Washer/dryer for full-timing in a Class A

[hdrider]

 We had a combo unit in our last MH and have a stacked set in our current MH and would not be without them. Even with the combo unit and the small slow loads it would do it was much better doing laundry at home than packing up and going to a laundry matt for us. If and when the time comes we go to another rig we will without a doubt have a washer dryer in it or it won't be ours. 

[Johnson9029]

We have been full timeing for over 10 years in a 40 ft DP. had a Splendide and loved  having that convince  

We got another 40ft DP MH and it has stacked.  I would not be without mine. Never been a time problem as I just pop a load in when we would stop at night. 

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. 

It is a great convenient for me I feel  like I’m in a small apartment on wheels. 😁

[Allentc2]

Does size matter? <snicker, snicker>

Of the coach I mean. I'm looking at "smallish" gassers, 30-35'. I wonder how much juice and water a w/d would eat up while boondocking.

[chirakawa]

55 minutes ago, Allentc2 said:

 I wonder how much juice and water a w/d would eat up while boondocking.

Huh?  If you're boondocking, just wash clothes in the creek and hang them on a pine limb to dry..........unless the sap is running.

[Dutch_12078]

2 hours ago, Allentc2 said:

Does size matter? <snicker, snicker>

Of the coach I mean. I'm looking at "smallish" gassers, 30-35'. I wonder how much juice and water a w/d would eat up while boondocking.

You would need to run your generator while doing the laundry, and your grey tank would fill pretty quickly. And if your W/D has a condensing dryer instead of vented, it will use even more water for the dry cycle. Chirakawa's suggestion makes more sense than trying to use an onboard W/D while boondocking. We prefer state and national parks for the most part, and most do not have on-site sewer connections, so an onboard W/D would not work well for us any more than it would while boondocking. We typically combine a trip to the laundromat every couple of weeks with breakfast out and some shopping, often with one of us off shopping while the other monitors the laundry and catches up on some reading. We've never had a problem finding clean, safe laundromats wherever we are.  

[jc2]

10 hours ago, rynosback said:

We opted not to have them In our 5ver that we had built.  Being full time we wanted to Cary less weight and have more storage.  Plus we can go to a laundromat and do 6 loads at once if needed.  We carry enough under wear for 30 days.

[mb36912]

A separate W/D was on our must-have list when we started the full time journey.  Within 6 months, we quit using it due to the daily laundry requirement and the drying time.  She said she would rather spend 2 hrs one day/week at a laundromat.....so that is what we have done for the last 4+ years.  The washer and dryer were removed and sold and the space repurposed.  The rig is currently being refurbished at Rec-Spec in Wakarusa and the idea of a W/D and dishwasher was brought up, but she was adamant......she didn’t want either one.  She would rather have the space and weight carrying capacity for other things.  The only thing she did want was a residential fridge.....and get it she will.

[docj]

56 minutes ago, mb36912 said:

Within 6 months, we quit using it due to the daily laundry requirement and the drying time.  

As others have said, I can't see what's so demanding about tossing clothes into a combo and turning it on. Once it's running I couldn't care less how long it takes to dry the load.

[sandsys]

44 minutes ago, docj said:

As others have said, I can't see what's so demanding about tossing clothes into a combo and turning it on. Once it's running I couldn't care less how long it takes to dry the load.

Our washer/dryer space was in our bedroom so we wouldn't want to run a load at night. You have to be hooked up to a drain to run them so we couldn't throw in a load then head down the road. We like to take clothes out of the dryer right away to minimize wrinkling so we couldn't throw in a load before heading off for a day of sightseeing. How is have a washer/dryer combo convenient?

Linda Sand

[lappir]

I have traveled most of my adult life. Not always in an RV. I found out over 20 years ago what the sign I saw in the Laundromat "Wash and Fold" actually meant and how much it was. I have dropped very few coins in machines since then. The cost is so close it's a no brainer. Drop the laundry off and pick it up that day or a few days later. It's all nice and folded ready to be put away. I try to avoid letting them hang things up, because then I have to deal with the wire hangers. Of course I'm a single guy who has work clothes supplied every day. Your results may differ. 

Rod

[noteven]

I put some items in a bucket in the garage add water and soap to taste.

cover and drive

Our roads provide about a “normal” agitation cycle. Be careful with delicate lace. 

After a while stop to check for damage to you rig from the nice roads. At this time drain your laundry and add some rinse water and drive some more. 

Hang to dry on sunny side. 

Booster cable clamps can be substituted for those woosey things they call clothespins nowadays if you want to dry on the fly. 

[mb36912]

  There is nothing demanding about about doing laundry in your rig.......or anyplace else for that matter.  Everyone has their own reasons for making the decisions they do and their decisions are correct from their own perspective.

Amen to Linda’s comments on the noise and wrinkling.  Another benefit we found while in AZ for a summer was that the dryer pulled conditioned air out of the rig, blew it outside, and sucked in hot air which now had to be cooled.  Not using the dryer helped reduce the load on our AC.  But I will say the laundry dried faster in southern AZ than it has anywhere else.

I am currently working in McAllen, TX, and lappir is correct.  We spent $6.50 washing and drying 3 loads of laundry.  While talking to the service gal at the laundromat, she looked at what we had and said they would “wash & fold” it for $8.00.  So once per week, I now drop our laundry off on my way to work and pick it up on my way home that day or the next.

Who knows, when we finally retire, we may decide to repurpose the area again and recapitalize on the hook-ups with another W/D.

[TXiceman]

We have the Splindide 2100XC vented combo unit and been using for 5 years full time.  It does not take up as much space as the stacked units.  

What we like on the combo unit, is we put in dirty and dry clothes and come back later to dry and clean clothes.  Yes the loads are small, but,  we do not have to be there to swap clothes from washer to drier.

Also we do not like to sit in a washerteria and wait.

Ken

[Barbaraok]

23 hours ago, sandsys said:

Our washer/dryer space was in our bedroom so we wouldn't want to run a load at night. You have to be hooked up to a drain to run them so we couldn't throw in a load then head down the road. We like to take clothes out of the dryer right away to minimize wrinkling so we couldn't throw in a load before heading off for a day of sightseeing. How is have a washer/dryer combo convenient?

Linda Sand

Ours is in the bedroom area - - set timer for it to run starting at 5:00 am, means warm towels for morning shower.  After 12 years on the road, we can sleep through just about anything.

We have a 100 gallon grey tank, so even if we don't have FHU, we can do a couple of loads of wash during the week and we are good.  Now if we had a very small grey tank we might have rethought a w/d.  Then again, I didn't want something so small that I couldn't enjoy my retirement.

When going out, I very seldom started a load (usually did the load while fixing dinner) but if we did, it would be towels or jeans or sheets - things I don't worry about wrinkling.   Come to think about it - we really don't have that many clothes that I worry about wrinkling - - those we do have, just pull out after washing and let air dry on the awning arms.

I am one of those who absolutely  HATES schlepping to laundromats.  

[sandsys]

16 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

Ours is in the bedroom area - - set timer for it to run starting at 5:00 am, means warm towels for morning shower.  After 12 years on the road, we can sleep through just about anything.

Ugh! 5 am is not daytime on my clock. I haven't been able to sleep well for years and I miss having that ability. I'm glad you can do it, though.

Linda

[Allentc2]

I'm really leaning towards the Bay Star 3401 floorplan, so no W/D for me I think. But thanks for all the input. I am so excited about the idea of being mobile. And I'm optimistic I can avoid the really skeevy laundromats.

[CasperBob]

This has been an interesting thread with a few chuckles along the way. Thanks Allentc2 for asking the question, as my wife and I will be in the class of 19 hopefully by May or June and this is one of the questions we have tossed back and forth over the past 2+ years of planning. Our current 5er is smaller and has no w/d hookup. Original plan was to go with a 40+ ft. 5er toy hauler - we both have motorcycles. All of the ones we looked at had w/d hookups.

But after much consideration and probably having DW's mom travelling with us part time looks like a DP is in our future. My wife says w/d is a must. Me? Doesn't matter to me as long as the DW is happy, lol. Now if we could come to an agreement on the slides, no slides debate...

[Allentc2]

HAH!!!! Fellow future alumni!!

[Kirk W]

On 9/7/2018 at 8:06 PM, Allentc2 said:

I'm really leaning towards the Bay Star 3401 floorplan, so no W/D for me I think.

Nice looking coach and likely one we would be looking at if going shopping today. Pam says that she would like a washer/dryer if we went back but it still isn't a "must have." 

[Allentc2]

I went to Hershey where they had a 3408 (which has w/d hookups) but I really wanted that computer desk/buffet table thing. LOL Plus I wasn't sold on a w/d being mandatory for full-timing. I guess we'll see by this time next year. LOL

[sandsys]

I looked at the floor plan of the 3401 but didn't see a "computer desk/buffet table thing". What year were you looking at?

Linda

[Allentc2]

2019, it's an option.

BayStar2019_2.pdf

[2gypsies]

I think you would really like the option of the desk/buffet. We had it in our motorhome and it made a nice office. We had a full-size computer and the screen was affixed with hurricane straps and it stayed in place all the time.  We had a small drawer underneath it for the keyboard. Under that was a pull-out tray that our printer was stored.  On the other side was a large file drawer and two other drawers for supplies.  We did many specials when we ordered ours so I don't recall if the desk area was a special that we designed or if it was configured as a standard.  Remember, Newmar will do specials according to your wants.

[sandsys]

Thanks. We had a setup like their K123 in our 35' class A and really liked it. We both had laptops so we used them on the table then moved them to the buffet at mealtimes. I don't know where you would put your feet if you had a desktop on the buffet. As it was, we had to interleave our feet to have room to stretch out.

Linda

[FL-JOE]

On ‎9‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:55 PM, CasperBob said:

This has been an interesting thread with a few chuckles along the way. Thanks Allentc2 for asking the question, as my wife and I will be in the class of 19 hopefully by May or June and this is one of the questions we have tossed back and forth over the past 2+ years of planning. Our current 5er is smaller and has no w/d hookup. Original plan was to go with a 40+ ft. 5er toy hauler - we both have motorcycles. All of the ones we looked at had w/d hookups.

But after much consideration and probably having DW's mom travelling with us part time looks like a DP is in our future. My wife says w/d is a must. Me? Doesn't matter to me as long as the DW is happy, lol. Now if we could come to an agreement on the slides, no slides debate...

If you go with a DP instead of the toy hauler will you give up your motorcycles?  Just curious.  Our first time out full timing we started in a 38' fiver (non toy hauler) and sold the bike.  This second round selling the bike was not an option so we went with the larger DP so we could pull more weight (motorcycle and car).