Any design geniuses about? (1 Viewer)

[Gromett]

I am tinkering with the plans for my next self build. I am going over the niggles with my current one and deciding how to fix them. For most of them it is pretty straight forward. However I could do with a bit of advice on this one.

currently I have drawers full of clothes which as I use them goes into a laundry bag on the front seat.

I start with an empty front seat and full drawers then end up with the reverse. This to me is a waste of space.

What I am thinking of doing is designing a cupboard with a floating shelf. At the start of the trip the bottom section is small and emtpy with the top section containing all my clothes. As the clothes come out of the top section the shelf should rise leaving space at the bottom for my laundry bags

Can anyone think of a suitable mechanism for the floating shelf. Bungy cords, springs or clips are not really suitable as they are too fiddly etc.

The shelves are only for jeans/tshirts etc. I don't have any clothes that require coat hangers etc.

I am a full timer and have enough clothes to last a month between visits to the laundrette.

Any thoughts would be appreciated even the snarky/funny ones.

 

[fifthwheel]

Could you put the used laundry in dedicated bags and put them back in the drawers. I'll get my coat

 

[Robert Clark]

I wouldn't put dirty laundry in the same cupboard as clean washing, unless is was in one of those space saving, sealed plastic bags

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[Jaws]

Perhaps you are over egging it a bit Karl ?

You have actually given the answer already
A floating shelf

4 x bits of dowling ( or similar ) attached top and bottom
4 x large screw in eye's

Drill four holes in the bottom of the draw to allow the dowl to pass through and fit the 4 eyes at the top of the draw to ensure the draw stays straight

 

[Popeye]

I am a full timer and have enough clothes to last a month between visits to the laundrette.

Are you kidding us Karl? you really DO have two pairs of underpants.........

 

[Gromett]

Could you put the used laundry in dedicated bags and put them back in the drawers. I'll get my coat

That would mean either taking the bags out each time to get to clothes. or taking clothes out to get to bags each time. Plus I don't want dirty laundry right next to clean. Thanks for the idea though.

I wouldn't put dirty laundry in the same cupboard as clean washing, unless is was in one of those space saving, sealed plastic bags

I don't that is why I want a separate section at the bottom. Imagine a cupboard with no shelves. Add a shelf in the middle that can move up and down but there is no gap for air to get between.

Perhaps you are over egging it a bit Karl ?

You have actually given the answer already
A floating shelf

4 x bits of dowling ( or similar ) attached top and bottom
4 x large screw in eye's

Drill four holes in the bottom of the draw to allow the dowl to pass through and fit the 4 eyes at the top of the draw to ensure the draw stays straight

I can see you have thought this through I think? But I don't really understand what you mean?

I will need around 5 shelves in the top section each adjustable as clothes are taken out. I don't want wires or bungies etc inside the storage area to get wrapped around the clothes...

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[Gromett]

PS: I use thick black bin bags for my clothes. Not sealed but they are folded over at the top.

 

[TheBig1]

use vacuum storage bags for dirty laundry to minimise wasted space. fill the bag and roll up to expel the air. then stack full bags in the bottom of the cupboard or wardrobe. its amazing how much they reduce the volume for storing. plus it keeps any smells etc contained to prevent contaminating clean clothes in the same area

 

[Yorick]

Buy paper clothes and throw them away when dirty



The Sheriff walks into the saloon with his posse and addresses the patrons. "Hey, boys, I was wonderin' if you could help us - we're chasing the Brown Paper Kid. Anyone seen 'im?"

"What's he look like?"

"Well, he's got a brown paper hat, and a brown paper shirt, a brown paper vest and brown paper dungarees. He wears brown paper boots, he's got brown paper chaps and brown paper spurs, and he's got a brown paper holster for his brown paper gun."

"Naw, we ain't seen him. Whatcha want him for?"















"Rustlin'"

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[Jaws]

That would mean either taking the bags out each time to get to clothes. or taking clothes out to get to bags each time. Plus I don't want dirty laundry right next to clean. Thanks for the idea though.




I don't that is why I want a separate section at the bottom. Imagine a cupboard with no shelves. Add a shelf in the middle that can move up and down but there is no gap for air to get between.



I can see you have thought this through I think? But I don't really understand what you mean?

I will need around 5 shelves in the top section each adjustable as clothes are taken out. I don't want wires or bungies etc inside the storage area to get wrapped around the clothes...

No wires, no bungies, no cords.. but equally no good ..Sorry .. I thought you only wanted one shelf.. Forget all the above drivel

 

[Stealaway]

See - Broken Link Removed

4 x rails (page 8) and any amount of shelf support pins

 

[magicsurfbus]

Drawer runners fitted vertically?

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[thehutchies]

You could buy five of these and screw one to each shelf:

 

[Just smiffy]

Here you go...
http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US2819801

 

[DBK]

You could have a shelf which slid up and down on runners. No need for any mechanism, gravity would ensure it was always resting on the dirty clothes. The runners could be just say one inch wide by one and a half deep PSE with notches cut on the corners of the shelf. To add more laundry slide your hand underneath the shelf and raise it. Then with the other hand slide in the new laundry.

You could make some sort of dumb waiter arrangement with pulleys and ropes but it seems an unnecessary complication.

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[Gromett]

See - Broken Link Removed

4 x rails (page 8) and any amount of shelf support pins

Not practical, holding the shelves up while I adjust the pins each time is a ballache and wouldn't do my dodgy shoulder any favours. Thanks tho.

Drawer runners fitted vertically?

You could have a shelf which slid up and down on runners. No need for any mechanism, gravity would ensure it was always resting on the dirty clothes. The runners could be just say one inch wide by one and a half deep PSE with notches cut on the corners of the shelf. To add more laundry slide your hand underneath the shelf and raise it. Then with the other hand slide in the new laundry.

You could make some sort of dumb waiter arrangement with pulleys and ropes but it seems an unnecessary complication.

As above, not really practical. I am looking for a more elegant solution. This is better than the pegs but I couldn't fit in 5 sets of draw runners in the configuration i would need. That as well as the weight would make it impractical for me.


I did consider this
Broken Link Removed
Which would go through a slot into a channel at the sides. But I couldn't figure out a simple way to raise and lower them equally at all 4 corners.

 

[Gromett]

OR something similar to this but obviously nicer looking.
Broken Link Removed

However the mechanism would need to be adjustable to that I can adjust the amount of weight needed to deflect the shelves by a certain amount.

 

[DBK]

Ah, I missed the thing about drawer runners! What about lots of horizontal slots down both sides into which you slide half inch thick bits of plywood/block board into the appropriate slot to place the shelf at the right position. The clothes themselves being folded up and placed in shallow metal mesh trays which are slid onto the plywood shelves. Something like the tray below but the right size for your wardrobe of course. The sides also need to be tapered so they can be stacked when empty.

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[fifthwheel]

Could you put the used laundry in dedicated bags and put them back in the drawers. I'll get my coat

You can buy strong plastic bags with zips I am told, use these to put the used laundry in, press the air out and put them back in the drawers. Keep It Simple.

 

[Puddleduck]

What about something like this?

Amazon product ASIN B0041HLT80
You can put baskets on the shelves if you wish...... as you need less space on the shelves the sides are soft and will fold up as you raise the base.

Failing that a trip to IKEA (I know but they do have good ideas) might give you some thoughts.

 

[berni109]

what u need is a shelving system like they use in chemists to store the drugs but not sure what they call them - half depth draws that rotate up the front and down the back. used to be a lift at aston uni that was called a patanosta that went up one side across the top and down the other. probably totally impractical in the space u have available.
or how about stacking plastic crates behind 1 door. one way round they sit on top of each other other way they fit inside each other but obviously not infinitely variable.

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[Bartyfixedit]

What about a drawer with a sliding vertical divider? The divider starts off close to the back with all the clean clothes in front of it. Dirty clothes get put behind the divider which slowly moves forward as the clean clothes are consumed. I roll up all of my clothes in the drawer as I find that is how they take the least space.

That would be my solution.

Cheers,

David.

 

[Puddleduck]

I roll my clean clothes, undies around socks, and T-shirts around both, I then add a bra and put them into a plastic sandwich type bag, the ones that have the click type seal. Easy to grab a bag each morning and know the clean clothes are sorted and ready to wear. Jeans / trousers get folded and put on a shelf. You can get an awful lot of clothes bags in a single drawer!

 

[Southdowners]

I wouldn't bother with a floating shelf system. I'd put the 5 shelves in and find baskets to fit. Leave the bottom basket empty for dirty clothes. Clean clothes in the upper baskets. As the clean clothes are used and the upper baskets empty you put your dirty clothes in them too. The clean and dirty will stay separate and on laundry day just empty all the baskets and start again.

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[Judge Mental]

A full timer who washes and changes clothes.........interesting

 

[CWH]

I wouldn't bother with a floating shelf system. I'd put the 5 shelves in and find baskets to fit. Leave the bottom basket empty for dirty clothes. Clean clothes in the upper baskets. As the clean clothes are used and the upper baskets empty you put your dirty clothes in them too. The clean and dirty will stay separate and on laundry day just empty all the baskets and start again.

My thoughts too.

 

[Speve]

@Gromett What you need is a couple of sliding sash window balances they hold the window wherever it is opened to.I should think they would work a treat.
http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/

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[Gromett]

what u need is a shelving system like they use in chemists to store the drugs but not sure what they call them - half depth draws that rotate up the front and down the back. used to be a lift at aston uni that was called a patanosta that went up one side across the top and down the other. probably totally impractical in the space u have available.
or how about stacking plastic crates behind 1 door. one way round they sit on top of each other other way they fit inside each other but obviously not infinitely variable.

Not really enough space. I think a system like that would use more space than it saved and I don't actually see how it would solve the issue either. Nice idea though

What about a drawer with a sliding vertical divider? The divider starts off close to the back with all the clean clothes in front of it. Dirty clothes get put behind the divider which slowly moves forward as the clean clothes are consumed. I roll up all of my clothes in the drawer as I find that is how they take the least space.

That would be my solution.

Wouldn't really work for me. The drawers start off really really crammed. I don't want to make them any bigger. Plus not keen on having my dirties so close my cleans. The drawers would also have to slide out a long way to get to the back. Again a nice idea.

I roll my clean clothes, undies around socks, and T-shirts around both, I then add a bra and put them into a plastic sandwich type bag, the ones that have the click type seal. Easy to grab a bag each morning and know the clean clothes are sorted and ready to wear. Jeans / trousers get folded and put on a shelf. You can get an awful lot of clothes bags in a single drawer!

When you have a months worth of clothes to do in the laundrette then pack in bags etc... It would be too much messing about for me sorry.

I wouldn't bother with a floating shelf system. I'd put the 5 shelves in and find baskets to fit. Leave the bottom basket empty for dirty clothes. Clean clothes in the upper baskets. As the clean clothes are used and the upper baskets empty you put your dirty clothes in them too. The clean and dirty will stay separate and on laundry day just empty all the baskets and start again.

The problem with this idea is that the drawers empty at roughly the same rate. So each clean draw would still be 4/5th full when the bottom one was full. I don't want to be mixing them up or moving stuff around each time the dirty one gets full.

@Gromett What you need is a couple of sliding sash window balances they hold the window wherever it is opened to.I should think they would work a treat.
http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/

I did think of them, however sash balances are designed for a fixed weight window. The shelves would get lighter as they emptied. Also I would still have the problem on how to ensure that all 4 sash weights moved at the same speed to stop the shelved getting on a slant and jamming.

Some nice ideas in this batch . Thanks guys

 

[Gromett]

PS: @Speve I did look at the spiral sash balances. My friend had a joinery shop where I worked occasionaly and fitted these. Much better than the old style weights.

 

[DBK]

Embrace naturism?

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