laundry

Only about 1 in 20 of full-timers we meet have a washer/dryer in their rig.

Most common reason not to have them is space. We certainly don't have room for them in our rig.

However, my wife does look fondly at the option of adding a w/d combo or two separate units - whenever we are looking at other rigs.

So, I've taken the hint. Our next rig will have a laundry capability is at all possible.

As mentioned above - it takes a change in mindset to adjust to a once a week, once every two weeks laundry schedule.

Having spent 20+ years in the US Navy, I've always made sure I have one or two weeks of clothes / underwear / socks on hand. My wife on the other hand, seems to be comfortable with three sets of underwear and four pairs of socks. She would do laundry every day or every other day if she could.

But she is learning the freedom that doing laundry once every 10-14 days brings. She realizes that she spends a lot less time on laundry by doing one big wash every couple weeks than a little every day or two.

But she's an old woman, and if she has the option of a w/d - she would take it. Old folks are reluctant to change things. :D

We ordered our 5th wheel with no W/D. Full timing now three yeas and use laundromat every 1 to 2 weeks. In and out in 2 hrs or maybe a little more, all dry and folded. Many posts from folks who seem to love their on board machines, but we've never been able to grip having to do laundry on board with the laundry detergent odor, having to take up the space for folding, it would be an almost daily exercise, always thinking about the next load, background washer or dryer noise, ... No, no, no. Get it done and forget it for two weeks is the way to go.

Have a stackable washer/dryer. Would hate to be without it. As for cost. It has paid for itself many times over.

I do my laundry like John Steinbeck did in his non-fiction book; "Travels With Charlie" in his truck camper. I fill the 3.5 Gal. bucket with clothes needing washed, add some laundry detergent, fill with water in the floor of the coach shower, stir it up and let it soak for hours and even driving on your trip for hours too, before rinsing with water and hanging the clothes on white plastic hangers, first in the shower stall to drip first, then around the interior where they can finish air-drying.

Small capacity and hungry power needs of W/D units limit you.
In the full time/ long time world of RVing, the space is likely better utilized for other purposes.
Also consider cost ( in your unit ) and time. You'll likely find it much more cost and time effective to use a laundromat.

After just one month of fulltiming, I would much rather give up the space to keep my Splendide combo. With the w/d, I do a small load every couple days, so there isn't a need for a huge amount of clothing.

Why would you want to trust putting your clothes into a washer that was just used for dog blankets, oily clothes, or a teenager dying her t-shirts?

Plus, I have better things to do than sit in a laudromat. Put a load in at bedtime, take out, fold & put away in the morning.

Barb

We don't because we want to stay small plus we're rarely hooked up. We have enough clothing for about three weeks. A trip to the laundromat only takes a couple of hours so it's not a big problem to use one.

Why would you miss out on the opportunity to people watch at the Laundromat?? Wouldn't have a w/d in the rig...

We use ours more days than we don't. There is a learning curve to using a combo unit. It will never be the same as two separate home style units but it does the job for us and we wouldn't want to give it up.