Talk to me about washing machines

[Rangerman40]

So our new fifth wheel has a washer/dryer prep. I've looked online and all of the rv specific units seem to get mixed reviews, and take forever to do a load. In talking to my wife about it she's not even sure we need a dryer because she dries very little at home. Does anyone have any recommendations for a washer only? I like the idea of an apartment sized stack unit (if it will even fit), but less than thrilled about having to drill a hole in the side of a brand new fifth wheel for a vent. The combo ventless units look fairly useless to me. It's one of those things that doesn't really do either task well and is highly inefficient about doing it.

[Travlingman]

retispcsi wrote:
Have a whirlpool washer and vented dryer both 110 and stacked. Washer broke 3 weeks after I got the unit took 3 months for whirlpool to replace. They are a terrible company to deal with. That given they both work great. We fulltime and would not be without them. Yes the dryer takes a little longer to dry but is not a big deal. Will never be without them again.

Have the stackable/vented Whirpool's and will never have a rig without a washer/dryer. But, they will not be Whirlpool as stated above. We had an issue with our washer while under warranty, and Whirlpool wouldn't honor as they said it was in an RV. Finally had to pay and get it fixed myself. Even though we don't fulltime now, it makes weekend and week long trips easier as we don't have to pack many clothes and can wash a couple of loads while setting around.

[retispcsi]

Have a whirlpool washer and vented dryer both 110 and stacked. Washer broke 3 weeks after I got the unit took 3 months for whirlpool to replace. They are a terrible company to deal with. That given they both work great. We fulltime and would not be without them. Yes the dryer takes a little longer to dry but is not a big deal. Will never be without them again.

[AFHauler]

Rangerman40 wrote:
So our new fifth wheel has a washer/dryer prep. I've looked online and all of the rv specific units seem to get mixed reviews, and take forever to do a load. In talking to my wife about it she's not even sure we need a dryer because she dries very little at home. Does anyone have any recommendations for a washer only? I like the idea of an apartment sized stack unit (if it will even fit), but less than thrilled about having to drill a hole in the side of a brand new fifth wheel for a vent. The combo ventless units look fairly useless to me. It's one of those things that doesn't really do either task well and is highly inefficient about doing it.

We live full-time in our trailer and have a vented Splendide 2100XC. The loads are smaller but the convenience is awesome. After using 220 dryers all our life it is hard to get used to having patience when using the 110 but we are getting into a routine. We especially love putting our shower towels into the dryer for 20 minutes to dry so we don't have wet towels hanging around in the winter. A neighbour said she hung some clothes up near her dehumidifier and they dried real fast - that was a great tip. If I want to get several wash loads done in a day I will take some of the heavier clothes out of the dryer before they are finished and hang them up by the dehumidifier and they dry faster than leaving them in the dryer. Drying larger items like flannel sheets take forever and several times I have washed the sheets and then taken them to the laundromat to dry them. All in all, I would not want to be without a washer/dryer.

[Cummins12V98]

Whirlpool apartment size washer and dryer. The washer at just over 1 year quit discharging all the water. With no codes and the screen was cleaned decided not to throw away money on the Chinese made POS. Did some research and bought a Bosch 500 series 2.2 cu' 220V washer. Already had a 220V dryer. So I tapped the dryer plug in box and added a 220V 20A plug for the washer. The combined amp draw is 26A so the 10G wiring and 30A breaker worked well.

If you are paying for your own power the 220V models are the way to go. I do have a Commercial Cummins/Onan 220V 6500LP gen to run them if boon docking.

I can tell you the Bosch puts the Whirlpool to shame.

[BB_TX]

We have a Splendide combo in our 5er and DW uses it frequently. Don't have room for separate units. Yes, small loads. But she puts in a load, sets it to wash and dry, and we go about whatever our plans are. Come back later to a clean dry load of laundry. And repeat if necessary. Large enough that she can do king sheets in it. Rarely ever go to a laundromat. Agree that a vent thru the wall is no big deal, and barely noticeable.

[the_bear_II]

we have had a whirlpool apartment/RV sized stackable unit since our 5th wheel was new 21 years ago. Both work well and keep up with our needs. No problems with either one. The advantage to having them is we can carry less clothes and don't have to use the campground laundry or find one in town.

The dryer vents through the wall no big deal and has not leaked.

[Michelle_S]

We had the vented combo unit in our previous 2 5ers and had no problems. Friends had the non-vented unit and she hated it with a passion as it ruined some of her clothes.
We opt'd for the stacked units in our current unit and love them.
Because as a rule we don't get our clothes filthy we use one of the shorter cycles on the washer to reduce the time.

[ricklord2001]

I could go on and onot with this subject. People that have them love them people that don't claim that won't give up the space for them. I've had both the Splendide vented and the stackable set. Definitely would not be without one or the other. The stackable is definitely better and easier to use. The Splendide took more understanding and did much smaller loads and you really need to read the manual and make sure you did it right or everything came out TERRIBLY WRINKLED but if you took your time and looked at the manual and set it correctly it was great. Set it up and go about your day. That being said my wife always complained about the Splendide because she didn't want to spend the time to learn the different settings and what they did to the clothed. She did love the stackable as it was just a smaller version of our home machines.

[jnharley]

We have the Splendide stackables and would not be without them. The washer of course has smaller capacity than a home washer but has a variety of settings and we have not had any problems at all with it. The dryer is 110 vice a 220 home dryer so it does take longer to dry. We have had to change the thermostat on the dryer but other than that, it has also worked just fine. We can wash everything except for our quilt. Some say they take too much time or too much space. Our 5th wheel has a closet for the units and we wash clothes whenever we want to usually while sitting in our pjs so it does not interfere with our full timing lifestyle at all. We find laundries to be filthy places and you never know what has been in the washer before you put in your clothes. For us, it is worth the expense.

[Dick_B]

Just curious to know what DW does with a load of wet clothes on the RV?

[edatlanta]

I have the Splendide 2100XC and would absolutely not full time without it. Works great, and has been 100% reliable for the past 6.5 years. As others have said it does small loads, but then we are living in a small space compared to our s&b's. I use mine as a dirty hamper for colored clothes and run when full enough to run. Add soap, turn it on and go on about my day. I really don't care that it takes 3 hours to finish. White dirty clothes go in the clothes hamper that is built in to my rig. I have to wash whites less than colors since I have a lot of whites.

[Halmfamily]

We have Whirlpool washer and vented dryer. They work great, albeit the loads are smaller, but this has yet to be an issue. The dryer is 120 volts so the clothes don't dry as fast as a home dryer, but that's okay as we are in no hurry while camping. The hole through the side wall for the vent is well sealed and we haven't had any issues. Will never have an RV without them.

[Rangerman40]

donn0128 wrote:
Vented combos work very well. The only real caviot is small loads. When were out, we usually do a load a day. Load, add soap, press start and go do our thing. Later when we get back home, take out clean dry clothes. BTW most all private camp grounds do not allow line drying of clothes. Besides it really looks tacky. We would be be without for extended time on the road. I am simply not a fan of laundrymats.

No line drying for us outside the camper. We have a multi level drying rack that we put the clothes on and keep it inside. Works pretty well. My wife has some aversion to drying anything in a dryer. I think it's because she's almost 6' tall and her clothes are barely long enough on her to start and even a little shrinkage in a dryer is a no go for her..... me I could not care less either way.

[cmeade]

We have a ventless Domestic combo and prior posted was correct in starting a load and come back in 3 hrs to clean dry clothes. Also did not want hole in side of our 5ver. On sale last year at rvpartscountry for $645 versus $1300 for stacked pair and it only uses about 12 gallons of water per load.

[donn0128]

Vented combos work very well. The only real caviot is small loads. When were out, we usually do a load a day. Load, add soap, press start and go do our thing. Later when we get back home, take out clean dry clothes. BTW most all private camp grounds do not allow line drying of clothes. Besides it really looks tacky. We would be be without for extended time on the road. I am simply not a fan of laundrymats.