Laundry on the road - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-22-2003, 09:58 AM   #1
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Laundry on the road

Since we often go on 6 week plus trips in the summertime, we are always faced with the how/when/where/what are we going to do when it comes time to do the laundry.

I put this in the "problem solving" area, because, well, frankly, doing laundry on the road can be a problem.

In a full service campground, there are usually a few washers and dryers ... but they are often busy or full of wet clothes awaiting a tardy owner.

Since we do most of our camping, dry camping, in national forest, national parks, Army corp of engineers, state or provincial parks, we usually try to time "laundry day" with a low-mileage "travel" day so that we can park our little fiberglass wonder in the Laundramat parking lot, strip the bed, gather up all the dirty clothes and towels, and do the laundry.

I gotta admit, the dog and I usually stay inside the trailer out in the parking lot, reading, listening or waiting for Pam to come back, after checking a load.

Because our trailer is in the parking lot, it also gives Pam a clean, safe place to come sit between cycles ... not to mention the fact she can use our bathroom, should the need arrive! (Why is it laundramat toilets are so terrible???)

The most handy detergent we've found for "on the road" are wisk tablets.

<img src=http://www.wisk.com/tablet/images/bottom.gif/>

The tablets are individually packed in handy little two-packs, so you can tuck a whole bunch of them into various nooks and crannies in the rv.

This also means we don't have to find room to store a big jug or box of detergent ... nor does Pam have to carry a big container into the washers.

Another neat use for the tablets I've found is to pour a couple of gallons of clean water into the black water tank, toss in a couple of tablets and drive around for awhile.

The cleaning action of the tablets foams and cleans the black tank as we drive to the next campground ... where we dump our sudsy black tank.

So, if you haven't discovered the handy Wisk tablets ... check 'em out!



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Old 01-22-2003, 09:59 AM   #2
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So how

So how do you tacklet laundry day on the road?



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Old 01-22-2003, 10:42 AM   #3
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Laundry

Charles, both your ideas are splendid,I always had liquid decanted into a water bottle ,but the tabs make much more sense, also I found letting the gray soapy water out after the black kept the hose well washed,but the tabs in the black tank sounds good too as I'm a bit of a germophobic, the kind that uses paper towels , elbows and feet to open doors of rest rooms!! Oh boy! does'nt sound too good does it?:red



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Old 01-22-2003, 11:25 AM   #4
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One other suggestion is Whisk HE. I have one of those european/rv style combination washer/dryers here at home and it works great. However front load machines need a HE detergent. You only use about 1/4 to 1/2 of what you do for top load, you do need to use fabric softner.

Only advantage I see to this method is you carry less detergent. Doing laundry on the road is a pain anytime. Seems your method would be good to use for a driving break.



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Old 01-22-2003, 04:30 PM   #5
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wish

wish I had known that trick for the black tank when I had my MH. it had a full guage that never worked, I assume because it had crud in it that never cleaned out. this would have done the job. I'll keep this in mind for the trailer, just to be tidy.
Wanishi (opps sorry working on language in my spare time)
Thank you



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Old 01-22-2003, 05:09 PM   #6
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Hey Jana

Do you have a real live toilet with real holding tanks with levers that you pull and everything WOW! wish I did:feet
I,m still waiting to get one of those Coleman showers we tracked down last fall remember?Walmart i think, hope they still have them this season.



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Old 01-22-2003, 05:25 PM   #7
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have levers and pullies

No, but I will someday. but this should work for portables too if you can empty the ?? stuff before going home, put maybe a 1/4 tablet and water and get on the road to home. :)



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Old 01-22-2003, 05:29 PM   #8
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Quote:
Orginally posted by Charles Watts

The most handy detergent we've found for "on the road" are wisk tablets.

<img src=http://www.wisk.com/tablet/images/bottom.gif/>

The tablets are individually packed in handy little two-packs, so you can tuck a whole bunch of them into various nooks and crannies in the rv.

This also means we don't have to find room to store a big jug or box of detergent ... nor does Pam have to carry a big container into the washers.
Tide also makes the double packed tablets. The grocer here said they were test marketing them.



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Old 01-22-2003, 07:07 PM   #9
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Double packed tablets

>wisk vs tide

thing that's really slick about the double packed tablets is you can easily pack a whole bunch of tablets in nooks and crannies where a box of detergent wouldn't fit.

Clean, easy, break open the twin pack, through them in the washer and go about your business.

I'm not promoting Wisk over Tide. I just get what Pam tells me to get.



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Old 01-22-2003, 09:51 PM   #10
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Laundry?? We don't do no stinking laundry!!!

Or thats what I heard over at CasitaClub a couple of years ago about the 'Casita17 Laundry'. :r

Where their moto's are "Home of no suds on your duds!" and "We gladly shred and spindel your laundry! :o

Heck, I suppose they even use those convenient 'Dirt Clods' in the wash. ;)

:wave



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Old 01-22-2003, 11:30 PM   #11
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laundry on the road

I remember reading about someone using a five gal bucket, with a lid I assume. You would put clothes, water and soap. Stand it in the bathroom or some where it's stable, and go down the road. when you get where your going you rinse and dry on the line. sounds like it would work for small loads anyway. very ingenious.



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Old 01-23-2003, 02:18 AM   #12
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Soap Tricks

I think that trick got popularized after appearing in the book "Travels With Charlie". At least I think that was the title.



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Old 01-23-2003, 07:27 AM   #13
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Hi Glen!

Hi Glen! aka The Laundry King!

Good to see you here! Since you are the expert at doing (or not doing) the laundry, I'll defer to your wisdom ;) .

Hey, visit and post often, ok? Take care!



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Old 01-23-2003, 07:55 AM   #14
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The cowboy washing machine...

The bucket may indeed have appeared in Steinbeck's book, but I'm sure he wouldn't claim it as original as cowboys all over the west have been using it for many years. Here's how it works...

Fix a large milk can (with lid) inside the bed of your pickup, or on the runningboard if you have one. Put in enough water to fill the can about half way, soap, then the duds. Go do your driving chores. After a while, at the next tanque with a hose and pump setup (or even a bucket), empty the can, put in some fresh water for rinse. Drive on. That's it!

Fastidious cowboys (there have been one or two), or those that itch easily, might even put in a second rinse if another tanque is handy.

I'm thinking about getting me one of those milk cans and putting it on the hitch of my Casita ahead of the propane tanks! Could even install a drain on the bottom so it wouldn't have to be lifted or re-attached. Only problem is the damn milk cans are now considered antiques and are priced accordingly.



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Old 01-23-2003, 08:04 AM   #15
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Plastic

Somewhere, at sometime, in some RV catalog, think it may have been Camping World, they sold a blue plastic cylinder wash tub ... which folks could carry in their RV to wash light loads while in transit.

Haven't seen the tub advertisement recently, so it probably didn't sell well.

Besides, when we're having fun on the road, by the time we decide to do laundry, we have an awful lot of laundry.

Which is why we like to stop enroute, parking the trailer in a laundramat parking lot, throw everything (including the sheets) into 4 or 5 washings and get everything done in one cycle.

I've often asked Pam if she wanted to take the clothes off my back to wash them ... and I could sit in the trailer, well, probably shouldn't go there.



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Old 01-23-2003, 08:35 AM   #16
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I forgot to mention...

...about doing laundry on the road that I actually *like* stopping at little laundrettes here and there. It's a good way to pick up on the local gossip and get to know folks, and the place, a little. Now, it's true that *some* of the folks at laundrettes you might not be overly keen to "get to know," but mostly they are nice and usually friendly.

I'm going to get some of those wafers. Do they come with a little net bag? In Ireland they come with a neat little bag into which you pop them before you toss them in the machine. Not exactly sure what the bag is supposed to do for the wafers, but if you're super-cheap you can use the bag to wash your gun cleaning patches so you can use 'em again!



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Old 01-23-2003, 08:40 AM   #17
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laundry

>take the clothes off my back to wash them ... and I could sit in the trailer< did NOT need that picture in my head all day. :colors :duck that sounds like my Tom. any excuse to *go native* :laugh
The main thing I see with the bucket laundry is I wouldn't think of it in time to do it when needed. mine would be - should of done the laundry yesterday, I have nothing to wear. or - can't stop, I'm doing the laundry.



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Old 01-23-2003, 08:46 AM   #18
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Nope

Nope, Robert ... no net bag. They come packaged two tablets, wrapped in plastic. Break open the twin pack and dump them into the washer.

The little two-tablet twin packs store everywhere, cleanly, since they are sealed in plastic. First thing Pam does when we buy a new 40 pack is take them out of the box, store some here and some there, and toss away the big box.



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Old 01-23-2003, 04:10 PM   #19
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Laundry

Has anyone ever tried one of the machines that is on this link? Go to fiberglass RV home page and on the bottom left go to links then on that page in RV parts and accessories go to the link - laundry alternative. Neat looking little machines, I wonder if they actually work, sure would be handy for folks like us. We really don't want to buy one because living up here in "EH" land returning the product would probably be a big hassle. Any thoughts anyone? Rick & Karen



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Old 01-23-2003, 06:44 PM   #20
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Interesting

Ummm....I dunno...never tried it myself, but it sure looks interesting.

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/washing.html



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