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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:30:21 GMT
Apologies in advance for such a dull subject, but it is one that has been occupying my thoughts recently, so hopefully you folks will be kind enough to share your experiences. I'm no stranger to laundry, of course. Having lived alone for at least half of the last two decades, I developed a simple routine of bunging everything into the machine once a week or so on a sort of 'medium' wash, and then (in the winter) hanging it all to dry on one those clothes hanging frame thingies, in the spare bedroom. That's all very well in a house with unlimited electricity, but I will have to figure out a different approach as a liveaboard boater. So I have a rough plan to start off with. I have got a decent sized collapsible bowl that I can drag out and use to wash clothes every few days- I dont mind the idea of washing by hand (i.e. intermittently poking a stick of some sort into the bowl). I'm resigned to wringing the clothes by hand (which I can never do as well as a machine spins them, but hey ho). For the drying bit, I'm thinking I can hang them on a clothes frame, as I did when I was living in my house. But I remember back then (I moved out and came up to Newcastle 7 years ago) in the winter it often took several days for clothes to dry on the hanger thing in the spare room. That system is ok if you have a spare bedroom, but the boat does not have lots of space, and I dont fancy having assorted clothes hanging around for days at a time. I want them out of my sight asap if possible. So I was thinking that to speed up the drying process a bit, I could finish the drying process off, and stop them getting clammy) by using a table top tumble dryer, or a heated clothes airer, like those two linked below. I dont think my 1kw genny will power either of those devices, but the inverter is rated at 1.8kw so it might just manage. But all of that said, is a dryer of any kind something that people use on boats? OR do you use radiators, hangers, or what? Here are two examples of the sort of solutions I've been looking at: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074L6XJGT/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A27TM1JUPVJ9KY&psc=1www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PHV59HH/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1WVQBL88Y6QXD&psc=1
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:36:47 GMT
There's this thing called a 'launderette', and I've not had to try the following method but I have heard Google maps is good for scoping them out.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Aug 16, 2020 19:40:46 GMT
I use a twin tub washing machine such as this and then just let clothes dry naturally, either on the airer when I'm on the mooring in the Summer or above the stove in the Winter. I do the laundry every two months and it can easily handle four T shirts, two pairs of pants and a pair of socks.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:47:13 GMT
There's this thing called a 'launderette', and I've not had to try the following method but I have heard Google maps is good for scoping them out. My dear Mr Nemesis, launderettes are for those working class sorts, surely? Not us posh boating types? But seriously- I do like that idea, and it will work some of the time. But truth be told, I'm a bit of an oddball, in that I'm no great lover of our dear homo sapiens, and I'm rather hoping I can find places to moor that are fairly quiet and remote. Don'r get me wrong- I'll talk the hind leg off a donkey given the chance, but I would like to have the option of spending perhaps a week at a time in fairly quiet places- so I need a self-contained solution.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:56:14 GMT
I use a twin tub washing machine such as this and then just let clothes dry naturally, either on the airer when I'm on the mooring in the Summer or above the stove in the Winter. I do the laundry every two months and it can easily handle four T shirts, two pairs of pants and a pair of socks. I have a lot of sympathy with this pragmatic approach Stabby, I have to say that. In theory, a washing load of four t shirts in two months is to be admired. In fact, and to paraphrase our very own Queen Elizabeth 1, I wash my clothes at least once a year, whether they need it or not. But when a gentleman reaches my somewhat tender years, his thoughts turn inevitably towards a slightly more luxurious lifestyle. And he needs to maintain at least an appearance of civilisation, and so I fear a solution that has a processing capacity of four t shirts in 2 months is not going to meet my requirements. I dont have room for a washer and a dryer, I think... So at the moment I'm trying to decide between the two.... I imagine the radiators will do a pretty decent job of drying, when they are in use, so it might be that a few of those radiator-hangers might be enough...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:57:10 GMT
6mm staple spun polypropylene rope tie the clothes up and hang them off the back of the boat while going along.
Repeat process.
Bin clothes and buy new underwear at a supermarket and other items at charity shops.
Never get drawn in to the whole launderette scam. Specially with bedding. It's usually cheaper to buy new bedding than to go the whole hog at a launderette.
The planet is doomed anyway so small things like deliberately binning perfectly useable bedding is not going to amount to a hill of beans while they still allow formula 1 racing which is entirely pointless.
If you have anything you especially like clothes-wise then wrap it up in kid gloves or whatever and seal it in a briefcase for special events.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 19:59:57 GMT
I think the sailors called it "shore clothes" or something like that where you have clean unused set of smart clothes (jeans and a Hugo boss tee shirt from charity shop) in some sort of case which never gets opened.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:01:01 GMT
There's this thing called a 'launderette', and I've not had to try the following method but I have heard Google maps is good for scoping them out. My dear Mr Nemesis, launderettes are for those working class sorts, surely? Not us posh boating types? But seriously- I do like that idea, and it will work some of the time. But truth be told, I'm a bit of an oddball, in that I'm no great lover of our dear homo sapiens, and I'm rather hoping I can find places to moor that are fairly quiet and remote. Don'r get me wrong- I'll talk the hind leg off a donkey given the chance, but I would like to have the option of spending perhaps a week at a time in fairly quiet places- so I need a self-contained solution. I concede that a washing machine would be a good thing so long as you have the requirements to run it. You can dry stuff out near the stove but its not ideal. Buy more clothes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:05:34 GMT
I have a magic laundry bin, dirty clothes in and they appear as if by magic clean and ironed in their storage space I do believe on the boat it has something to do with a Candy Aqua 100 washing machine.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:11:49 GMT
6mm staple spun polypropylene rope tie the clothes up and hang them off the back of the boat while going along. Repeat process. Bin clothes and buy new underwear at a supermarket and other items at charity shops. Never get drawn in to the whole launderette scam. Specially with bedding. It's usually cheaper to buy new bedding than to go the whole hog at a launderette. The planet is doomed anyway so small things like deliberately binning perfectly useable bedding is not going to amount to a hill of beans while they still allow formula 1 racing which is entirely pointless. If you have anything you especially like clothes-wise then wrap it up in kid gloves or whatever and seal it in a briefcase for special events. I have to say I totally agree with the bedding thing. Duvets are so cheap that its actually cheaper to buy a new one every few weeks than it is to pay to wash and dry it in a launderette. That is the way forward for me. I shall lay in a store of duvets next week, and keep them wrapped and sealed. I've only ever used a summer duvet anyway- I think they are 4 or 5 togs. I find the winter ones just too hot even in winter- except for 2 weeks during that awful winter of 2010, when I upgraded to a 10 tog duvet, and even wore a T shirt on some nights. In fairness, that was before I had CH put in the house, so the bedroom temperature normally went below zero on those January nights. I think I must have some Inuit blood in me. Luckily I don't have any clothes that I'm particularly attached to. I owned a suit, but I havent worn that in five years, so that went to the local tip last week along with a lot of other stuff.
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Post by Telemachus on Aug 16, 2020 20:13:53 GMT
We have a compact Zanussi washing machine and a small vented tumble drier to match. Of course you need adequate power generation and we have a Travelpower on the engine to run it, or the 175A alternator and Combi. The washing machine only uses a lot of power when it’s heating the water, if you fill it with hot water it doesn’t use much just to turn the drum and pump water in and out.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:16:15 GMT
I have a magic laundry bin, dirty clothes in and they appear as if by magic clean and ironed in their storage space I do believe on the boat it has something to do with a Candy Aqua 100 washing machine. Ah Mr Loddon, a decadent capitalist I see, living a life of luxury and exploiting the labour of your poor overworked washing machine. How can you live with yourself Sir (Pity you're not a bit closer to Ely, I could throw a few bits into that Candy of yours, instead of poking them with a stick in my washing bowl)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:23:07 GMT
We have a compact Zanussi washing machine and a small vented tumble drier to match. Of course you need adequate power generation and we have a Travelpower on the engine to run it, or the 175A alternator and Combi. The washing machine only uses a lot of power when it’s heating the water, if you fill it with hot water it doesn’t use much just to turn the drum and pump water in and out. I do quite fancy this arrangement myself if I'm honest, but the boat is a tad lacking in utility space. I think that's the difference in buying a 60ft boat- you have that 10ft or so to use as a utility room. The boat I'm moving onto is 50ft, which sounds like a lot, but there is no spare length in it for a utility area- if I feel its needed, I will have to find a way of fitting a washer into the galley. I think its doable, and I think the inverter will handle a lower power model like Mr Stabby's. I'll give the manual approach a try to start with. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be looking for machines, but I'll hang fire until I have a better feel for the available space, and for what I need.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:23:32 GMT
I did try a Burco clothes boiler but I have not got the electric power needed to actually boil the clothes (about 2kw). It was very effective on mains power and had a really good agitator system on it which got the clothes going round really well.. I gave it to my friend who does use it on his boat just with hot water. The truth is that I am not naturally drawn to the whole washing clothes scam, preferring to replace them as and when required. Good item though. Quality This thing www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Burco-Wash-Boiler-37-litres-Vintage-Retro-/274460806455If you have the facility to put very hot water in it or even better to run the element to actually boil the clothes while the agitator does it's thing then it is an effective, durable and small footprint device. I was quite amazed by the amount of dirt I did get out of a pair of jeans once when I boiled them up for about ten minutes or whatever. It really shifted it. I guess anything other than cotton could be issues but I prefer cotton clothes anyway not really a fan of other stuff..
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 20:25:50 GMT
I also liveaboard, and identfy with this problem. In heatwave weather I try to wash every day. Five pairs shorts and ten pairs socks, ten Tshirts/tops. I have five white T whiteshirts which sub for PJs in hot weather, easy to wash n rise every day. I use hand towels, in preference to bath towels. I take two big bags to launderette, every 2-3 weeks.about £13.
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