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My partner and I live on the top floor of a building in Queens, New York. Our apartment has plenty of natural light and cool views nearby. However, in exchange, there are five stairs between my door and the outside world. These five flights are usually no big deal-I'm very young and (relatively) in good shape. But when I have to take out the trash from the mail room or carry a package, these stairs are definitely a killer.

My building also does not have a laundry room, so washing my clothes usually requires dragging them to the laundromat in the corner and then coming back. At its best, this is annoying enough. But in a pandemic, who wants to leave home and wash clothes in a closed public space? I bought the Magic Chef Compact Washer as soon as I had a chance, and it was one of the best purchases I made after moving to New York.

The portable washing machine is directly connected to your sink-you unscrew the aerator from the faucet, insert the adapter into the faucet, and then connect the hose that feeds the water into the machine. When you are ready to start the cycle, add clothes and detergent, plug the machine into the socket, turn on the water pressure, and press start. At that time, the machine was fully automated, it worked like a normal washing machine, with washing, rinsing and dehydration cycles.

Sometimes these machines use a "double bucket" design, one bucket is used for washing and rinsing cycles, and the other is used for spin-drying cycles (this adds the step of transferring clothes to the dehydrator after the rinsing cycle is complete). The spinning cycle helps the clothes dry relatively quickly on the drying rack (just a few hours).

Generally, the rotation period on a single-cylinder machine is usually slower than the independent rotator in a double-cylinder model (800 rpm, while each is about 1300 rpm). But in practice, I have never encountered the problem of clothes drying too slowly (the convenience of fully automatic circulation should not be ignored).

The Magic Chef is similar in size to many portable washing machines, but has a small capacity. The drum is only 0.9 cubic feet, while an ordinary full-size washing machine is about 4.5 cubic feet. I can put a few shirts and some pants in it, as well as some socks and underwear. When a cycle ends, my clothes are always clean, but sometimes a considerable amount of lint (especially sweatshirts) is stuck. If the machine is not on a perfectly level surface, its sound may be loud. I found that placing some kind of padding underneath (in my case a carpet pad) helps to absorb most of the vibration.

In addition, the threaded hose on the pull-down faucet, like the hose on my kitchen sink, is not strong enough to withstand the water pressure from the washing machine and may eventually break. So I had to use the Magic Chef washing machine in my small bathroom, where there was no space for the machine to stay permanently. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to move the bulky 44-pound machine when not in use and store it elsewhere.

Portable washing machines can be a sore spot for many landlords (and neighbors). They can be very loud and there is a possibility of leakage. If you want to buy one for your apartment, please be honest with your landlord or property manager.

When I moved into my building last year, my landlord did not allow me to buy an automatic portable washing machine for my apartment. But when I moved to a new apartment in the same building in January, I seized the opportunity to negotiate one in my lease. My landlord and I agree that I can get one as long as I use it on the tiled floor (in my bathroom or kitchen) and she must approve the specific machine.

Before my landlord allowed me to purchase Magic Chef, I purchased a manual (elbow grease-powered) portable washing machine from Wonderwash.

It involves a very simple process: Put the clothes in the tank, add the right amount of water and detergent, and then shake the lever to turn the drum and wash the clothes. Then you pour out the water, fill the jar with clean water again, and shake it to rinse. If your landlord does not allow you to own an electric portable washing machine, or you want a very compact washing machine (the whole machine is only 12 x 12 x 16 inches), a manual washing machine is a good solution.

But because there is no spinning cycle, the clothes are soaked when they come out and need to be dried on a drying rack forever (even if they are wrung out by hand). Since you have to turn the lever during the entire cycle (about a minute or two, depending on the size of the load), it will become very tiring after a few loads. And because the roller can only hold a few shirts and one or two pants (plus smaller items such as socks or underwear), you need to make a few clothes to complete a week's clothing for two people. I always lag behind in laundry, always catching up.

Before I bought this machine, washing clothes in my apartment meant using a hand-operated washing machine. Although it saves time, it is also very laborious and inconvenient-almost as unattractive as dragging my dirty clothes to the laundry. Since I bought the portable machine, I wash clothes more frequently (a few times a week, at least three clothes at a time), and I have never lacked clean clothes.

At a deeper level, with my new machine, I feel more like a normal working person than when I use a hand-operated washing machine and hardly have enough clothes for a week. Falling behind in housework can cause real losses, especially when everything in life feels so unstable. These days it is a blessing to know that I have clean clothes in my closet.

Justin Redman is an assistant writer covering sleep issues for Wirecutter. For years of poor sleep, he hopes to help others (and himself) benefit from better and more comfortable sleep. He has previously published articles on The Hill and The Credits, and wrote a blog about the NBA for WizardsXTRA.

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