Washer / Dryer vs Laundromat

RedandSilver said:

Care to share what you learned?

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Small loads. Dry on low heat. For items you?re concerned about wrinkling pull items out slightly damp and hang. Biggest thing is small loads.

ArdraF said:

if you could see some of the things I've seen in Laundromats, you'd never set foot in another one.  Dogs on folding tables, dirty diapers in washing machines, people smoking over my clean clothes, to name a few.  Ugh!  Need I say more?

ArdraF

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That's the same one I went to ! 

We fulltimed for nearly 5 years. Full time is a very broad statement meaning different things to different people. Our longest period of non movement during those years was 2-3 months at various southern states during the winter months. The rest of the year we were seldom stopped for more than 10 days.

When we purchased our fulltime unit - a 38? fiver - we opted for an A/C upgrade to 15K so we could add a washer/dryer combo rather than a 2nd A/C. The location for our vented combo, pictured below,  is on the lower level a little forward of the axles so not much was added to the hitch weight.

http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=19889

It takes awhile to get used to the smallish load size and some adjustments on how to get the best results. We washed a minimum of one load a day, every day. When stopping for a night or two the combo is going by the time I had the trailer level and hooked-up for the stay. We can run the combo and A/C on 30 amps but not much more. When on 50 amps it?s a snap. Of course the hair dryer or microwave can cause a trip to the circuit breaker.

Of course we were not traveling for adventures in living off the land or in some parking lot. With two boys we did enough of that in our growing-up years. Fulltime was for our enjoyment, we just pointed the rig and went. Traveled in all the lower 48 and 5 CDN provinces. From Bar Harbor to the Golden Gate. Or, 1000 Islands to the Everglades. Or, Rawlings to Key West. Maybe even Salt Lake to Brownsville via San Diego and El Paso.   

TonyDtorch said:

That's the same one I went to ! 

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Our preference is for laundromats with enforced rules and on-site staff. We usually look for places that are part of a dry cleaners or fluff and fold laundry that have good ratings.

Larry N. said:

We have stacked washer and dryer, and they're great--in fact, we had the dealer install them, since the coach didn't originally come with them--and we're nowhere near full time, but DW is extremely pleased with them.

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Larry, on the stacked units in a 50amp coach, is the dryer 220? I've often wondered but never asked anyone that had a stacked unit.

Best part about having a washer and dryer in our motorhome is ...

Got up this morning, put in a load of wash, reading my email in my jammies (I know, too much information) while laundry is getting done.  Before I'm ready to go for the day laundry is done.

jsetti said:

put in a load of wash, reading my email in my jammies Before I'm ready to go for the day laundry is done.

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A wash and dry in ours takes a couple hours or more - you must get more mail than we do 

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Larry, on the stacked units in a 50amp coach, is the dryer 220? I've often wondered but never asked anyone that had a stacked unit.

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It's 120V, Don. There's no 220V anywhere in the coach, to the best of my knowledge. Even on the Bounder 33U I had, the rough-ins had a 120V jack.

Larry, on the stacked units in a 50amp coach, is the dryer 220? I've often wondered but never asked anyone that had a stacked unit.

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Don,
Both 120v and 220v are used, depending on year/make/model of RV.  Most are 120v, but 220v is becoming more common as all-electric coaches increase in popularity.  Nearly all dryers are designed to operate either way, depending on what pigtail is wired to it. They simply do not provide as much heat on 120v power.

Many 50A RVs use an electrical load center design that does not even accommodate 220/240v breakers, even though the shore cord delivers both to the RV.

Luxury grade, bus-chassis coaches such as Marathon and Newell have utilized 220v appliances for many years, but few other models offered it until recently.

NY_Dutch said:

Our preference is for laundromats with enforced rules and on-site staff. We usually look for places that are part of a dry cleaners or fluff and fold laundry that have good ratings.

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There are areas of California where it's necessary read/speak Spanish to understand those ratings.

  We have stackable washer/dryer.... as  we ?do not? full time, they don?t see a lot of use. But...do a very good job, vibration is virtually ?non-existent?, and we ?do not? like laundromats for the aforementioned reasons. We generally boondock when on the road, so when we ?need? to dump tanks and refill fresh tank...we  stay at a campground. We?ll do laundry after dumping the tanks... running a couple of loads through the washer, gives the sewer hose a good flush. Time.... eating supper and catching a few television shows while washing/ drying. It?s called ?multi-tasking?!  ;D

Our Pace Arrow has a Splendid.  Tried to remove it and got as far as we could without tearing out the cupboard above.  Don't know how it's done, but for me and the son, it wasn't about to happen.  Weight is the biggest issue for us.  We're close to the GCWR on our coach but have a ton of space which could easily be taken up by STUFF we'd like to take with.  If we had more carrying capacity, I'd purchase stacked units for two reasons.  First I hate laundromats.  Second, my wife loves throw rugs.  Every where you look, there's a throw rug.  Claims it keeps the cats from tearing up the place.  Can't imagine washing a rug in a Splendid. 

Washing garage rags, throw rugs and comforters are the only good reasons to ever go to a laundromat.

TonyDtorch said:

Washing garage rags, throw rugs and comforters are the only good reasons to ever go to a laundromat.

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) ) )

Washing garage rags, throw rugs and comforters are the only good reasons to ever go to a laundromat.

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) ) )

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So you would be the reason many people don't want to use laundromats.

I just haven?t had bad luck with laundromats. I check out reviews on Yelp and Google first. In very small towns you may only have one choice, but most places have more than one. Then I check out the place before I put my clothes in a machine. Like a PP said, I prefer the ones with a full time attendant who also does washing for customers. We do laundry every 7-8 days, and I just don?t see how people do just one or two loads a month! We do one load of white (underwear, dish towels, etc that get bleach), jeans (usually 2 loads), dark colors, and light colors. Every other time we wash sheets and rugs. How often do you folks that do laundry once a month change clothes? You must have big closets for sure.

That being said, when we buy a Class A it will get a 2 part set. We won?t be traveling as much, and it has to be easier to use your own units when you are hooked up to services.

I have a portable compact washer that does magic with about 15 different settings.
It quick connects to the sink and drain.
I love it.
I hang dry my clothes, sheets and towels.
Sometimes on a homemade rack out back, other times on overhead compression rods I installed in the shower and along one side of my bedroom ceiling.
I have twice the clothe hangers because I hang dry using those and clothes pins. I just pin the towels to the clothes hangers and then hang everything up 1-2-3 inches apart.
I've been known to use a fan to speed dry.
My little washer accommodates sheets and throw rugs, even the dog bed and throw pillows go in.
Once in a great while I will use a laundromat, but it's extremely rare.
Sometimes I will wash 2-3 loads in my washer, then toss in the campground's dryer, but mostly I prefer that sunshine smell from drying my clothes outside.
My compact washer was $240 in 2010, so I've used it 7 years now. The stainless steel tub inside is still bright and shiny.
I use vinegar in a dawny dispenser so the innards don't get clogged up with hard water. The vinegar softens the laundry too.

Compact Haier washer at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=haier+washer

UTTransplant said:

We do laundry every 7-8 days, and I just don?t see how people do just one or two loads a month!

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First off I do not own one thing that is white. Everything I own has color so I don't have to mess around with a white load and bleach. I have about 15 pairs of underpants and 15 polo shirts and I change both every other day. I have about six pairs of cargo shorts and I change that every 5 days. I don't wear socks, jackets or sweaters. I live in Florida so I can wear the exact same style outfit every day, underpants, cargo shorts, polo shirt and maybe slip on sandals if I go outside. The nice thing about living in Florida is this outfit works 365. I have two towels in the bath room that I alternate every other shower. Plus my sheets. And I have a few hand towels. The laundromat I go to has an attendant and is very clean and very empty first thing in the morning. I go once a month. They have the largest machines I have ever seen in my life, and I use to work at a dry cleaners. The small machines are $2. They also have machines for $3.50, $4, $5 and I think $6. I use the $4 machine and my one load fills it up. One dryer load. Total expense is $7.50 per month. Clothes come out clean and smelling good. I have been using laundromats for the last 30 years so I have it down to a science. I also have emphysema so I am not very active so I don't sweat much.

UTTransplant said:

We do laundry every 7-8 days, and I just don?t see how people do just one or two loads a month!

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We have about a 3 week supply of clothes on board, with seasonal items stowed in bins and switched out as the weather changes where are at the time. We typically do laundry about every 2 weeks.

How often do you folks that do laundry once a month change clothes?

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When we went full time we were told it's a rule that you can wear an article of clothing three times before you have to wash it, and if you rotate them you could get four days.