Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer?
In the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect.
Today’s RV travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many RVers take their clothes to a nearby laundromat or facility in an RV park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup?
Making the choice isn’t always easy, and much depends on your lifestyle. RVers who spend a lot of time boondocking or are generally away from hookups almost universally agree–washing machines are a useless weight to lug around for no reason. Face it, one of the more popular washer/dryers among RVers uses nearly 20 gallons of water a load. That’s a lot of fresh water to pump out of your tank, then turn around and stick in the gray water tank–provided you have a generator to run the machine anyway.
But for those who spend more time with hookups, your own facilities look a lot more attractive. Visions of no longer sitting around in the sometimes smelly, always noisy, frequently crowded public washamats is a great thing. But hang on and consider all the factors.
Most “RV” washers take relatively small loads of clothes. Survivors of the RV laundry wars often recommend you take sheets, jeans, or loads of towels to the laundrymat and save the RV washer for “lighter” stuff. Drying times are usually horrific: Unless your dryer is a 220 volt model, drying times can drag on like a bad cold.
Combo washer/dryers do take up less space than individual units; but again, they come with a price. Not only financial–they’re heftily priced, but often they’re “non-vented” when it comes to drying. How’s that? A non-vented dryer heats up the drum full of clothing, producing a load of steam. To get rid of the water vapor, the machine pumps cold water over the drum to condense the steam, then pump the condensate out through the drain. Could easily take another 5 gallons of fresh water to “dry” the load.
If you still figure you want to go the ‘in your rig’ route, here are some tips:
First, don’t necessarily settle for an “RV specific” machine. We have “home style” Maytag equipment in our park trailer. Our washer capacity of 2.4 cubic feet is 50% larger than the typical RV washer. Not withstanding, the electrical current draw of 4.5 amps doesn’t come close to the taxing 13 amps of another RV washer on the market–that’s a washer NOT a dryer. And our washer and dryer sizes are comparable to RV washers and dryers.
When using an RV clothes cleaning system, keep the loads small–do more loads. In reality when it comes to drying time, you’ll save a lot of time. And if using a non-vented dryer system, don’t be shocked when the “dry” clothes come out damp. That’s normal–just wait a few minutes before you fold them and that damp feeling will go away. Some even say they find that the non-vented machines dry better if you actually fold heavy clothes before drying them. Sounds crazy, and we’ve never tested the practice, but that’s what some say.
photo courtesy cindianajones on flickr.com
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October 18th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
[…] Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer? n the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect. Today’s rv travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many rvers take their clothes to a nearby laudromat or facility in an rv park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup? […]
October 21st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
[…] Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer? n the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect. Today’s RV travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many RVers take their clothes to a nearby laudromat or facility in an RV park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup? […]
October 27th, 2008 at 5:06 am
I have a Splendide 2000 in my RV. Overall there are adjustments to be made with the load volume but in the end my clothes are clean & dry and in the comforts of home. I rest my case!
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 am
[…] Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer? In the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect. Today’s RV travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many RVers take their clothes to a nearby laudromat or facility in an RV park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup? […]
November 25th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[…] Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer? In the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect. Today’s RV travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many RVers take their clothes to a nearby laudromat or facility in an RV park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup? […]
December 11th, 2008 at 2:47 am
[…] Fulltime With Your Own Washer/Dryer? In the days before the Industrial Revolution, travelers washed clothes in whatever body of water was handy, maybe beating them with rocks for a cleansing effect. Today’s RV travelers, happily, have a few more choices available. Many RVers take their clothes to a nearby laudromat or facility in an RV park. Still others have washing facilities in their rig. How about you? Are you wondering about whether to equip your current or future fulltime rig with your own washing setup? […]
July 1st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
We fulltime and workamp so we have full hookups. Whenever I “forget” about how bad laundromats are and use one, I always come back with some ruined clothes from greasy stains. I absolutely, positively LOVE my Splendide. I put a load in about every other day, set it and go about my business. When it is done, I fold and put away. What is so hard about that? I wash sheets, jeans and small rugs in it. The only thing it won’t handle is blankets.