Splendide Washer/Dryer Combo Unit

[MV Wanderlust]

We're trying to wrap our heads around how much laundry one of these units can do. We've ready the write ups about how many pounds they can take for wash and for dry but we're having trouble translating "pounds" into real-world laundry. Those of you that have one of these units, can you please weigh in?

The wash cycle can take more than the dry cycle. We understand that. Let's say you wanted to put in a load and set it to wash and then continue on to automatically dry... (is that how people usually do it?) how much could you put in there? Two pairs of jeans? A set of bed linens for a queen bed (fitted sheet, flat sheet, two pillow cases)? A single bath towel?

Thanks for sharing any real-world experience.

John

[a64pilot]

We have a washer only, we hang the clothes to dry.
It holds my Wife says about 1/3 of a full size top loading machine does.
We always bought the biggest washer available, whatever that is.

[CarlF]

The issue is that too big a load won’t dry well. Takes forever and comes out badly wrinkled because the clothes don’t tumble loosely.

It does a good job on about half a rectangular laundry basket of cotten. More if the clothes are mostly synthetics. Three jeans would be a load. Great for underwear, t-shirts, light shirts, bathing suits and nylon shorts. We never do sheets or cotten towels. We usually set the dryer to 40 minutes and air dry from there.

[Pitchondesign]

Splendide makes two versions of the machine, one vented, and one ventless. We have had both. The ventless dryer is useless, it won't dry anything. We dry the clothes in the cockpit under the Bimini. The vented machine does work, but requires either dockside power or a long generator run, and is more involved to install. Finding a place to run the vent line can be challenging. Having said this, we would be without a washing machine. Also, check that you can actually get it into the boat, these machines are big.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by CarlF

The issue is that too big a load won’t dry well. Takes forever and comes out badly wrinkled because the clothes don’t tumble loosely.

It does a good job on about half a rectangular laundry basket of cotten. More if the clothes are mostly synthetics. Three jeans would be a load. Great for underwear, t-shirts, light shirts, bathing suits and nylon shorts. We never do sheets or cotten towels. We usually set the dryer to 40 minutes and air dry from there.

That’s what we were looking for. We can work with that. Thanks, Carl.

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

We're trying to wrap our heads around how much laundry one of these units can do. We've ready the write ups about how many pounds they can take for wash and for dry but we're having trouble translating "pounds" into real-world laundry. Those of you that have one of these units, can you please weigh in?

The wash cycle can take more than the dry cycle. We understand that. Let's say you wanted to put in a load and set it to wash and then continue on to automatically dry... (is that how people usually do it?) how much could you put in there? Two pairs of jeans? A set of bed linens for a queen bed (fitted sheet, flat sheet, two pillow cases)? A single bath towel?

Thanks for sharing any real-world experience.

John

I have sailed many thousand miles on boats with Splendide washer-dryers. If you need to use the dryer on a boat you are sailing in the wrong place.. The dryer is like a European dryer both in capacity and extent of the drying process. Forget a US-style dryer's capacity and "so dry it almost burned my clothes" result, but it will dry any of the combinations you mention. The capacity in pounds is accurate.

[nwdiver]

I do about 40% of a regular front loader, then remove the heavy cotton, jeans, towels and such to hang dry in the shower stall or out on deck if appropriate, I then dry the sheets and small stuff with the dryer, I have a vented one not to hard to vent the flex vent tubing goes out the head window when in use and lives behind the machine the 99% of the time when not in use.....

[Freedom45]

We have been cruising with a Splendide(currently oos due to module board failure) and the wife loves it. We only use wash not dry cycle( vented model) the spin cycle really works well so a short time hanging laundry to dry. Not too power hungry when you don't use dryer cycle.
Capacity is adequate for two in the tropics.....not a lot of clothes

Cheers

[Dsanduril]

We don't have a Splendide, but we do have a machine of similar capacity rating. A set of queen sheets with pillowcases is a full load. 99% of the time we wash/spin and hang to dry. For clothes/towels we have a small laundry bucket that measures 15 liters/4 US gallons. That, too, is a full load.

[karenmccraw]

I have a vented Splendide, older model. Cruised the past 6 months with it, mostly in the Bahamas.



For an idea of a "load" - a set of queen sheets, plus a standard towel. Or about 2 sets of shorts/tee shirts and undies.



I usually stop the machine after the "wash" cycle and "fluff/separate" everything in the drum. It spins the items so dry that they often "stick" to the sides of the drum. After everything is separate, just continue the dry cycle.


Like others, when it's breezy, I often take the clothes out after the wash cycle and hang on the lifelines.


But when I want that wonderful soft clean-sheet feeling, I crank up the generator and dry my sheets! I figure I use about $2 worth of diesel for a load. Worth it to me! And I didn't schlep anything to shore in the dinghy....I laid in the hammock and read my Kindle......

[sailnautilus]

Have been cruising for 6 years with a Splendide....wouldn’t go without it. Same as above, a set of queen sheets and pillowcases equals a load. One helpful tip.....leave the cotton clothing at home. We have gradually converted to synthetic wicking clothing and nylon shorts...Colombia brand are durable.....which dry quickly and more fit in a load. Makes a huge difference. Leave the denim at home....

[jharding]

I have an LG ventless combo it works well, drying takes a while, ok on shore power. I can do all my sheets & pillow cases from queen bed. I like my LG bought from home depot.

[SV Bacchus]

We had a Splendide vented model in our RV with a king bed. We could wash both a fitted and top sheet but not pillow cases. Then we would pull the top sheet out and dry the fitted; afterwards we would dry the flat. Then we would do the pillow cases with a couple of tee-shirts.

Eventually we decided on the fitted and a pillow case and then the flat and a pillow case. It took a while for the bed linens. What worked for us on every day clothes was doing a small load almost daily. RV is different in that we were plugged in each night.

Now the wife wants one on Bacchus, guess I will be shopping during Cane Season down time..

[DMCantor]

Just for reference, we have measured the power usage on our Splendide. Washing a normal load on normal cycle takes just about 20 amp-hours. Plus another 20 amp-hours on our Spectra watermaker to refill the tank. Very doable off a decent sized battery bank, and, outside the winter solstice, manageable on a moderate solar installation.

[wrwakefield]

John,

We have a vented Splendid. [I had ventless on another boat years ago. You might as well buy a washer only in that case as drying took forever and was never thorough...]

We can easily wash the complete sheet and pillow case set from our queen size berth. It will also easily hold 2-3 days worth of clothes for 2 adults [shirts, pants, underware, sox, etc.] Note: We have little cotton as we are in higher latitudes.

We can also wash our queen size 300 wt fleece bedrolls [for guests...] but that is the limit. [2 layers of 300 weight queen size fleece is a lot of bulk...]

The dryer works OK if you unclump the wad about half-way through the cycle, or halve the wash load before the dry cycle- depending upon the articles being dryed. We rarely use it however... Instead, we hang everything to dry [in the laundry room] and use an energy efficient dehumidifier [which has a laundry drying setting...] to dry the laundry.

Since most everything we have is wool or synthetic material, it is almost dry after the spin cycle in the washer.

I will say that after having a Splendid on 2 vessels [and living aboard for extended periods while traveling in remote places devoid of laundry facilities...] it would be difficult to go back to buckets or laundromats. [However, laundromats are great if one needs to process a large amount of stuff in a brief period of time- if there is one around...]

If you are interested, there are more specifics on our Washer/Dryer and Dehumidifier pages.

In case this is helpful.

Cheers! Bill