How do you wash clothes in a motor home?

Life in full-time RV presents many challenges and doing laundry can be one of them depending on your budget and needs. While leaving home behind and living on the road generally cuts down on housework and frees up more time to do the things you enjoy, doing laundry may be an exception to that.

Personally, we have three kids with us on the trail, so doing laundry is a bit bigger chore than for most, but many of our friends on the trail have larger families than we do. Either way, it can be done frugally or with some glitter; it really comes down to your budget.

Here are some options when it comes to doing laundry on the road:

Do you have money to spend?

Splendid washer / dryer combo

If money is not an issue, or you just like convenience, and your team has the facilities, you can opt for a Splendide washer / dryer combination or a Haier washer / dryer combination. These units fit perfectly into the allotted space in most RVs and are widely used by many nomads. These units will wash and dry your clothes without manual intervention, but the average load size is reduced due to their limited capacity. They may be a bit prohibitively priced, but their ease of use and convenience can make up for that initial investment. With the continued rise of full-time RVs, I think we’ll see more options in this price range in the coming years and their efficiency and price will likely improve.

Do you have a budget to do laundry?

If you have some budget to apply to laundry but not an infinite amount, this section is for you. There are many options available to RVers who are on a budget and have a little money to spend.

First of all, you can save yourself the headache of not having any equipment and doing laundry on the facilities offered by the campsite. They typically cost $ 4-6 per load, but we’ve seen them offered for less. In addition to not having the cost of equipment, the units tend to be more industrial size, so loads can be larger on average to get more for your money. We have noticed that most of the machines are in good condition and get the job done efficiently. However, keep in mind that larger industrial dryers get very hot and can damage certain types of clothes.

If you have a little money to spend, but don’t want to spend your time at the camp laundry, you can start looking for alternatives that make it easy to do laundry manually without having to pay for one of the large combo units mentioned above. . These units are compact, inexpensive, and have above-average consumer reviews.

Panda Mini Washing Machine

There are options when it comes to these compact units, but I’ll focus on one set in particular that seems to get the best feedback from consumers. If you haven’t noticed, I really like the reviews. If others like a product, chances are high that I will like it too.

First is the compact washing machine. The Panda Mini washing machine is a relatively inexpensive option and consumer reviews show that this machine handles light and heavy loads well. The loads are much smaller than what would run on a standard size machine, but this unit should pay for itself over the course of a few months.

Centrifugal laundry drying

To get the most out of your new compact mini washer, you may want to combine it with a compact dryer. Centrifugal dryers are not necessarily a new product, but certainly one that not many people have discovered. With a good centrifugal dryer your clothes will dry 90-95% without heat. Here is the top rated centrifugal clothes dryer on Amazon. This product will not cost you too much and is efficient, effective and easy to use.

Do you need absolute frugality?

Are you pinching pennies? Many of us are and need frugal solutions to everyday expenses, and laundry is one of them. If you are doing 3 loads of laundry a week then you are spending an average of $ 60 / month using the camp facilities. In a single month, the next equipment will have paid for itself.

Wonderwash

WonderWash comes from the same company that makes the aforementioned centrifugal dryer. My family has personally owned a WonderWash for a year and it really does an excellent job. This unit is simple, efficient and very affordable. WonderWash is a manual unit and requires approximately three minutes of startup for each load and several minutes of soaking. One caveat with this unit is that it does not drain clothes. One must squeeze them manually by hand.

To keep the theme frugal, there are a variety of ways to design a clothesline on your VR site. It can be as simple as a rope tied from the RV ladder to a tree, an expandable drying rack, or a homemade PVC drying rack that attaches to the rear of the unit.

You can choose one of the methods mentioned here for your wash solution, or possibly a hybrid solution by mixing it up a bit. Whichever method you choose to wash your clothes while full-time VR life, just remember one thing … it will always be a chore.