Portable washer/dryer?

[Almeria]

We’re going to be moving soon, and the place that dh wants to move into is an apartment that does not have washers/dryers in unit or hookups. We’d have to go to shared laundry rooms to do wash. I’ve had a washer and dryer in my apartment/rental house for over 8 years now, and am having a hard time with the concept of not having them anymore. I like the convience of having them in my home–having them always available when I need to do a load, being able to start a load before going to bed, as well as not having to be afraid someone will walk off with a load of expensive dress shirts.

I did a quick google search, and found that there are such beasts as portable washers and dryers. The washer just hooks up to your faucet. I had a portable dishwasher years ago, and it worked like a dream. Has anyone had any experience with portable washers? Are they worth the money?

On a related note, how much does the standard load of laundry run in pay machines nowadays? In the dorms it was 50 cents a wash/dry, and it usually took two dryer cycles to get clothes dry. On average, are places still that price, or has it gone up? It may be more cost effective to get the portables…

 

[SeekerJen]

Almeria:

On a related note, how much does the standard load of laundry run in pay machines nowadays? In the dorms it was 50 cents a wash/dry, and it usually took two dryer cycles to get clothes dry. On average, are places still that price, or has it gone up? It may be more cost effective to get the portables…

In our old apartment building, the machines were $1 each. It wasn’t too bad- the machines were large-capacity, the dryer worked really well, and there were only 8 apartments per secured building so there wasn’t much concern about someone walking off with our stuff. On the downside, it was an unhappy moment when we were out of both clean laundry and quarters. That was “raid the change machine at the self-carwash” time.

 

[Princess_Abby]

We just recently downsized considerably to a smallish 2 bedroom apartment in order to save more on rent for our future downpayment on a house.

The laundry “situation” at first was a bit concerning to me, too–our last place had a full washer and dryer in it’s own laundry room within our condo. This new complex is outside the city and more of a “suburban living” sort of place–every building has sixteen units, and every eight units share a washer/dryer room. We have a laundry card that we deposit cash on in the main “office” place. It costs $1.25 to wash one load, and though the dryer is also $1.25, it usually takes an extra .50 per load to completely dry it–if it’s still running and I add more money from the card, .25 buys 15 minutes more. There are only two of us and we spend about $20/week on laundry. So I guess it depends on whether you consider that expensive. Also be aware that your lease might not LET you have any portable appliances–ours forbids it because they pay a portion of our hot water bill. But, we have a dishwasher and all that other stuff.

Hope this helps!

 

[Lida]

I live in an apartment building in the Bay Area (California). Living expenses tend to run high here. The washing machine for my building costs $1.25 per load, and the dryer $1.00.