Laundry duty on the road

Stuff that goes in your Chinook but isnt really part of your Chinook.
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Xatlatc
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Laundry duty on the road

Post by Xatlatc »

My wife doesn't like using public laundromats unless absolutely necessary, so she found this small wash machine and it works great. She just washed six women's tops in one load. It has a spin cycle too. Made by a company called Base Camp. There's different models too. With the small ironing board and iron we carry on board, we're winkle free. Well, at least our clothes are! Ha. Enroute to Maine.
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Must hold on to it while on the spin cycle
Must hold on to it while on the spin cycle
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Blue~Go
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Re: Laundry duty on the road

Post by Blue~Go »

Good thread topic!

I totally agree on disliking laundromats and/or having my laundry done. When I have good access to water I do it the way I did when onboard a boat, which is by hand with two buckets (helps to minimize water usage by just using a little bit and moving it from soapy/dirty to clean in stages). I have seen people with less hand strength use a (clean) plunger to assist in the wash cycle. Then wring out (easier if wringing around a vertical post such as ladder) and hang up.

Without trying too hard, I can wash and rinse, say, four pairs of socks and underwear, a couple pair of shorts, two shirts, and a small towel with 2-3 gallons of water and a couple of small buckets that stack inside each other in the port side outside storage compartment.

Anything but the laundromat, right? :D

Plus they seem so fresh/nice after drying in a sunny breeze as opposed to a commercial dryer with the leavings of someone else's fabric softener sheet :?

(Though I do still go if I have blankets or something like that that just isn't practical in a bucket - that's not most of the time though.)

One side note (perhaps obvious) is that things like cotton sweatshirts, thick towels, and jeans don't lend themselves to washing in a bucket (or small gizmo like you have). As such I use things such as camp towels, nylon shorts, fleece jacket, etc. Or thin cotton dress shirts (good for being cool in the sun if you don't favor the synthetic type).
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Chinookers
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Re: Laundry duty on the road

Post by Chinookers »

Where do you find room to store it?
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Blue~Go
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Re: Laundry duty on the road

Post by Blue~Go »

That would be my issue with a dedicated "washer" (but I, too, am interested in where it is kept).

For my bucket method, I have two all-purpose, regular old plastic buckets. They happen to be oval shaped. They stack inside each other with only an extra height from the second bucket of about 3/4" (unlike the Rubbermaid buckets I'd really like but that inefficiently add 4 inches to the stack with the second bucket). The two buckets stacked together (just) fit right-side up in the outside storage area on the driver's side that's just behind the original battery area. I use them for all kinds of things (rig washing, outdoor showering, taking-tools-to-roof, and just general bucketry) so they are very multi-purpose.
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Xatlatc
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Re: Laundry duty on the road

Post by Xatlatc »

Our desire was to store the washer under the dinette table which works until making the table bed. It's just an inch or so too tall. So, while traveling it sits in front of the stove in a laundry basket. The aisle is still useable. While parked we move it to the passenger seat. When in use it sits on the toilet which allows us to drain into the floor drain. It washes a good size load of clothes considering the small size. It takes about six gallons of water for wash and rinse. Less for smaller loads of course. I bought it from Cabellas for about $75.00. The spin cycle removes most of the water from towels and jeans but not as well as a full size washer but good enough. A wash cycle can be up to 15 minutes. During the spin cycle we hold it down so it doesn't walk off the toilet seat. I bought a rubber plug from Lowe's to place in the drain hose while not in use just to make sure any leftover water doesn't drip out if the hose if it came off its holder.
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