August 21, 2011

DIY Laundry Bag

Something that all vehicle dwellers have to watch out for is smell. We live in small and mainly enclosed areas and it doesn't take long for our sleeping space to pick up weird odors from things like laundry, food, and the like.

Laundry is really a big deal when you live in your car for a number of reasons.
  1.  You don't have room to keep a ton of clothes so you have to stay on top of laundry in order to have clean clothes for work
  2. If you let laundry pile up your car will smell like old socks which, in turn, will make you smell like old socks.
  3.  There's no place to put dirty clothes, you just don't have room!
  4. Doing laundry means driving to a laundromat, not walking down the hall. That means each time is a production involving parking spaces and quarters.
For months I've been using these mesh laundry bags from Walmart. They're $1 (presumably because they're made from string) and seemed to be worth the price. The problem? Well, there are two. First is that I've been through four bags this summer! They keep getting snagged on stuff and soon there's a gaping whole that stuff starts falling out of as I cross the parking lot. Nothing makes you feel cool like having a little old lady chase you to your car holding a pair of pink under drawers. The other problem is that the bag is huge (giving me an excuse to put off the laundromat) and mesh (which doesn't cover up any old sock smell).

So, here's my solution: Pillow Case Laundry Bags!

You Will Need:
  • A large pillow case
  • Ribbon
  • Eyelets
  • Eyelet tool (if you don't see yourself using this much I would suggest borrowing from friend)
Steps:
  1. Follow the directions on your eyelet tool and place eyelets every six inches or so around the open end of the pillow case. 
  2. Run a ribbon through the eyelets
  3. You're done! I know, you're thinking "I could have thought of that!" Well, good for you. Next time send me an email about it.
It's smaller (so I have to do laundry often), It's pretty!, it's solid (to save the old ladies from running) and I can throw a lavender sachet in their and my car smells great. The best part is that when I do laundry the bag can get washed too.
 
While I went for the easy pillowcase option, Martha Stewart had another great bag design. She sewed up the bottom of a t shirt and cut the arms off! Click here to watch the step by step video.

I almost forgot! The pillow case was $1 at Good Will and the eyelets were $2 at the craft store.

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