Laundry While Cruising

[daddle]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

A bucket works but it's best if you need to wash your feet at the same time !! connie says thats the top of multi tasking LOL

Because it is easy to wake up to a dinghy full of rainwater here in Palau it is not uncommon for me to perform a trifecta: bath, laundry and dinghy wash. Though there is a trick to a successful rinse cycle.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by waterworldly

If you have the room (about the size of a small dishwasher) you can get a combo washer/dryer (Splendid) made for boats. Does a great job. We rarely use the dryer, hanging clothes makes them virtually wrinkle free. Saves on water as well, much less than doing it by hand. Does not use lots and lots of power, can work with a small generator. If it is summer, wear bathing suits alot and wash by hand. We sometimes soak in a bucket for really tough jobs and then rinse/spin in the washer.

+1

Some cruisers will laugh at you, but an on-board washing machine is one of those things which have the greatest positive impacts on quality of life aboard which you can have.

If you don't have room or power, then bucket, plunger and lots of ammonia, but it is a PITA, and you will waste a lot of time and energy worrying about your laundry, which you would not, if you had an on-board washing machine.

[sv Winterlude]

We left the US with the white laundry tumbler shown above in your photos -- it lasted until I could sell it at a nautical swap/flea market in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. In the meantime, we got a bucket and a plunger like others here. We would like to have a wringer, but between the two of us, we usually survive.

There are also river washings - take your big cooler full of dirty laundry and your plunger. Go up the river far enough that you get fresh water & have at it! There are also various places in paradise perfect for laundry -- like the fresh water wells in the Holendes Keys in the San Blas Islands, Panama, nothing like hanging the laundry on your line strung between palm trees on a Corona look alike island!

Click here for a link to my CommuterCruiser post on how we did laundry in the Western Caribbean...


Laundry up a river in Kuna Yala, Panama - we took it back to the boats to dry.

[HappySeagull]

...but if you are laundering near some pristine creek, please try to use plain old laundry soap. The pristine-critters are not used to Detergents. I know this now because I didn't before...

[terminalcitygrl]

When I travelled in India, I used a bucket and some feet stompin for clothes and it worked great. Does the plunger/ bucket system work ok for towels and bedsheets?

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

+1

Some cruisers will laugh at you, but an on-board washing machine is one of those things which have the greatest positive impacts on quality of life aboard which you can have.

If you don't have room or power, then bucket, plunger and lots of ammonia, but it is a PITA, and you will waste a lot of time and energy worrying about your laundry, which you would not, if you had an on-board washing machine.

Absolutely agree.

Just spent a week bareboat charter in Whitsundays with 2 persons on a small cat during the wet season as a trial cruising preperation.

Key learning was to reinforce need to have on-board machine to avoid need to be beholden to marina laundry mats.

Was not clothes that were the issue, not wearing many but towells (lots of swimming), bedcloths. OK for a week and walk away on a bareboat. With nore than 2 onboard (guests) just doubles washing and would be a real issue.

That being said I can imagine a singlehander in right climate getting away without.

cheers

[Khagan1227]

Youtube demo of the wonderwash:

WonderWash Demo - Green and Portable! - YouTube

[bobconnie]

Never had a washing machine YET ! but Connie has said we will have one on our new boat ! so i guess Im gonna be One of those Fancy cruisers LOL sorta nice idea after salt water washing all these years !!

[zeehag]

bobconnie---come anchor near me and let me borrow the washer....LOL
the flap n fold places here in mexico are adequate and clean laundry better than even using a washing machine in san diego did.....

[foolishsailor]

You forget the best method for cleaning....



bucket with plunger with a 2 year old presorting lights and darks ...

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

You forget the best method for cleaning....



bucket with plunger with a 2 year old presorting lights and darks ...

I admire that you make it a family affair. My 2yr. old is now 28. I wish I could turn the hands of the clock back. You're a lucky man.

[ippocampus]

we are lucky and have a washer and dryer on board...but in smaller ports you can find locals who will do your laundry for very little money...not professionally just at their home as a way to make ends meet..it is wonderful to get to know such people...they are eager to please most of the time.
I think bucket and hand wring and hang dry is still the best method (better than dryer). Biodegradable laundry detergent is my favorite (if you can find it in those parts of the world)...for large sheets two people one at each end twisting on opposite directions will wring it pretty dry! good sailing...oh and loose the plastic bags to hold your laundry if you can )))

[ippocampus]

Moorings bareboat chartering will bring out to you fresh sheets for rentals of more than a week with a speed boat...in places like us vi and bvi....at least that is what they did for us a few years ago...

[mikereed100]

I have found that over the years of doing laundry by hand, my wardrobe has evolved away from t-shirts and towards aloha shirts. They dry much faster and you can dribble ketchup, hot sauce and epoxy all over them with no harm done. You can unbutton them when hot and when the sun dips low you can roll up the collar to keep the rays off your neck. It worked for Elvis. Also have evovled away from large, plush towels to the smaller, thinner ones. Since they dry much faster they don't get funky quite so fast.

[Celestialsailor]

I agree about the Aloha shirts. Plus they are around the same price as a T-shirt