Customer Reviews

The Laundry POD, White

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The LAUNDRY POD IS AWESOME if you know what you're getting into.

A washing machine has been present everywhere I've lived.

NOW VOILA! Living by myself for the first time in a one bedroom. NO WASHING MACHINE. Oh my goodness! What am I going to do?! I stopped by the laundry mat (only a block away from my house) and I was like HOLY CRAP it's expensive to wash your clothes! Not only do I have to pay directly out of pocket for it, but I have to waste two hours out of my precious week!? Let it build up until I drag it there? I.... I don't think so.

So I began desperately trying to find an alternative. There are some AMAZING mini-washers that cost 250-300 which drain directly into the sink... however, my landlord said that's not an option. The laundry pod drains into the sink too, but he can't get mad if I'm 'hand-washing')After searching and searching online, I find this Laundry Pod and FELL IN LOVE. It seemed like the answers to my prayers. Bought it on the spot.

I actually didn't like it at first (and I really wanted to!) But now I've developed a system that gets my clothes nice and clean! A whole month with not having to go to a laundry mat! This is great!

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SO HERE IS MY MODIFIED APPROACH! ~~~~
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The Water: ~~~~~~~
Fill it up full with water! It only says a gallon and a half, but I use more.

The Bucket: ~~~~~~~
You can fill up the pod in a large sink... but I don't suggest it. Break down and buy a bucket to fill it up or drain it with. Then you don't have to move the water-heavy pod.

Soaking: ~~~~~~~
I soak the laundry for 12 hours or more. In some advertisements they say you can just shove it in the pod, work it for a couple minutes, and then be done. However, this doesn't seem to get stains out or dirt... just the smell. So I soak it for a while! There's no comparison in how much dirt releases into the water overnight.
Also-women- Do a load just for underwear, soak it overnight with a cup of hydrogen peroxide.

Soap, Stain Remover, Bleach, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Oxyclean: ~~~
I use them all! Pre-treat stains- even the ones that would normally come out in a regular washing machine. Use a bleach or a bleach pen for whites. Use hydrogen Peroxide and do a load just for your underwear and socks. And finally, Oxyclean is awesome at getting stuff out during the soak. I highly suggest buying a huge vat of it and using it with every load.


Other tips: ~~~~~~~

-Keep it in the same room as your sink. Mine's in the kitchen counter. I pop it out and keep it on top while it soaks and until I'm done with it.
-I listen to an audio book while doing it (the washing and rinsing itself only takes a few minutes, but entertainment is always welcome during chores.
-Do your laundry every other day! Once you're in a rhythm, it's easy. The process is friendlier if you don't have a bunch of laundry piled up.
-Pet hair: No way around it! If your cat sheds, you're going to have to use a sticky-roller. The laundry pod doesn't take it off your clothes.
-Don't go crazy with your spinning! Just spin at a normal pace. This way, there's less resistance and your pod isn't trying to get away from you.
-But DO go crazy spinning after your rinse cycle. Hold down tight on to the pod and spin that water out! This makes the clothes dry a lot faster.
-Pouring water, dumping water, you're going to get water on the floor, counter, or table! Helps if you have a rug down or a large rag to mop it up.
-If you forget to close the valve when you're dumping water in, water will go EVERYWHERE.

Wow! You must think "That's a lot of work!" It's not bad once you've done it. It's actually very easy.

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What I love about the Laundry Pod:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Fits underneath my sink
-I like the work out!
-Appeasing visual design
-Easy to move around
-Keeps me AWAY FROM THE LAUNDRY MAT
-Saves me a BOATLOAD of money
(Seriously. My landlord pays for water, so it's doing laundry for free)
-Great at getting smell out
-Uses very little water
-Awesome alternative to hand washing
-Fantastic for delicate items
-Super easy to do!

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Cons about the Laundry Pod~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Wish it was bigger
-Wish it was made from a heavier plastic or material so it wouldn't move around while you're spinning it
(but you get better so it doesn't move)
-Wish it had better handle grips
-Not good for heavily-soiled items
-I hate it's freaking plastic hose
-Doesn't get clothes truly clean without soaking
-Doesn't get stains without stain remover
-You are helpless against pet hair (use a sticky-roller)

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If you don't mind soaking stuff overnight, a small workout, and air drying your clothes, I think it would be PERFECT for you.

You'll be disappointed if you just want to throw your laundry and be done with it in minutes. You can do a load in less than 10 minutes... after you soak it. Also only suitable for one person.

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Overall, this is a great product! As long as you know to pre-treat and pre-soak! I highly suggest The Laundry Pod if it sounds right for you.

I really wanted to like the pod. It is well made, very nicely designed, attractive, shows great attention to detail and quality overall is excellent. However, the capacity is very small. That coupled with the high price make this hard to recommend.

In addition, it did not clean clothes very well in my tests. Clothes I washed by hand in the sink were cleaner than those I did in the Pod. I've only done a few tests so far, and things did go a little better in later tests, but then I had reduced the number of clothes so much that it would hardly be worth all the bother. [Update: The seller contacted me and was very helpful. He recommended a long soak time to aid in getting the clothes clean (as does Megan Smith in her review) and I'm sure that would help. The Pod's instructions indicate 'a few minutes' but 4-6 hours or even overnight should help. He also suggested some special detergents but I have not been able to try them. At any rate, I'm sure you can make this thing work, and, for some, it may be a winner, but not for me.]

If you are a guy cleaning cotton undershirts, underwear, socks, etc, this thing is not for you. Cleaning even one or two undershirts, a pair of underwear, and 2 pairs of socks taxed the Pod's capacity mightily. Forget washing a pair of jeans, no way. Even a couple of dress shirts would be tough. Maybe it works better on women's nylon delicates.

And then there's all the effort to fill, spin, empty, refill, spin, empty...it was much easier to wash the clothes in a sink or tub and just hand ring them. For 100 bucks, I don't think so.

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(P.S. But do read Megan Smith's excellent 5 star review and if after all that it still makes sense to you, go for it. Just not worth it to me. I can do the same thing with two $10 plastic tubs/pans and less bother.)

I live in a garden apt complex that's spread out over 5 acres, with only one laundry room in a different building than I'm in. I never use it - if I'm going to schlepp my laundry up and down a couple of flights of stairs, walk right next to my car to cross the parking lot to the next building to cut thru there, etc. I'd just as soon put everything in the car & go to a laundromat.
This is great - saves me money, saves me trips. and most importantly saves me time. Instead of piling up clothes for a weekly or biweekly schlepp, I come home from work, throw the Pod up on the kitchen counter, and in a few minutes have washed what I wore to work.
The manual says it takes about 6 qt of water, I find 8 qts works best for me. The clothes absorb some of the water, so the extra water lets them swish around freely. Only needs a teaspoon or two of detergent (economical)to get good suds action. Give a minute or two of good whirls (nice work out) drain, spin, refill with more water, spin again, drain the rinse water, then give a few more good whirls to spin out excess water - it really does work like an over-sized salad spinner! I do mostly cold-water wash, but I have used it for hot water washing as well.
I would have given it 5 stars, but didn't only because it works best set up to the right of the sink, so the drain hose can be placed right into the sink, and the knob to open and close the drain valve is in the front of the Pod. As a lefty, I spin with my left hand (and to the right of my sink is a convection oven), so I have it set up on the left side of the sink, hose into the sink, but the drain valve knob is now in the back & I have to keep reaching around. As a lefty in a right-handed world, I adapt, but it would be nice to be able to use the drain hose from both sides, keeping the drain valve knob in front.
*wistfully sighs*...now only if i could do my linens in this

I had high hopes for this washer, maybe thats where I went wrong. It seems to be fairly well made and sturdy, although the first several times you use it your hands and forearms will ge coated in plastic shavings from the hub plate. I used it several times and it never got a single item clean. I expiramented with different temperatures of water, different soaps, length of time aggitating etc. nada. It really is probably best for "delicates" i.e. things that are not really dirty but that you should wash inbetween wearing.

Purchased from HSN customer service and HSN has been great but the product is lacking. Spinning sends tiny plastic particles flying around the top of the unit. A health issue for eyes, sinuses and lungs.

The spin did not reduce the water in clothes at all - at least not in the POD I received. Tried to wash medium weight all cotton knit tops. I am puzzled and very disappointed. I put a shirt into my kitchen salad spinner and it got much more water out than this POD.

I think this unit might be ONLY for very delicate clothes like silk tops. For all cotton, not at all. And, with the shredding of plastic particles flying at one's face, even with delicates, that is not good at all. Nice idea. Poor design. &/or materials.

I bought this laundry pod for my hand-wash clothes. It works well except I find it hard to find a surface where it can sit on. Also, it is definitely a workout when you operate this pod. I do not mind it that much. The price is little higher than I expected.

The Laundry Pod does exactly what I needed it to do! I wear a lot of hand-wash sweaters and go to the gym daily and this product does an excellent job of quickly and effectively cleaning those items. The spin cycle gets all the excess water out without twisting or wrinkling my items so everything line dries quickly.

It sounded perfect for my needs. Daily after working out I hand wash my running/biking attire because it makes the clothes last longer than frequent washings. When I saw the POD it seemed like it would get my clothes cleaner than a hand wash, but in reality it was a whole lot more work. The pod wobbles a lot once you get a good spin going so I put it in the tub & had to get in the tub with it to spin it efficiently. I worried it would fall off the kitchen or bathroom counter top. It was way more work than hand washing in the sink, but it did spin dry them a great deal more than wringing them out. 99 bucks is way to much for this item, in my opinion.