Desperately seeking comfortable laundry bag/backpack

December 29, 2021 8:55 PM

I live in Brooklyn. I have to walk downstairs and then several blocks to the laundromat. I can no longer ignore that carrying 2-3 weeks' worth of clothes through the neighborhood in IKEA bags is leaving horrendous welts on my shoulders. Nearly all the laundry bags/backpacks I can find are flimsy, narrow-strapped things seemingly intended for college dorm use. Literal millions of us live in cities without in-unit laundry, right? Why doesn't anyone want to take our money?

"Use a granny cart," you say. I have one. Getting it down the stairs while extremely heavily laden with laundry is worse than giving myself a weird blood rash with the IKEA bags, I promise.

Basically, I'm looking for something with comfortable, ideally wide and padded straps, as well as sturdy construction that won't rip/fall apart. I usually have two full IKEA bags of laundry ... not sure exactly what that capacity is but larger is better, I'm guessing. Multiple compartments for different types of laundry loads would be nice to have but not necessary.

The large Chipmunk Bag seems basically perfect, but they don't make it anymore. This one from Food52 is the best I've found that's currently available to buy. But wondering if anyone has any better ideas.

Let's pretend that there is no budget for this request, if you can find the perfect one. And if you can think of a solution for this that isn't marketed as a "laundry bag" then please feel free to make suggestions along those lines. Bonus points to anyone who has tried and can personally vouch for any particular product.

posted by sparkling to Shopping (23 answers total)

What about a hiking backpack - these are comfortable to carry and you can get ones with 60-90 liters capacity. I think a lot of them let you unzip the internal sleeping bag divider to create an extra large compartment. Hit up REI or camping stores for some options
posted by piyushnz at 9:08 PM on December 29, 2021 [8 favorites]

Previously

I will stand by my previous recommendation of a hiking backpack if that’s in your budget. For a laundry backpack, you probably want something as large as they’ll sell you, like this or bigger. I use a 45L Osprey backpack for grocery shopping and have lugged a 65L one around the world and can very much vouch for their comfort (and they’re one of the first companies to make women-specific backpacks, if that appeals to you).

They’re expensive and both sized and gendered, so if you want to make the investment I’d suggest having someone at REI size you and help you understand how they’re supposed to fit if that’s at all an option for you.
posted by A Blue Moon at 9:10 PM on December 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: surplus duffel $20, find new if you need new. two of these lasted 20 years international travel.
posted by j_curiouser at 9:12 PM on December 29, 2021 [9 favorites]

Best answer: Yep, came in to suggest an army surplus duffel. Use smaller mesh laundry bags for separating colors/loads. If you need more padding on the straps, search for “shoulder strap pads” which you can make or buy at a huge range of price points depending on what you need. An old college friend of mine still uses hers, it’s traveled to countryside Japan and Israel and London and DC and Seattle, lasted more than fifteen years at this point and I think it was used when she bought it.
posted by Mizu at 9:33 PM on December 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Can you get a hip belt for the duffels? It’s a hip belt that fits that takes the load off your shoulders.
posted by clew at 9:36 PM on December 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

You could use a rock climbing haul bag. These are designed for huge loads and high durability in the outdoors. You could also consider a portable clothes washer; if I didn't have in-unit laundry, I would get one of these.
posted by mnemonic at 9:37 PM on December 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

For carrying a significant load on your back, there is nothing that comes close to a good-quality hiking backpack. It's really the best option for laundry, groceries, whatever it is that you need to carry for more than a short distance. So many other types of backpacks have generally horrible shoulder strap design and lack a waist belt, making them very uncomfortable to use. Expect to spend a couple hundred dollars.
posted by ssg at 9:39 PM on December 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Another option is a standup paddle board bag like this. A lot cheaper than a hiking bag too
posted by piyushnz at 9:42 PM on December 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

I always used a light suitcase (or two). Whether you'll feel that's worse on stairs is between you and the stairs, but I found I preferred wheeling to carrying.
posted by trig at 11:40 PM on December 29, 2021

If you're walking a few blocks to the laundromat and not just heading downstairs to a shared laundry room, you might really want to think about a wheeled suitcase or wheeled backpack. The former aren't great at stairs but zip shut and tend to have handles on a bunch of sides (both of which do make them easier to drag up/downstairs than a granny cart) and wheels (making it much easier to get to/from the laundromat without having to carry something heavy on your back/with your arms). Wheeled backpacks are better for stairs but are likely to be smaller, they're often a little more unwieldy when you're rolling them, and you might be less likely to already have one. In both cases, you can use smaller mesh laundry bags to subdivide different types of laundry.

I personally prefer suitcases for laundromat visits because of the larger capacity and because I already have them and don't really want to accumulate yet more bags in my tiny apartment.
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 11:54 PM on December 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Thirding the duffel bag. I'm still using my fathers Air Force bag and I'm 52. The old ones are practically indestructable.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:14 AM on December 30, 2021

Honestly, this isn't exactly what you asked, but if I were you I'd budget some money and call a local laundromat to pick up your stuff, clean it, and bring it back every few weeks. What you're describing isn't sustainable, especially if you hunch over a desk all day.
posted by Violet Blue at 12:27 AM on December 30, 2021 [11 favorites]

Use regular, sack-style laundry bags that have a tight drawstring at the top with your granny cart. But don't lug the bag(s) down the stairs — toss or kick 'em down the stairs. It's clothes; they can't break. Carry your cart and just chuck the bag down. On the way back up, IME these bags are very easy to just throw over your shoulder, like Santa Claus.
posted by Charity Garfein at 1:33 AM on December 30, 2021 [6 favorites]

this isn't exactly what you asked, but if I were you I'd budget some money and call a local laundromat to pick up your stuff, clean it, and bring it back every few weeks.

Seconding this. I also live in Brooklyn, and my last apartment was a 4th-floor walkup and I was also doing the Ikea-bag-tote thing - and then I broke my foot once. Someone suggested laundry services like this, I found a laundromat in my neighborhood that did this - and the price was comparable and the service so good that I would sometimes use them now and then even after my foot had healed. (Then I broke my knee 10 years later and started using them all the time again, and now I live in an apartment 2 blocks from their homebase and it has become my default system.)

My roommate and I both team up on this - we usually send it out twice a month. It works out to two bags each time (one for each of us) and it costs about 60 bucks altogether and that's including the tip. (If you live in the Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene area Memail me and I will give you their name.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:22 AM on December 30, 2021 [4 favorites]

If it were me, I'd be inclined to get a hockey bag with suitcase wheels on it. They're often 140L or more, so huge capacity. They're readily available where I am, though, and might not be so readily available where you are.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:32 AM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

I used to use a large roller suitcase when I lived on the third floor and had to walk ~ 1/4 mile to the laundromat. Getting it up and down the stairs was a pain in the ass but it was worth it for the ease of rolling it to the laundromat. You can often find older large roller suitcases at thrift shops (or just ask your friends/relatives if they have an extra) because so many people travel with just a carry-on these days.

Another option would be to use the Ikea backpack to get the laundry up and down the stairs, then stick the backpack in the granny cart and roll it to the laundromat (may require a larger granny cart).
posted by mskyle at 6:01 AM on December 30, 2021

I have a roller bag that has backpack straps on it and the straps will zip into a pocket when not in use. If you can find one of these (search rolling backpack), you can use the straps on the stairs and then roll the bag once you're outside.
posted by soelo at 6:28 AM on December 30, 2021

Maybe a travel backpack would be better than a hiking backpack, since they tend to be simpler in design and more like a comfortable duffle bag for the back. As an added bonus - they should be a lot cheaper than a good hiking backpack, most of which are geared towards multiple storage compartments and not one giant space. (That being said, the back friendliness of a well fitted, well designed hiking backpack is worth every penny!)
posted by rambling wanderlust at 6:45 AM on December 30, 2021

I have good luck with aerobed storage bags.
posted by 8603 at 7:16 AM on December 30, 2021

You might be able to combine the backpack or duffel + wheels by getting a folding luggage cart like people used to use before suitcases came with built-in wheels. Here’s one on eBay. Heck, you could strap your current bags to it.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:30 AM on December 30, 2021

In my experience, when one actually reads the tags on most granny carts, they say things like "rated for up to 12kg" or 25 lbs or 30 lbs or similar. Their build quality is terrible, and dragging them across sidewalks that are uneven/dirty/icy/etc. is also terrible.

Luggage carts are not much of an improvement - they leave your baskets/bags totally exposed to the elements, and they also tip really easily on sidewalks.

I can personally recommend getting something like this file or document cart if you're highly cost-sensitive, as it can handle a lot more weight without tipping or failing than a normal granny cart can: https://www.staples.com/Mount-It-Rolling-Utility-Cart-Folding-and-Collapsible-55-Lbs-Capacity/product_24148263 They're usually rated for 50-60lbs and move weight around much lower than granny carts do, with better protection from the elements than luggage carts.

But even that might not be enough, if you're used to carrying huge IKEA bags packed so densely that you're leaving welts on your shoulders. During 2021, in an effort to make bigger, less frequent grocery store trips, I acquired one of these REI folding wagons, which are sold as outdoors equipment and rated to 150lbs: https://www.rei.com/product/176209/cgear-multimats-sand-free-beach-wagon. You can stuff it with laundry/grocery bags/etc and drag it straight over a big gap in the sidewalk and it'll barely even rattle at you, it's great.

The wagon is around 25lbs of steel itself and somewhat bulky even folded, so I usually carry it up/down the stairs on its own, which is a little inconvenient but doable. Carry your wagon outside, unfold it, carry your sacks of laundry outside, stack them in the wagon, and away you go.
posted by All Might Be Well at 7:58 AM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

Those of a certain age will remember hiking with external-frame backpacks in the 1970s and earlier. These were typically lightweight aluminum frames with cushioned shoulder and waistbelts to which a backpack bag was attached, often leaving room to attach a tent, mattress, or sleeping bag above and below the backpack bag. Like this. I used to take the backpack bag off of mine and use the frame to carry around all sorts of things, including a bicycle down a mountain and a set of encyclopedias from a garage sale to a friend's apartment.

You can still get these, and you can even buy them without the backpack bag. Here's an example from searching Amazon for "external frame hiking backpacks." You could strap or tie a pretty big laundry or duffel bag or two to that and make off to the laundromat in fine style.

Now I want one, too!
posted by Scarf Joint at 8:34 AM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Excellent answers from everyone! After some delay, I have now ordered an enormous German army surplus duffel with backpack straps and a full length zipper, as well as some shoulder strap pads. If I remember, I'll report back on how it goes. I marked those who suggested "army surplus bag" as best answer, but really they were all fantastic and this is now a great resource for future overburdened launderers.
posted by sparkling at 7:39 PM on January 20, 2022