Washing clothes without a washer dryer

Any hints other than a stream and rock?  Are there any small or collapsable hand operater washers out there?

When I get rich I am going to buy my clothes in bulk. Wear them one day then throw them away. Doing laundry sucks.

Are you talking about boondocking or in a campground. We occasionally use laundry rooms in campgrounds.

Yes, there are some hand operated washers out there, you'll find some links in the archives, but don't expect them to do large loads.  A five gallon bucket with a plunger also works.

Here's a link to a popular hand washer. I've used one before on a boat.  They can handle a couple of T-shirts or shorts, or perhaps a pair of jeans and some socks.

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/portable-washing-machine.html

I have no idea about sizes or weights but you can check out lehman's online. They are a company specializing in nonmotorized machinery for old timey folks. Many of my amish friends use their products.

I believe DearMissMermaid on the forum has one that she uses and really likes.  Perhaps she will weigh in.  (Or perhaps I am mistaken)

I don't believe this. After I read this post I headed on over to my photography forum and found the following post:

"After all, why is'nt there a "Washing Machine Review" website and forum, where people gather and shout at each other on the internet and argue over the performance of a front loader over a twin-tub..."

So I went searching and sure enough there are Washing Machine Forums. Here is one of them:

http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/forums/

So the OP might want to register there and ask his question there.

YES, I do have a compact washing machine that I am having a love affair with!  I've had it 7 months and worship it regularly. It takes up less than 18x18 inches square and almost 30 inches high. It fits in the corner of my 28 foot Class C bedroom.  It is electric with quick-connect hoses that hook to either my bathroom or kitchen sink.

In my case, where it is parked in the bedroom, the hoses reach around the corner to the bathroom sink, so I hook up the water to the faucet, turn on the faucet, then the drain hose  fits snugly right down the sink drain.

While it is only 1 cubic foot inside the stainless steel tub, it is a pulsator, so it does not use an agitator, there fore there is more room for clothes. It does small loads and they come out beautifully!  It is a full cycle with wash, rinse and spin. You can program it a dozen different ways and the water level has 3 settings.

The beauty of doing small loads, is that I am able to sort my stuff into different loads, one for towels with extra softener, another for whites with bleach, another for heavy clothes, one for light weight clothes and so on. Usually I do 2-3-4 loads back to back, if I have room to hang everything outside to dry.

For those campgrounds that don't allow outdoor drying, I have an indoor method.  In that case I generally only do 1-2 loads, let them dry, then do more until the pile is gone. I don't really pile up much in dirty stuff any more, as it is so easy to wash a small load whenever the mood strikes me.

I put a compression post with flanges in the center overhead of my shower barely an inch from the ceiling. I then have loads of plastic coat hangers which I use for hanging clothes on to dry. I hang those up about an inch apart.  I use wooden clothes pins to attach towels and pillow cases etc., to the clothes hangers for drying. If I am in a hurry, I use a clip-on fan to speed dry the clothes. Mostly I let them dry silently overnight, then put them away in the morning. On one side of my bedroom, I decided to add another compression pole with flanges about 8 inches from the wall and 1 inch from the ceiling. That gives me more room to hang things to dry overnight indoors when needed.

Last time I washed my big flat bed sheets, it poured down rain. So I folded them up and hung them on a coat hanger, then aimed the  little powerful  12 volt clip-on fan at the sheets and they dried just fine, even folded up and draped over the coat hangers in the shower stall. My big fluffy red sweat shirt dress for cold days,  dried overnight without a problem.

This machine has already paid for itself and now I am at the point of saving money by not dedicating 40-60 quarters per week at the campground or town laundries. Also, I took a workamping assignment that did not come with access to laundry. I would have had to drive the camper 10 miles one way just to wash (I have no car.)

I live in my camper fulltime.  One of the HUGE benefits of having this washer, is I don't need to own a ton of clothes.

I've been able to wash all my undies, socks, pants, shirts, sweaters, dresses, jackets in it plus all my sheets, towels, wash cloths,dinner napkins, outdoor table cloths and both the dogs beds in it (one at a time).  I also have washed my 48" long throw rugs in it (one at a time) on the heavy duty cycle.

Since you can program it to wash only, I stuffed my mucky 25 foot fresh water hose coiled up in it, with hot water and bleach. It washed it without going into the rinse and spin cycle. After it bleached clean soaking awhile, I was able to put it on rinse, which cause the tub to drain, refill and drain again without spinning. My old  water hose looked brand new afterwards.

The washer came with two sets of legs, the firm rubber ones or the rolling caster types, so you have a choice. I braided up a fancy rope, then put two hooks in the wall on either side of the machine, so my washing machine is literally roped in, so that it doesn't travel around when I am driving. I can unhook the fancy braided rope, to move the washer (I put the casters on mine) when I want to sweep or clean underneath.

UPS delivered the washer from Amazon right to my camper in the campground, as it only weighs 50 pounds and is made by Haier. They also make one larger (75 pounds and bigger tub)  that another RV couple on the forum bought, but I haven't heard back how theirs is working.

My ONLY complaint is that they made it with a clear plastic lid. I find myself fascinated watching the washer wash clothes (amazed at how dirty my clothes seem to be sometimes!). Watching the clothes wash is a huge waste of time, but fun for some silly reason.

One word of caution, read the instructions fully. And never, let me say that again, NEVER NEVER overload it. It's better to do smaller loads than to try to cram a too big load in there. Also, if something is very heavy  or bulky (like my favorite purple sweater) then wash it by its lonesome. It will beep you when it is finished spinning.  It will also beep you if it gets out of balance, then it waits for you to rearrange the clothes, before it resumes spinning. It does this 3 cycle spinning method, that works really well to seriously wring out the clothes. The first time it spins slow, then it spins on medium, then it spins on super fast.

It takes 20-30 minutes per load, though there is a heavy duty option and a quick option. Also, be very careful about how much detergent you use in it.  I was using too much at first and my clothes were drying stiff rather than soft.

I use a Downy Ball softener gizmo in mine, though I buy the cheap softener from Dollar General to put in it. If the water is super hard, I add plain white vinegar to the wash and have a 2nd Downy ball softener I put plain white vinegar in for the rinsing.

Here is the super long link to the Haier washer I bought from Amazon (I could not find it in stock in any stores, though many had it available as order-only).  So I just let Amazon deliver mine to me at the campground.

Haier HLP21N Pulsator 1-Cubic-Foot Portable Washer

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UYSHMM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=amozoniac-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B002UYSHMM

IF I ever trade up to a different Class C or Class A motorhome, it better have room for my washer to move with me as I can't live without it now. I never liked hanging around laundromats and now I don't have to.  Hanging up clothes to dry  is no bother to me at all. I am just thrilled to have CLEAN clothes and linens all the time. My paper towel usage and cost has dropped dramatically, as I use cloth dinner napkins, cloth cleaning rags, cloth dish rags and so on, saving me heaps of paper towels.

Those newfanlged microfiber cleaning cloths do magic, but don't wash them with the other stuff and never use softener on them. I use them to mop my vinyl tile floors, then toss them in the washer when I am done. Ditto for the outside of the RV and various other cleaning chores.

The only thing that does not fit in my washer is my big fluffy comforter. I've never tried to stuff it in there, afraid it's too big but I have washed blankets, and my favorite queen sized afghan in it.

I so wish the RV manufacturers of the Class C's as well as A's, would get with the program and offer this compact Haier washer as an option.  The price and shipping fluctuate at Amazon, no idea why. I happened to get mine for $199 and $50 shipping, then weeks later it was $239 but shipping free. Today as I write this, it is selling for $235 and $29 shipping.  Well worth the money and space, especially for fulltimers.

Even a family who just uses their RV for vacationing, could benefit, as then you can pack a lot less clothes per kid etc.

That thing sounds great! Just what I need for my small TT. I have put it on my wish list. Thanks for the great information.

Here is your answer.  See the two photos.

PS... Before I bought the compact washing machine, I tried washing my clothes by hand outside where my outdoor shower is by setting up a table and bucket. I had been in the same gorgeous state park on the beach for two weeks, but they had no laundry facilities. The closest laundromat was 21 miles away

I killed over half a day washing 3 outfits.  Rinsing them was a total nightmare.Then  I couldn't get them to wring out the water without threat of destroying them.  It took 2 days for them to dry. I was thoroughly disgusted when I was done.

Washing clothes by hand is super easy. 

It's the rinsing and wringing that means taking up a whole new career.

A long time ago, on this forum or ????, I remember reading about someone putting soap, water and dirty clothes into a large plastic box with a tight fitting lid in the a.m. before traveling.  That box sat in the shower/bathtub, and swished around while driving down the road.  When they stopped for lunch, she would switch the water out and use fresh for rinsing.  Then they continued down the road.  Supposedly, she could then string the wet things around the coach at night while they slept, and they were dry in the a.m.  I would think it would take more than one rinse though to get all the soap out.  JMHO.  People can get quite inventive when faced with necessity.    ;D

Daisy

Daisy said:

A long time ago, on this forum or ????, I remember reading about someone putting soap, water and dirty clothes into a large plastic box with a tight fitting lid in the a.m. before traveling.  That box sat in the shower/bathtub, and swished around while driving down the road.  When they stopped for lunch, she would switch the water out and use fresh for rinsing.  Then they continued down the road.  Supposedly, she could then string the wet things around the coach at night while they slept, and they were dry in the a.m.  I would think it would take more than one rinse though to get all the soap out.  JMHO.  People can get quite inventive when faced with necessity. 

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That sounds like a good idea.  I used the hand-cranked type of washer and found that a five gallon bucket and a plunger just as effective and far easier to use and store since the buckert could serve double duty.  I fill it with water and some windshield washer fluid and clean my windshields as needed. 

DearMissMermaid said:

YES, I do have a compact washing machine that I am having a love affair with!  I've had it 7 months and worship it regularly.

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Yep, I was pretty sure I could count on you to have a word or two on the subject, MissMermaid.    For some reason I had in my mind that yours was hand cranked, but perhaps I was thinking of someone else, or perhaps I read that you had considered a hand operated one.

How is this for not hanging around the laundrymat, CG we are at, you text a code to a posted number, plus the machine # and it sends a text when the load is finihsed.  Granted, you are still waiting, but not at the facility. 

I remember seeing what Daisy mentions, actually think it may have been one of the helpful hints in FMCA mag.  It also 'wrings' a bell from back in my sailing days, I seem to remember that coming up then as well.  Stopping at a marina and spending a day doing laundry is even worse than a campground!  Although I don't think we ever tried it.

That Haier sounds interesting, I'll have to take some measurements.

Our shower/tub is a great dryer, it has a translucent skylight and a rod.  On a sunny day it gets pretty warm in there.

Miss Mermaid -  Thanks for the description of the little washer.  I have found it listed at Walmart for $209, no shipping if picked up at a Walmart store.

Question:  How long are the hoses?

Margi

Thanks for the review Miss Mermaid. I will definitely be getting one after I upgrade my motorhome.

I remember the flower children using Daisy's method, they strapped a cooler to the front bumper of the VW Microbus. Worked best if the shocks were worn out. ;D

Roy.... I remember those kids, I didn't realize they washed their clothes, but now that I have a VW bus, I may have to try the method out!