How useful is a washing machine if you liveaboard?

Washing machine a great boon, and pays for itself in months. Lighter the machine the better of course. Laundry services tend to be expensive and often use cheap/harsh products to make sure everything gets clean, hence the often "washed out" appearance of many yotties, even in clean clothes. Hand wash smartest clothes/shirts etc, of course.
 
tcm said:
Washing machine a great boon, and pays for itself in months. Lighter the machine the better of course. Laundry services tend to be expensive and often use cheap/harsh products to make sure everything gets clean, hence the often "washed out" appearance of many yotties, even in clean clothes. Hand wash smartest clothes/shirts etc, of course.
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Tell me! I've had itchy armpits ever since we moved aboard and started using laundrettes. Just ordered a mini twin tub, I'm guessing the next order will be for another water tank, although I have a cunning and devious plan for rain water collection.
 
I will put my hand up and confess to doing Clipper, for 7 months. That experience has, inevitably, coloured my view of the desirability of a washing machine. The comedy moment that will live with me forever is of a crewmate (very senior high powered chap) washing out his smalls in a bucket. All was well until after the 3rd rinse he threw the contents of the bucket overboard, including said smalls. Oops. I still mention it when I see him.

(he was down to 2 pairs of boxers for the remaining 10 days...)
 
FurryWritingDesk said:
We have a void... Apparently the black tank *has* to go where the washing machine is, but the latest conversation has seen him concede that a washing machine is not a "nice to have". And he will look to buy me a shiny new one to go in the forward heads.

Which will leave the void, void. (Or, as it is in reality, stuffed full of bits for the Eberspacher that has never been fitted. That's a project for another time!)
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Yay, victory! Who cares where the washing machine is, as long as it's on the boat!
 
Having had this conversation many times.... We lived aboard for 18 years, for the first 10 years hand washing & then using a wonderwash. This was fine but the rinsing was high water usage. I found putting into a marina and spending one day doing the laundry, with the following morning rushing into town to stock up a rather soul destroying way of life.
When we sailed to Croatia, then to over winter. No self service laundries only service washes these were priced per item. A weekly wash including bedding would have set us back around €35-40!! It's always great fun, in the summer, to do the laundry as long as water is available, however in the winter it's not so delightful esp. in Europe. It was then we decided to get a machine. Initially we thought of a cheapo one that would sit on the aft deck and given away/sold in the Spring. At the end of the day we 'found' space in the port cabin under a chest of drawers.
It's a Candy 3.5kg automatic. Uses less water than hand/wonderwash washing. It worked for 8 years without a problem. The only thing that was replaced was a capacitor. Don't go long distance sailing without a washing machine. I wish we'd fitted one at the outset. It saves soooo much time and effort.
 
We hand wash, but have a wringer, made by The Acme Wringer Company. It should probably be in a museum, but makes rinsing out, and therefore hand washing, perfectly feasible.
 
Even singlehanded, a washing machine would be a very desirable boon. If I had room and the water capacity I wouldn't hesitate, but a lightweight 31' and 150l water capacity make it more questionable.

Here is a fairly good link to a site giving a selection of mini washing machines:-
http://www.hifi-tower.co.uk/oneConc...Washing-Machine-Spin-5-8kg-Max-Load_i8221.htm

Some of the factors one needs to take into consideration:-

1. To wash I need a water hose connected - that means a marina or town quay.
2. Washing is not the problem - two buckets and plenty of water and I'm away - wringing out, because of quite bad arthritis in my hands is the problem. In fact >40C water with modern detergents is unnecessary.
3. Nearly every marina which one visits has a washing machine - cost about €5. Having washing done by the local laundry can, by negotiation, be brought down to about €15 for 8kg.
4. 8kg of washing is about 4 weeks worth for me.

So a quick cost-benefit analysis, based upon the £100 machine on the site. Saving over 3 years @ 6 washes/year = €90 in marina machines or €270 if using laundries alone. Those are the costs applying to a 6/12 liveaboard, it will be double for one 12/12 liveaboard, and x4 for a pair.
Based on those numbers the cost benefits are clear-cut, certainly in Greece and even more so in Italy and Croatia.
I'd suggest the OP suggest that her husband take over all the clothes washing, in the event of sacrificing their present machine, but she runs the rough costing before his eyes before he agrees.

PS I do all the cooking and clothes washing on boat and on land - I wouldn't be without my 1600 rpm drum washing-machine/spinner or my 9kg tumble drier here in the UK.
PPS The new mainsail, all 26kg, militates against my taking it out this trip but you can be pretty sure that next trip will include a washer spinner (hard luck visitors, you'll either share the aft cabin, with washing machine, or sleep in the saloon).
PPPS I have got a black-water tank - 25 litres, as a saddle-tank on the sea toilet. Does for two for 2/3 days.
 
Perhaps the real men on this forum will now realise why it has always been considered unlucky to have a female aboard a boat. If this thread is anywhere near the truth, then their whole wish is to turn a mans boat into a wash-house and laundry room.

In their costing they ignore how much the 10% space for a washing machine on an £70,000 costs.
 
BurnitBlue said:
.... In their costing they ignore how much the 10% space for a washing machine on an £70,000 costs.
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And what you have ignored is the cost of a washing machine and the space it takes up in your £200,000 home. Bet you wouldn't forgo a washing machine at home?
 
BurnitBlue said:
Perhaps the real men on this forum will now realise why it has always been considered unlucky to have a female aboard a boat. If this thread is anywhere near the truth, then their whole wish is to turn a mans boat into a wash-house and laundry room.

In their costing they ignore how much the 10% space for a washing machine on an £70,000 costs.
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I might agree if I was a part timer.
 
NornaBiron said:
We've got a Greek made 'Carad' 3kg automatic machine. It's a plastic machine which, apart from spinning, does everything a normal automatic machine does. I've tried googling it with no success. It fits in one of our side deck boxes and can be used from there. We've just ordered a domestic spin dryer to make life even easier!
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Ours is a plastic twin tub from a caravan shop - took it out as hold luggage - so we already have the spin dryer. Since it doesn't have a heater, we can run it off the calorifier and provide it's power from the inverter so we don't need to be in a marina to use it. Best thing we ever bought for the boat, apart from the 1800watt inverter.
 
We had a Wonderwash on board for several years ok for quick washes during a couple of weeks cruising. For long term liveaboard life it uses far too much water, makes a mess in the galley which was the only space we could easily use it and our duvet cover didn't fit so we always ended up washing that in a bucket. Now we occasionally treat ourselves to a laundrette wash if reasonably priced and HWMBO has a good book to read or we spend a morning in the cockpit with a couple of large builders buckets sloshing water around. The latter is preferred method if it is sunny and it gives the cockpit a good wash down too.

Would love a wringer though - wringing out wet washing is hard on your hands - so if anyone knows where I can buy one...
 
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