Living in a full-time RV presents many challenges, and laundry can be one of them depending on your budget and needs. While leaving the house behind and living on the road usually cuts down on your chores and frees up more time to do the things you enjoy, doing laundry can be an exception to that.
Personally, we have three kids with us on the road, so doing laundry is a bit bigger of a chore than for most, but many of our friends on the road have larger families than we do. Either way, it can be done frugally or with a bit of flair; it really comes down to your budget.
Here are some options when it comes to doing laundry on the go:
Do you have money to burn?
Gorgeous washer/dryer combo
If money is not an issue, or you just like convenience, and your equipment has the necessary facilities, then you can opt for a Splendide washer/dryer combo or a Haier washer/dryer combo. These units fit nicely 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 your average load size is reduced due to their limited capacity. They can be a little prohibitively priced, but their ease of use and convenience can be worth that initial investment. With the continued rise in 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 some budget to do laundry?
If you have some budget to apply to laundry but not an endless amount, then this section is for you. There are many options available for the budget-conscious RVer who has a little money to spend.
First of all, you can save yourself the headache of not having any equipment and washing your clothes in the facilities provided by the camp. They typically cost $4-6 per load, but we’ve seen them offered for less. In addition to not having the expense 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 do the job efficiently. Be careful though, larger industrial dryers get very hot and can damage certain types of clothing.
If you have a little money to burn but don’t want to waste your time in the camp laundry, then you can start looking at alternatives that make doing laundry by hand easier without breaking the bank for one of the large combo units mentioned above. . These units are compact, inexpensive, and have above-average reviews from consumers.
Mini Panda 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 better feedback from consumers. If you haven’t noticed, I love reviews. If others like a product, then there is a good chance that I will like it too.
First is the compact washing machine. The Panda mini washer is a relatively inexpensive option, and consumer reviews show that this machine handles light and heavy loads well. The charges are much smaller than what you would run on a standard size machine, but this unit will pay for itself over the course of a few months.
Centrifugal clothes drying
To get the most out of your new compact mini washer, you may want to pair it with a compact dryer. Spin dryers are not necessarily a new product, but certainly one that not many people have discovered. With a good spin dryer, your clothes will be 90-95% dry without heat. Here is the top rated spin-dryer on Amazon. This product will not cost you much and is efficient, effective and easy to use.
Do you need absolute frugality?
Are you saving pennies? Many of us are and need frugal solutions for everyday expenses, and laundry is one of them. If you’re doing 3 loads of laundry a week, then you’re spending an average of $60/month if you use the camp facilities. In a single month the following teams will have paid for themselves.
Wonderful wash
From the same company that makes the aforementioned spin dryer comes WonderWash. My family has personally owned a WonderWash for a year now and it really does a great job. This unit is simple, effective 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 wring clothes. One must manually wring them out by hand.
To keep with the frugal theme, there are a variety of ways to style a clothesline on your RV site. It can be as simple as a rope tied from the RV ladder to a tree, an expanding clothesline, or a homemade PVC clothesline that attaches to the back 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 do laundry while living full-time in an RV, just remember one thing…it will always be hard work.
