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.

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.

OK, I've received the replacement spin dryer after receiving one that was damaged when it arrived (I've left original review down below in case it's useful to others). Have had it a week to try it and I really do like it a lot. This one was packed using the same, barely adequate means of securing it, but it arrived undamaged and does a great job. A couple of comments: * The packaging really is barely adequate, given that stuff does get knocked around in transit sometimes. The top of the machine does need to be secured within the box, even with something like brown paper. That would probably eliminate the need for the zip ties that secure it to the metal bar that is supposed to keep everything stable. Those zip ties really are quite difficult to remove because they are threaded up into the innerds of the dryer and looped around, making it feel like you're going to pull something important out while trying to wiggle them free. I spent a good 10 minutes finaggling them. * The cord is a bit short for my liking. Literally every outlet in my house is halfway up a wall and/or behind furniture or cabinets, leaving me with options like shoving the sofa out of the way and using it in the living room (nope), letting it hang over the edge of the kitchen counter with the drain spout hopefully over the sink (in which case it's taller than I am...also nope) or else employing an extension cord, which the instrux say not to do. I can't use it in my laundry room because the outlet configuration makes that impossible, so I'm using it in the garage and storing it in a corner of the laundry room--love that portability! * You'll want the biggest bowl you can fit under the drain spout because a surprising amount of water is released, and it can get a little messy if the bowl isn't fitted against the machine just right. Another argument for using it in the garage. * If the load isn't balanced, it can get very wobbly very quickly, so be prepared to stop and adjust when you first start it up with a load. Once it gets going, it speeds up quickly and spins very smoothly and it really does expel a lot of water in a manner of a minute or two. Original Review: Well, we're not off to a good start. I actually need this thing. I ordered it on Tues, 3/13. It shipped on 3/14 and was supposed to arrive on Fri., 3/16. This was all good. Got a message Thurs, 3/15 saying it had arrived in Jacksonville and would be delayed there until Monday 3/19. Arrived around 5 p.m. on 3/19. I guess the delay is on UPS, not necessarily on the shipper, but I was already a bit disappointed since it made it through 2 transfers in at least 3 states in 24 hours, but then had to sit in a warehouse 2 hours away from me for another 3 days. No explanation as to why on the delay. (Yeah, I know Amazon says not to include shipping experience in the product review but the shipping experience IS part of the whole product experience, so I'm doing it anyway.) The box did not appear damaged when I opened it. Inside the box was a large, clear plastic bag and no additional padding of any sort. Inside the bag were: a large square of styrofoam about an inch thick which had a groove cut across the center, a metal bar that was sitting loosely in the groove, the dryer itself minus one round rubber foot cover, one loose round rubber foot cover, a single piece of paper containing instructions, and a couple of pieces of plastic that appeared to be the remains of a heavy-duty zip tie (although it should be noted that the pieces did not fit together to comprise an entire heavy-duty zip tie. "Where's the rest of the zip tie?" I wondered). I removed the contents from the bag, then wrangled the rubber foot cover back onto the foot--it fits on there pretty tightly, which made me wonder how it came off in the first place. While doing this I noticed what sounded like something rattling around inside the dryer. I turned the dryer this way and that, gave it a little shake, but nothing came out and the rattling seemed to have stopped. I skimmed the instructions. According to the instructions, I was supposed to cut the zip ties that were holding the dryer securely to the styrofoam via the metal bar. I can only assume that the dryer either wasn't secured when it was packed or the zip ties broke while it was in transit, because everything was loose in the bag, not secured together, when I received it. So, concerned, I plugged the machine in, closed the lid, and it started right up. I'll say that it ran smoothly, although it did make a howling noise, I assume due to wind whistling through the drainage holes in the drum. Since I was engaged in a large project for work, and knew I wouldn't be able to try the dryer out properly, I carried it, via the handle, to a corner of the laundry room and left it there until this evening. This evening I needed to use it. I carried it to the garage via the handle, plugged it in, closed the lid and nothing happened. Opened and closed the lid a few more times, unplugged and plugged back in, moved it around, shook it a little....nothing. Opened the lid to see if the drum would move and it will. Shook it a bit more and a few pieces of broken plastic fell out of the bottom. Some look like pieces of zip tie (although from what I can tell, I still don't have a whole zip tie's worth of parts) but some look like broken pieces of something that was once a molded plastic part. I tried plugging it in and closing the lid after that and it did start up, ran for several seconds, but then shut off. More shaking, more running for a few moments and shutting down. Obviously this isn't how it's supposed to work. (And I'm doing this while it's empty--thank god I didn't load the thing up full of wet clothes and then discover this. So, now I must ship it back and wait another week to receive a replacement. I intend to update this upon receipt of the replacement, but at this point, I'm steamed. I really want this to turn into a good experience because, like I said, I need this thing.

Love it! Leaves clothes very dry, but you still have to hang them up to be fully dry. It’s very sturdy and self-balances within seconds. It’s not too big so I keep it in my bedroom between washes. There’s no on switch so if you plug it in while the lid is closed it starts, even if you haven’t added wet clothes. Again, it’s a minor that may annoy other people, but I live in an apartment and so I don’t have unreasonable expectations. It perfectly complements my portable washer and dryer. Highly recommend!

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!

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!

Well fitted settings and set up is easy. Smaller volume of clothes than I expected but does excellent job drying

I'm not one to leave reviews, but this has really been a money saving, game changer for us. It holds a surprising amount of wet laundry (three large bath towels would fit fine) and gets the excess moisture out within a minute. It is a spin dryer, so clothes will not be dry and warm once the cycle ends. But since nearly all the water has been removed, air drying doesn't take long at all. On cold days without any fresh air circulating, we never had to wait more than five hours for things to be dry. With windows open and a breeze, I'd assume things would be ready to go within two hours. It's stable, easy to use, and works well. Not much more you can ask for.

This spin dryer is absolutely amazing. I live in an apt bldg and hate using the communal washers/dryers for various reasons so do my laundry by hand except the really heavy stuff (quilts etc.} which my daughter does for me, It was becoming very hard though on my wrists especially the wringing out and then it would take a couple of days for the clothes to dry and then ironing. I did a lot of research before buying this product but I am so happy I bit the bullet and bought it. My clothes are almost dry when I take them out and completely dry within minutes depending on the item & material after hanging them on the clothes rack . I also have less ironing to do which is an added bonus. Since we are not allowed to have washers or dryers in our apts. this is the perfect solution and I highly recommend this spinner. I just started using the spin dryer and to me it does a better job and is easier on the clothes in a couple of minutes rather than the hour the clothes take to dry in the apt. dryers. As a added note I washed a couple of soft pile clothes, and was was wonderfully surprised how they dried so soft and fluffy.

Worked great for a year but since it keeps needing repairs. I have been very careful with it, only doing a few baby things or delicates at a time, below its capacity. For the price, it should last for years, imo. I don't abuse it.

The item ships fast and the company has the best customer service. We received the product with the cable ties already broken thus the metal bar is no longer attached. When we tried to plug it, item is not working. We contacted Laundry Alternative, and Tomas Ortega has been very helpful. Within 24 hours, he shipped the replacement unit. The spinner is very handy to use, specially that I hand wash my baby’s clothes. In just 2-3 minutes, the clothes are already almost dry. It is important to note that it is ALMOST DRY. You have to air dry the clothes still as there is no heat to warm the clothes (it just spins at 1800rpm). The spinner weighs 15.4lbs and compact at 25x17. It is also energy efficient at 136W (like running an electric fan).

When this guy worked, it was amazing! After the spin cycle in my washer, I would put my clothes through this spinner and I was amazed at how much more water I was able to get out. But the third time I used this, it would not go. Now it's a giant waste of space in my closet.