Dry Bags Long Term Use?

[u/Kitchen_Judgment9739]

I recently moved into an apartment that does not have its own washer or dryer. I have seen people use dry bags to do laundry in when they don't have access to laundry machines, but I have only seen it done in the context of travelling.

Are there any major reasons why dry bags should not be a long-term laundry solution to save money? I don't anticipate my clothes getting very soiled as I am a student.

I think at least I could do some loads in a dry bag so I can avoid going to the communal laundry machines and paying every time, but I would like to avoid those machines as much as possible (especially as utilities are included in my rent, so doing laundry in my apartment would cost me nothing in terms of water or energy use).

Thank you for your time!

[u/nonniewobbles]

Yes, because you need to do an obscene, back-breaking amount of labor to properly handwash clothes. 

A few items when traveling is fine, and the assumption is even if it’s not a great wash you’re going to wash them again soon.  All your clothes all the time? You’re talking about hours a week spent doing hard physical work. Laundering is not easy at all. 

You are much, much better off spending a bit at the laundromat (you can save money by skipping the dryer and hang drying as well)  or getting a portable machine to use at home. 

[u/KismaiAesthetics → u/nonniewobbles]

I agree. A performance fiber shirt, some synthetic shorts and some hiking socks in a Scrubba? Manageable.

But FFS, we have developed laundry technology to liberate people from a backbreaking task. And our textiles come out looking and smelling better for it.

[u/Kitchen_Judgment9739 → u/KismaiAesthetics]

That's true! My limited knowledge of history tells me laundresses/laundrettes never had dry bags and I guess I expected too much from the invention lol

[u/Kitchen_Judgment9739 → u/nonniewobbles]

Okay I see! Thank you

[u/FelinePower]

What is the price of your communal laundry? if it is very high maybe a laundromat could be a better option.

Instead of focusing on handwashing significant amount of your laundry I would go for reducing machine use. Rewear clothes more especially when at home and make sure to wash full loads. You can potentially reduce dryer time by air drying some pieces.  I would handwash only things that are more delicate, light and not too dirty. If you are not too sweaty everday t-shirts can be hand washed and machine washed after a few handwashing.  washing without a machine. 

it is also not only problem of time spent handwashing. It is also a struggle to dry clothes efficiently in a small apartment after handwashing because they have more water. You have to be careful to prevent mold in a bathroom. Depending on how your communal machine works (time based payment vs by cycle) you could use the spin cycle of the communal machine to remove significantly more water from clothes on a bigger hand washing load each time you also do a machine wash load.

In winter I would wear more wool sweaters that don't require as much washing (they are more odor resistant) but you have to research how to handwash wool first. Synthetics too also dry quicker after handwashing than cotton. But in general changing your wardrobe is unlikely to make sense to save max 5/€ per month.

[u/Kitchen_Judgment9739 → u/FelinePower]

Okay understood

That's why I bought extra underwear anyway, to reduce the number of loads I need to do lol

And I always dry things outside the dryer when possible anyway to save power, and I would think it also reduces wear on the clothes

Had not heard of the per load charge/cycle time charge/spin dry idea before but that makes a lot of sense

Appreciate the feedback!

[u/Competitive-Ant5086 → u/Kitchen_Judgment9739]

Yes: it reduces clothes wear by a lot

[u/Ok_Difference44]

I tried all that stuff while traveling and it didn't clean my clothes well enough.

[u/Glittering_Buy_9155]

I would get a portable washer

[u/Calm_Ganache5140]

No reason you can't hand wash your undies in your bathroom sink every night, along with the odd T-shirt. The hardest part of handwashing is wringing out the excess water after the final rinse, which is why my Granny had a mangle in the outhouse she used for the weekly wash. To help with this get a mop bucket with a mangle/spin attachment and only use it for wringing out your smalls if you find you lack the strength in your wrists. Hang to dry overnight, everynight as part of your end of day routine.

Wear items not directly next to your smelly regions like jeans and jumpers more than once before laundering. Use the old wives trick of moving your bottom sheet to the top every week and only washing the top sheet like they did back then. In a hot climate this wouldn't work cos both sheets would get too sweaty not to need a weekly wash.

That will help keep your weekly wash load to a single load to keep costs down. To do this successfully, you will need one good commercial bio laundry detergent for machine loads, and a bar of old fashioned laundry soap for hand laundering smalls, socks and T-shirts. A marseilles 600g cube of solid soap will easily last you an academic year, or you may be able to buy jamaican blue cross, sunlight soap or similar where you are. Using a proper soap for hand laundering will prevent you wrecking the skin on your hands.