# Salad Spinner: Clever Laundry Hint or Pathetic Cry for Help? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654 "2001-07-08T01:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![trose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@trose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trose)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/1 "2001-07-08T01:26:49Z")
I find myself doing a lot of hand washing lately (as in “Woolite”, not OCD). Most fine washables advise against wringing; I guess it makes the baby Jesus cry. But just squeezing your clothes as hard as you can makes your hands hurt and doesn’t expel much water. What’s needed, I thought, was some small hand-cranked device for spinning clothes, sorta like a salad spinner. How about exactly like a salad spinner? So the experiment begins. I ran down to the store and bought one, came back and washed a few items in the sink. Included were two pairs of socks. I squeezed each matched pair out, then put one from each pair into the spinner and cranked that baby up. After a minute or so I opened it up, tossed them about a bit for better coverage (so to speak), and spun 'em again. The difference was remarkable. I probably poured out a half cup of water, out of _two socks_. And one was a rather thin synthetic (the other was white cotton gym). For good measure I gave the unspun socks an extra squeeze, then hung all four on the same rack out on the patio. Now we’ll see if there’s a significant difference in drying times. This all seams rather benign, doesn’t it? Take a gander over there: \<– That’s right, folks, this is how I amuse myself at 8 o’clock on a Saturday night. By the way, the rayon Hawaiian shirt came out almost ready to wear. Don’t ask me where, though. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/2 "2001-07-08T03:11:12Z")
OK, I’ll bite… Actually, that’s pretty clever. We actually have a salad spinner, but haven’t used it in years. Of course, we do have a clothesline…😉 OTOH, what kind of socks were these, exactly? “Fine Washables”? I don’t get it. Socks made out of spider silk? What? I guess what we really need here is a description of the circumstances that led you to “find [yourself] doing a lot of hand washing lately”. We usually just hang our “fine washables” up to dry…do you need them in a hurry or something? That said, if you do, that’s a pretty cool idea. Now if I can just sell Dr. LindyHopper on the idea… ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/3 "2001-07-08T03:15:46Z")
Well, if it’s pathetic that you discovered this on a Saturday night, I’d hate to think what label one would put on the fact that I’m sitting here on a Saturday night _reading_ about it and thinking it’s pretty cool… We’ve got a great OXO salad spinner, gets much too little use. _UNTIL NOW…_ ---
**Author:** ![trose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@trose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trose)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/4 "2001-07-08T03:39:23Z")
Well, “fine washables” is what Woolite calls 'em. It’s usually socks (esp. wool in winter), maybe a particular shirt for a special occasion, and I’ve got a couple pair of those REI MTS boxer briefs (jeez, TLAs for my underwear, am I a geek or what?) that are nice for biking. This being humid Central Texas, nothing dries very fast hanging up. Looks like results will be inconclusive, as I refuse to stay up all night checking the test subjects every hour, and they’ll probably all be dry by morning (but maybe not!!). And **LindyHopper** , this is just gadgety enough to appeal to guys. I remember some pals on a camping trip turning an extra cooler into a dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/5 "2001-07-08T05:36:41Z")
Yeah; I forget that living in Western Montana as I do, it’s dry enough that no liquid stays around very long (especially beer [rim shot]). Anyhoo, it could be worse: as Dave Barry says of South Florida, “We can, without trying, grow crops in our _laundry_”. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/6 "2001-07-08T13:45:20Z")
I used to use a salad spinner for spinning my handwashing! I don’t have a salad spinner any more, though. I think my old one ended up at my parents’ house. I reckon it’s time for a trip to the hardware store. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salad-spinner-clever-laundry-hint-or-pathetic-cry-for-help/71654/7 "2001-07-08T13:52:34Z")
trose, What a great idea. You should change the design of the Salad Spinner slightly, apply for a patent, and then sell the suckers in infomercials. That would give you something else to do on a Saturday Night! As an aside, when I belonged to the YMCA, the lady’s locker room had what I called a salad spinner for spinning excess water out of your swimsuits. It was really more like an ultra mini washing machine with the only setting being Spin.