Hacking the Home

I wasn't sure whether to put this in Δ or Ω, but this seems the best place, given the available options. I've seen some threads on this board with only a couple dozen posts each, that could fit better together in one thread. I propose a general "homemaking" thread: How to live well, despite ever more cramped conditions. Everybody eats; How do you food? Everybody wears clothes; How do you laundry? And don't overlook storage. Just to note, I know there's a "smart home" thread >>5619, but this thread shouldn't be about such highfalutin' things, but focused on smaller, concrete things. Like food or laundry, as I mentioned: normal, everyday stuff you need for your home. We might later, if it's good for us, opt to build up into something more interesting, such as adding a (wired-only) computer interface to a washing machine to custom-program an all-night bleach cycle or adding a steam sensor to you microwave to aid automatic cooking. I guess I'll start us off about laundry: Before you say it, yes I could go out to a laundromat but (1) why the hell should I pay them for the grand privilege of being allowed to do my own chores, and (2) that's a lot of work, and it'd be so much easier to do it from the comfort of my own home. (And (3) quit peekin' at me knickers, ya perv! I jest, of course, but privacy is also a concern, here.) I can't comfortably fit a whole traditional clothes washer/dryer system in my tiny apartment. It'd just cramp things even more than they already are, further preventing me from doing my work, living my life. I've seen various possibilities, such as ultraviolet sterilization, countertop spin dryers (pic related), or just traditional units but smaller. Some of the newfangled ideas sound nice, if they work, but how should I know? I've never tried them. Maybe any of you reading this have some experiences with different laundry tech? Pros/cons? Also consider that different lains have different needs or restrictions. For example, one of us might have a crappy landlord who outright refuses to let you have hookups installed, or would try to evict if they found out. Maybe one of us has a shower it can be forked off of? Or it attaches to a sink faucet? Or the bath tap? And for clothes drying, consider venting: Do you have central air? Does it only supply air or does it also vent the room / take air out? Can your vents successfully take the dryer's exhaust, or would you have to use a window? Maybe you're disabled and don't deal with dragging the wet laundry from one room where the water source/drain be, to another room where the window/exhaust be. And since this is supposed to be a general "homemaking" thread, we should consider the fact that in this limited space and personal time that we have, we want to do.. many things, including our many chores, but more importantly, just living our lives as we see fit, working on bigger things with minimal hassle from our chores. Consider how much space all your appliances might take up, as well as the time/work/money it takes to set them up, and then to operate. Most important is your time, though. I bet we can find exceedingly comfy combinations that all but nullify the work of doing chores, while still having a cozy little space for your leisure, and maybe a comfy workshop for your projects.

>>8117 >It'd just cramp things even more than they already are Time to move away. If your choice is a not so great job and cramped apt vs no so great job and comfy house, take the rural pill. Until then you can wash your clothes in the sink, just like dishes. Wring and hang dry, small fan, open window or dehumidifier depending on the outdoor humidity and temperature to carry away moisture, no need for a spinning device. You can bath yourself this way too. Clothes by hand in the sink once a week for 2 people will take an hour of work, an hour you would have spent transfering clothes, paying for a washer/dryer be it your own or a commercial laundry. >adding a (wired-only) computer interface to a washing machine to custom-program an all-night bleach cycle or adding a steam sensor to you microwave to aid automatic cooking. We used washing machines as salad spinners to spin ethonal off of cannabis extraction soaks. They are not hard to hack and control the stages, in my case activating the spin cycle or in yours a timer soak, but thats after you get the space for one. An important factor is the utilities, if the landlord pays any portion of the bills use it to your advantage. Budget to get out of this place sounds like priority numero uno. Youd rather have a small shack and a little yard than live in an apartment, the extra 20 minute drive to work is worth it.

As far as I know from watching old sitcoms, you Americans are not allowed to own washing machines in your apartments, right? Only what's landlord installed in the basement or coin laudromat down the street. Probably because your houses are made from cardboard instead of concrete and would suffer from light water damage. My European style top loader (horizontally oriented barrel, not like silly jap ones) costs $400 equivalent. I hang wet sheets in the balcony when there is not enough space for them on the collapsible rack in the bathroom. Thanks to low humidity there, they dry up in less than a day. Machine finishes before I wake up, I hang clothes and go out. I read somewhere that dryers damage clothes, besides they are unnecessary expenditure of electricity. Hang your stuff somewhere near heat radiator in winter, bedsheets still dry up on the balcony in ~24 hours. Apart from this I know nothing about laundry, a machine is like black box for me: powder+ clothes in = wet clothes out. I try to put similar colors as adviced which I have in "dark" and "light" varieties and have not noticed any color cross-contaminations. I've read somewhere that underwear should be washed at 60°C, but all the boxer pants and socks I own have had 40°C on their label. This is so confusing. I plan buying everything in grey color from now on, dust is not seen, and it doesn't become yellowish like pure white fabric.

>>8117 >How do you laundry? If the limnal space of a late night coin Landry room isn't soothing enough, you can just wash your laundry in an empty trash can or bathtub. heck, put some soap in a trash bag with clothes and water and shake it until it cleans everything and you are great. I used to have a tiny washing machine that hooked up to a conventional sink, soykaf was bitchin. I usually just hang dry my clothes anyway because dryers are convenient but not necessary. I actually had to live with cooking on only a hot plate because my stove broke and my landlord refused to fix it, as a previous renter left it, and he said it wasn't part of the rental agreement that he would provide appliances. Long story short after about 5 months he broke down and fixed it. I had to do a lot of hacks. As for heating, put on layers. A heater might be nice, but if you have to pay for electricity or wood or gas or whatever, it changes the story a lot. Also opening windows to cool things off is nice.

>>8119 I can assure you that washing most things in cold water will cause no harm, it is washing and drying things in hot water and air that will damage them- generally by shrinking or causing colour bleed. Socks and underwear may want to be washed hotter (same with towels or blankets) to remove bodily odor or fluids. Things also yellow if you use harsh chemicals like bleach. I never use the actual temperature setting, I just always go for cold water. New towels and clothes should be washed thoroughly as they will often shrink or bleed on the first wash. Some clothes are also dipped in chemicals to get the colors to stay/not fade or at worst to stop bugs from eating them in storage. If you want to hack your clothes, wash them with water repellent for the luls/