Laundry

[pas63]

Hello all, I lived on my boat for 12ish years up till 2018, always in a marina. I am back on my boat with the opportunity to start cruising and working remote. Marinas have their up's and downs. One luxury is a laundry room in walking distance. No need to sit there for a couple hours each week. What do those of you do that are not in marinas? Clothes are one thing, easy enough to deal with, but bedding?

[Mike OReilly]

Here's my solution. Just add a bucket:

[Sam Woodbridge]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Here's my solution. Just add a bucket:

I agree Mike, but my issue is getting stuff dry. I’m usually out for two weeks or ten days at a time. Where I’m at it rains a lot and the air is damp. Getting stuff dry as in dry dry almost seems unreasonable by hanging it out to dry. What do you do to get stuff dry after washing it with your plunger?

[Pizzazz]

There is only one way to go... an automatic washing machine. LG has a small drawer type model, Haier has a vertical model. See what fits and install accordingly. Then add water, water heater and water maker and you are in business.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Sam Woodbridge

I agree Mike, but my issue is getting stuff dry. I’m usually out for two weeks or ten days at a time. Where I’m at it rains a lot and the air is damp. Getting stuff dry as in dry dry almost seems unreasonable by hanging it out to dry. What do you do to get stuff dry after washing it with your plunger?

I hang things on the lifelines and in the rigging. For big washes we might rig an extra drying line using a halyard. On rare occasions we string a line down below.

I've never had an issue getting stuff dry. You just have to be aware of the weather.

[pas63]

I am sure I am not the only on that doesn't have room for a washing machine, not to mention you then need a genset, another item I don't have space for.

[Sam Woodbridge]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I hang things on the lifelines and in the rigging. For big washes we might rig an extra drying line using a halyard. On rare occasions we string a line down below.

I've never had an issue getting stuff dry. You just have to be aware of the weather.

Thank you for the reply Mike.

[Shrew]

We find wash and fold services and drop our laundry off, then pick it up the next day. Otherwise, we go to a laundry mat. Bucket on the boat is a last resort for us, though that is often how we do delicates.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Sam Woodbridge

Thank you for the reply Mike.

Of course the other solution is to use marina facilities when you can. Everyone's gotta come in sometime; for fuel or water or general food/booze resupply. We tend to avoid docks as much as possible, but when we do go in, we'll use the marina laundry facilities -- if they have them.

But hanging to dry on a sunny day works really well. I'm sure you get a few of those days, even where you are .

[Manateeman]

Find a big yacht with the owner gone and bring booze or cash for the crew.
In Florida, find a nice spring and tie your bedsheets to the manatees. Tell them it’s a super man cape.
My manatee crew is so loonie they’ll do it for a six pack.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by pas63

Hello all, I lived on my boat for 12ish years up till 2018, always in a marina. I am back on my boat with the opportunity to start cruising and working remote. Marinas have their up's and downs. One luxury is a laundry room in walking distance. No need to sit there for a couple hours each week. What do those of you do that are not in marinas? Clothes are one thing, easy enough to deal with, but bedding?

I think it really depends on where you are, what is available, and what is allowed. For many years, we only even hung the clothes in the rigging. We added a spinnaker sheet for a clothesline, so the sheets and towels were all in the air, and jeans, too, because the better the air circulation, the quicker the drying. Short stuff went on the lifelines. I washed in a series of buckets, starting with the least dirty stuff first, and using the last rinse water to wash the new batch. I really like the crispness and smell of sun dried clothes and bedding. It works best if you soak them at least 15 min before agitating them, to loosen the dirt; and I used a plunger, like Mike. Out in the South Seas, sometimes you can go do the wash with the women who are also washing in streams.

Wringing sheets, towels, and jeans by hand is a lot of work. I'd wrap it around the pulpit and twist the heck out of it. The better you wring it out, the less rinsing, and the quicker they dry. Then, if you don't like crisp towels, hang them so that it is folded over the line, then the insides soften and fluff each other up a bit. Hang jeans with more clothes pegs, and with the waist open, not folded over the line, so the doubled areas can get dry. Towels never stay crisp long.

Some places do not allow you to dry clothing on boats; then you have to find a laundromat, and wash and dry in designated locations. Usually, excepted are life jackets, foul weather jackets and pants, and the odd shower towel. Underpants and jockstraps and bras are the "worst" offenders. Doesn't matter if your foulies are personal to you, they are allowed, but not items of a "personal" nature. It's a funny old world. It will be part of the marina rules, and they will be able to tell you where the laundromats are. Some don't have it on their website, but they have no change machines, so you have to go to a bank for change before you go to the laundrymat. Can be an aggravation.

If you don't stay there with your laundry, sometimes people will take it out of the dryer, whether or not it is dry, and dump it on a table. When you come back, you may have to wait to finish its drying till a dryer becomes available. I learned to stay with it and to visit with the people.

Ann

[Nicholson58]

As usual, Mike has it nailed. We use the identical plunger in a 5-gallon bucket. Use ammonia instead of soap to reduce rinsing water consumption. We run a clothes line around the mizzen mast, boom, shrouds. Use plenty of clothes pins or the wind will take your stuff.

[RaymondR]

And there are a lot of places with guest laundries the operators might be happy to allow you to put your money in their machines. Camping grounds, trailer parks, backpacker hostels, motels, truck stops etc.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by pas63

I am sure I am not the only on that doesn't have room for a washing machine, not to mention you then need a genset, another item I don't have space for.

Daewoo has some small wall mounted washing machines. One of those will installed in our boat and run from an inverter.

[Chotu]

Bucket when not near civilization to do just enough laundry to get by. Put out on clothesline or lifelines when the weather is appropriate, like Mike.

Then as often as possible, drop at the wash and fold and forget about it.

Boy, do they know how to fold and neatly pack your super dry clothing when it’s returned.