Decent mini washing machine?..

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Oscarpop

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Still trying to work out whether to fit a normal washing machine to the boat for liveaboards sailing, or go with a portable one.

The third option is to go with a good quality mini one. However these only seem to exist in he states.


Does anyone have a source of a good quality small washing machine , that is not one of those plasticky things you get on amazon?


Cheers
 
unless you can produce a lot of Amps... :rolleyes:

this will surfice for washing shorts, tee shirt and undies

hope this helps :)
 

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Oscarpop said:
, that is not one of those plasticky things you get on amazon?
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I assume you mean a Wonderwash? We have owned one for well over ten years and used it a great deal. Jill reckons it gets clothes cleaner than the all-singing, all-dancing one at home. It can be a little labour intensive due to the rinsing required but otherwise no problems at all.
P1000650.jpg
 
I bought a mini washing machine off eBay for about 40 pounds. I don't know whether it is decent because I haven't tried it at this stage. But it is 240V so if you haven't got that you would need to install a small, cheap inverter which could power a bread-maker as well for example. These machines are very light so I'll operate it in the shower using the shower rose to fill it and empty it down the shower recess. Here is a selection from eBay

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...&_nkw=mini+washing+machine&_sacat=0&_from=R40
 
Washing the clothes, either manually or with a small electric machine, is the easy bit. It's the rinsing, wringing etc that is labour intensive. A small portable wringer would be the best contribution but there don't seem to be any.
 
vyv_cox said:
A small portable wringer would be the best contribution but there don't seem to be any.
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I made a small manual ring roller some years ago which had 3 rollers made from steel tune and mounted on plummer blocks that is almost the same as a washing wringer/mangle.

http://www.gzhch.com/en_plate.html


BTW I fitted a samsung toploading washing machine that I can run from my inverter using cold water washing power works great and it also spins the clothes dry enough to just hang out to dry completely
 
vyv_cox said:
Washing the clothes, either manually or with a small electric machine, is the easy bit. It's the rinsing, wringing etc that is labour intensive. A small portable wringer would be the best contribution but there don't seem to be any.
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These washing machines are twin tub so rinsing and spin drying are not a problem. I have a hanging locker in the shower/toilet area and as this has an exhaust fan hopefully that will dry clothes.
 
coopec said:
These washing machines are twin tub so rinsing and spin drying are not a problem. I have a hanging locker in the shower/toilet area and as this has an exhaust fan hopefully that will dry clothes.
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The first one in your link, for your quoted price of £40, is only a washing machine. The twin tub ones are far too big to be accommodated on my boat, which is why we stick with the Wonderwash. A cheap wringer would be nice though, even the pasta maker kindly linked to by alahol2 seems to be on the pricy side.
 
vyv_cox said:
Washing the clothes, either manually or with a small electric machine, is the easy bit. It's the rinsing, wringing etc that is labour intensive. A small portable wringer would be the best contribution but there don't seem to be any.
Click to expand...

Agree 100% - even more painful with arthritis. Rather than a wringer, perhaps a 12v spin-dryer?
Obviously a niche market here
 
vyv_cox said:
The first one in your link, for your quoted price of £40, is only a washing machine. The twin tub ones are far too big to be accommodated on my boat, which is why we stick with the Wonderwash. A cheap wringer would be nice though, even the pasta maker kindly linked to by alahol2 seems to be on the pricy side.
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OK so long as you are aware of them and considered them. Did you see the single tub one with a spin cycle? It measures Size: 38 *34*53cm

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Portable...84855?pt=AU_WashersDryers&hash=item484dd0f3d7
 
vyv_cox said:
I assume you mean a Wonderwash? We have owned one for well over ten years and used it a great deal. Jill reckons it gets clothes cleaner than the all-singing, all-dancing one at home. It can be a little labour intensive due to the rinsing required but otherwise no problems at all.
P1000650.jpg
Click to expand...

We have one of these and found it very good. Have now 'upgraded' to an electric 'bucket' to save manual labour. Will keep both until we see how new fangled electric contraption works out...
 
To dry clothes on the boat we use an Eastern European tip passed on by my sister in law who's from Slovakia. Lay wet item on a flat towel, roll it all up and wrong it out,it works fantastically, much better than just wringing out on its own.
 
wiggy said:
To dry clothes on the boat we use an Eastern European tip passed on by my sister in law who's from Slovakia. Lay wet item on a flat towel, roll it all up and wrong it out,it works fantastically, much better than just wringing out on its own.
Click to expand...

How do you dry the towel?
 
Pipe dream or God's blessing?

I had a dream in which my 36' Hunter had an onboard washer/dryer but when I awoke and checked the specs again it was gone! But as God has blessed me with similar dreams in the past (a flat screen, hanging on the wall TV, long before they were a reality, for one) I thought I'd see what could be "out there" to make the Sea Sun Ticket a home for someone who owns none, YET!

(I DID warn y'all I was dreaming so this was a dream within a dream I s'pose - well whaddya expect from a guy who calls a bilge pump a sump pump :-)

In any case, an Italian firm makes/made a combo unit (washer AND DRYER) "Splendide Model WDC12024" which operates from shore power but I can't find a dealer for it, so eBay may be your best bet for that.

ON THE OTHER HAND, HAIER makes "portable' washers, in 1 cu ft and 1 1/2 cu ft models which sell at Walmart from $229 and up, some of which include an iron for those of you who like your "undies" starched!
And, to match with that, Sonya makes a 3.75 cu ft dryer, also running on 110v, from Sonya Direct at $349 - $379

Well folks, I've done the brain work, now you if you can find a mechanic with the right size shoe horn to squeeze these options into your galley to do the brawn work you can wash your stuff with the same ease as you would at the local wash'n'go!

Happy sudsing
 
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