Laundry and the like - answers please

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cliffb

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Hi all,
I'm planning for some long term sailing next year and some domestic issues arise, for which I'd like to hear from others.
Washing and Laundry. Lets suppose you're not in a marina with facilities. Ok, you can wash out yer bits in the galley sink - but how do you dry them? presuming you're not in the Med or somewhere similarly hot.
Do you have on board washing machines? ... or driers?
Most will not I suspect... But those who don't... is it a big pain and would you recommend them (budget permitting)? and if so can anyone recommend a really small one (drier, that is)
More questions to follow in coming months, I expect; so sorry if this is the first of many.
Thanks
Cliff
 
only ever seem to be found on crewed superyachts in a working condition! Yes it is a pain but its amazing the places you will find a laundry service offered!Can be worse trying to dry in hot areas where humidity can be very hig. In bad weather conditions we turn one of the heads in to a drying room with a whirly type small line hung from the hatch,blowing air thriugh the heating duct if it is taking a really long time. Go for easy drying fibres for your clothes when sailing, micro fleece, light cotton and silk-makes the job easier. Carry loads of underwear and a really huge laundry bag...then you can at least wait til you get to a laundry. We have been cruising now for three years and its never really been that much of a problem. If there are no local services we do the vital stuff by hand and accumulate the rest. Towels and sheets are the worst we carry plenty of spares and have never yet used them all up.
 
We have a 37ft old wooden ketch and a lovely Candy washing machine.
From my experience, if you have the time (not working for a living)
Hand washing is not a big problem, drying can be.
We neither have the time or the inclination to do so.
I started with an electolux 240v plastic drum machine which you had to manualy fill and empty but it did have a timer. The results were quite good.
About 3years again we invested in a 1/2 size candy (3kg load) 240v. We havent bothered plumming it into the tanks, as it's much simpler to pull into a marina, plug water and power in and get it all done.
Saves searching about for a launderette with various results.
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
If you can find space do it.
It's a normal domestic washing machine, just smaller. But still big enoth for bedding,towels are no problem and because its all spun, dryings much quicker than hand wash. I can even wash a normal size pillow.
There are of course other makes about but here the candy is popular lots of boats have them. Some even out on the back deck.
 
Many thanks to you both .... your replies are both highly pertinent and useful.
Think we might suck it and see for a while... and then maybe invest in a Candy ... IF WE CAN FIND THE SPACE!!!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
We have good bulky towels but small ones, more hand size towels. They do the job and dry out in a few hours in the saloon. We have a heater for the winter /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif and the sun heats up the saloon sufficiently during the summer.
 
And whilst on this theme.......

I know ironing /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif is not exactly a priority when sailing but we may occasionally want to go to a "decent" restaurant so does anyone know of a 12v travel iron and where I might obtain one?

Paul.
 
We've lived aboard our 34-footer for most of the past 16 years. A washer/dryer might be lovely, but we haven't got room for it, and would have to maintain it. While cruising and anchoring, e.g. up and down the US Intra-Coastal Waterway, our typical routine was to stop once a week at a marina which had laundry facilities (as determined from local cruising guide) to do laundry and shop for groceries. Sometimes we found marinas where we could anchor off, dinghy in and tie up dinghy for the day for a small fee. Otherwise we simply paid for one night a week at a marina. My wife and I totally agree with Lyn and Larry Pardey's argument (in books and on website) that paying to get laundry done is worthwhile if you want to enjoy the liveaboard life. In Europe the options differ--fewer chances to anchor off--but the principle is the same.
 
Re: And whilst on this theme.......

We carry an old flat iron for heating up on the gas ring. [Also doubles as an anvil].
Quote from B.R. 1938 "Naval Ratings handbook"- "If a flat iron is not available quite good results can be obtained with the loom of an oar or a rolling pin."
 
We've been living aboard in the UK and more recently the Med for over a year and have been using a small 1kg camping 240V 'washing machine' - often advertised by one of the mail order catalogues. We find it great. We find that laundrettes are beyond our budget so we wash 80% in the little machine and just do the heavy stuff in the laundrette. It works for us...drying can be inconvenient but it has never been a 'problem'.
 
We've lived aboard for several periods of months (sadly not years yet). Ironically we find drying washing is easier and quicker than at home where the garden is very sheltered. It may not look pretty but bungee cord in the rigging (we use mast step to shroud mostly but a local ketch has a good between mast arrangement) is really effective. Very important to use good pegs (wooden ones best) or you lose things in a blow and don't do what I did and put shirts on hangers - lost a nice shirt that way.

Handwashing hard work but effective on clothes, not bedding, but uses a lot of water. We use "town" laundrettes when available - I can get all bedding, towels, tea towels done in one wash for about £5 and it takes less than an hour. Quicker & cheaper than marina laundrettes which tend to have much smaller machines & driers. And you meet the nicest people ! Met a bunch of Norwegians who'd sailed to SW England and boy did they have a lot of washing !
 
we have a small washing machine, it has saved us a fortune in laundrette charges, we weash evrything in it, including bedding etc. Drying is not a problem in the meddy, but in UK we had a big awning over the aft deck, which enabled us to dry stuff. Otherwise anchor off and use laundrettes in town, as we do in the summer, the washing machine uses too much water, when at anchor. Hand washing for most stuff is OK, but again uses a bunch of water.
 
Even with the washing machine large towels are a pain, We had a few large thick cuddly towels when we moved on board I just cut them up and bound the edges. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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