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Human Factors Design Considerations for Laundry Baskets

After all these years, it still hasn't been perfected

By Rain Noe - January 29

in Human Factors

A laundry basket should be something you buy once. It should be durable, easy to use and inoffensive to look at. Here's mine, a family hand-me-down from the 1980s made by Rubbermaid. It has stood the test of time and survived two teething puppies. But while physically intact, it appears filthy and resists cleaning; the plastic has not aged well.

Look at the handle placement, on the short sides. This basic design for a laundry basket does not take an obvious reality into account. Because most of us do not shed our dirty clothes in the same room that the washing machine is located in, we must carry laundry through doorways, often multiple ones, to get to the washing machine. At 25" wide, if held by the handles this basket cannot be carried through a 30"-wide door opening without knuckle- and shoulder-scraping, unless one turns sideways. This is not a Herculean feat, but is a minor annoyance.

Here's a Sterilite laundry basket from 1992, the photo having been posted on the Buy It For Life subReddit as testament to its durability:

Image: Mcgaritydotme

It has held up far better and has a more sensible four handles rather than two. Held from the handles on the long ends, it is easier to carry this basket through a doorway.

Both of the basket designs above have a central design flaw that the one below solves. This is Sterilite's modern-day HipHold laundry basket:

The three-handled design, along with the curved non-handled side, makes it comfortable to hold the basket one-handed and braced against one's hip.

This is a much more intelligent design because, crucially, it leaves one hand free to open doors. Other baskets, designed to be carried with two hands, require you to put the basket down for each door you must open. (Because of the way my house is laid out, I need to go through three doors to get to the laundry, so I tend to notice these things.)

Rubbermaid has a similar offering with their Hip-Hugger.

Finally, this stacking design below takes another minor laundry hassle into account: Sorting.

The handles can be pivoted inwards, and then register in grooves on the bottom of the next basket, allowing them to stack. This takes up less space in a laundry room, whether for separating whites and colors or individual family members' laundry.

The downsides to the stacking design: It adds a level of manufacturing complexity--and thus cost--with the pivoting handles (this design retails for $15, versus the $12 for the HipHold). And it doesn't offer the ease of holding the basket against one's hip.

Just a reminder that there is still room for design improvement in an object that has been around for decades and that most families probably own.

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Paula Rees

9 months ago

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When asked about this photo from the early 1960s, industrial designer Sara Little [Turnbull] said she was concerned about the sharp edges on these cut-outs and what would happen if grabbed with the weight of a basketful of laundry. See centerfordesign.net for more on her outstanding career in product design.

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Shelby Baxter

9 months ago

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Just goes to show how much improvement we can still make as designer's, this has me thinking!

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David Merio

9 months ago

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I use a 10 gallon Fiskars Kangaroo garden bag. They’re collapsible, durable, and contain far less plastic.

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Richard Vinson

9 months ago

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We have been using Ikea Bags for the last few years. We still use baskets as well but our house is very vertical with the laundry in the basement so the bags are replacing them. right now I'm thinking shoulder straps like a back pack would be nice however, If we stay in the house as we age, a laundry chute, possibly one of the pneumatic ones with an option to revers it and send it back up stairs will become more of a need, especially with cats who love to walk with us on the stairs.

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Michael DiTullo

9 months ago

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20+ years ago Umbra made a 30" tall version of the Karim Rashid designed Garbo can and I've been using it as a laundry hamper ever since. Ironically I can't even find an image of the tall version! But it has two handles and is very tall making it easy to navigate around the house.

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