-shirts, 4-5 bath towels, or 2-3 pairs of blue jeans." Another review says, "It's still big enough for a pair or two of jeans, or some towels, or a few tshirts." I think I saw a woman saying she thought it was about half a normal load size.

I'm considering it.

maybea good idea for RVers?

wonder why they don't sell those old timey washers with the crank anymore - like in the Russian catalog from yesterday. They're slim, will was more than a pillow case and probably green.

Im in a band and when we tour it's not always convenient to stop at laundromats, this would be cool if it worked. Stuff could air dry in the van.

I actually purchased the Wonder Wash last year after reading about it in a different AT post. I thought it would be a good green laundry alternative for my washer and dryer-less apartment. Unfortunately I was really disappointed with the product. While it could hold a fair amount of clothing (maybe 1/3 of a regular washer load), if you fill anywhere close to full it becomes way too heavy to spin well--when you crank the handle, the unit rocks back and forth wildly. In addition, the process of dumping out the water and then adding more in to rinse was very cumbersome and messy, especially since when you turn the unit upside down to empty it, all the clothes fall out! After giving it a shot for a few weeks, I found it just wasn't a practical solution for doing laundry regularly, so I returned it.
I actually purchased a spin dryer as well, but a different model. I did some googling on the Laundry Alternatives company that this post links to and found tons of negative customer feedback about really bad transactions. So I avoided that company and ordered the spinner from http://www.clothesdrygreen.com/save_energy_dry_green_order_product.php
It was more expensive but is very well built and holds a good amount (about half of a regular load). I've been using it happily for about 6 months along with a portable electric washing machine I bought after the wonder wash didn't work out. The dryer really gets out a ton of the extra moisture that is left even after the washer spins, which really reducing the time on the drying rack.

19- I tour too, and it's just easier when trying to find our next motel 6 or super 8, that it has laundry. What would be kinda funny is using this in the green room or venue bathrooms, then having to sleep by your wet clothes strewn over the bench on the drive later.. I know the guys wouldn't mind, but I sure would! This might be good for one person living alone.

You know, handwashing only takes a few minutes. I don't see a big advantage here.

I have to agree with pyewacket. I wish there was just some kind of contraption (bucket-like thing) that was fairly light, fit inside the bathtub (or even shower for those without tubs) and that had an agitator that you churn/spin (by hand). You fill it up with the tub, toss in clothes & soap, agitate, drain with spout in bottom, rinse. Then install a multi-string clothesline over the tub where everything drip dries.

I mean, seriously, that would rock.

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/molotov/item/3025?gbase=1

Apparently a plunger with holes is how they used to rock the hand-washing. Now I need a med-large bucket with a spout at the bottom to drain.

Well you could always do what they suggested for a homemade camp shower: Poke or drill some small holes in a bucket, then use golf tees to plug the holes. if you glue the tees to a rubber/plastic lid (ala the homemade key rock) you have an easy to drain bucket that lets the water out and leaves your clothes in!

I lived in an apartment building with no laundry room and tried to use the Wonder Wash. I was really disappointed in it, and ultimately sold it. As stated before, it rocks, hardly holds anything, and requires substantial physical effort to use. Also, the clothes come out really wet and take forever to dry. Later, I got a small washing machine that attaches to the sink, and absolutely love it. The Haier HLP21 washes easily and spins the clothes really dry so they spend less time hanging afterwards. Now that I have laundry in my building again, I still use my little machine for my small loads (cost me about $300).

I think this is great for RVs or long hiking trips, providing you use eco-friendly detergents. Otherwise, it would take me hours to do the laundry.

Not to mention the time/energy to get sopping wet clothes dry.

So, not for me!

Funny, I recently started using an ordinary plunger in a bucket for hand laundry - it actually works pretty well!

The comments above about the rocking of the tub while turning it and the difficulty of emptying the water are spot on. We bought the Wonder Wash before we had laundry in the building thinking it would be very useful. It's not near as great as we'd hoped. Its great for delicates though, as well as quickly getting rid of stains before they set. Items do come out very wet, and need to be wrung dry, which causes wrinkles, and therefore ironing. It is great if it is your only option, if you have other ways for laundry though, its not worth the effort.

90% less water and detergent, 90% less clothes in one cycle ;D

i own one and unlike a lot of people above i actually like it. It works best with hot water but for lightly soiled clothes cold is fine. I often cram it full of clothes and I've never found it to heavy to turn (i was actually pretty amazed by that) and it always gets my clothes clean. It take two minutes of spinning by hand (nothing really and a good work out) and then about 30 seconds when you rinse it. Make sure you remove the lid when you are draining it otherwise all the water wont come out. Towels might need a bit of an extra ring out.

I live in a house without any room for a washing machine - it's a LOT quicker to use this than regular handwashing and I save stacks of water and eletricity.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend it for large families or the unfit elderly but if you are living by yourself and want to save the environment, space and a few pennies i would definitely recommend it.

I also have this and a bigger version of the spin dryer. Got them both from Laundry Alternative. I like it a lot. You have to fill it pretty much full with water to balance it. Once I understood the physics of the thing I have never had any problems with it rocking or had any trouble spinning it.

I find it really handy to toss clothes in and let them soak and get to them when I get a chance. I would not get this without some sort of spin dryer since wringing it out would be painful.

If I had a washer and dryer in my place I would absolutely just use that. After filling it and doing several loads and rinsing it you probably don't end up saving much water. But for me the wonder wash beats going to the laundromat.

The HAIER portable washer is great. If you need small washing skip this and get one, then dry your clothes on a rack.

Am I the only one who thinks we should just use the friggin' washing machine? I mean, when 98% of the nation is using them, I really doubt that this makes that big of a difference, environment-wise. World's gotta end sometime.

Im really tempted to look into these now! I have a machine in my apartment building, but it is $1.75/ wash, $2/ dry, so I try to only use it for sheets, towels, and really big things. Hand washing can be a pain when you have seriously dirty clothes from gardening etc. I think the rocking and all that would be worth the money I would save.

I have a wonder wash and use it when I can't get to the laundromat or have some things that need to get cleaned asap (underwear and gym clothes primarily). I find that it works really well! The rocking motion doesn't happen if you use the suction cups it comes with and I just drain it all into the sink. I think getting the spinner would be an improvement as I just hand wring things, but for the items I'm washing it's fine. It also holds quite a lot of clothes.

I have the Wonder Wash from Alternative Laundry (not the similar "amish washer" from Lehmans that doesn't have drainage). It is better than the one that cassopa mentions because it has a drainage valve; you don't have to invert to drain. I also saw all the bad customer reviews for Alt Laundry re: spinner. I was nervous about ordering the WW from them since they have it exclusively, but I did not have the same problems with getting the WW which they have plentifully in stock. I don't have a laundry onsite and we use cloth diapers. It only takes about 2 minutes to wash a dozen diapers & a handful of flannel wipes. I contemplated getting a wringer from Lehmans but the expense is not worth it. If you let it sit with the drainage valve on for a few minutes, the top layers can get drained pretty good and wringing diapers by hand is not too bad. I can do a load in about 5-10 minutes if I stand there patiently. Fortunately we have a large sunny backyard so we hang dry on the line or with a rack from good ole Ikea. The WW is perfect for delicate handwash items and suitable for small loads but as a growing family, so does our laundry grow. We're thinking about upgrading to the Haier electric portable washer.

The WonderWash is a completely portable unit, and an incredibly efficient way to wash your clothes.

http://www.greenlivingeveryday.com/Wonderwash-Portable-Mini-Portable-Washer-p/9781001.htm