Let's build a boat laundry!
Every sailing boat needs it's own laundry
On Saturday we did our first Laundry on the boat. Over the years we have had many discussions on how we would do this see Sustainable becoming cheaper and more convenient and DIY Washing Machine for Sailing. However, things change and we have gone down a slightly different route.
For washing we have a small, mostly plastic, single tub electric washing machine with a 2.5kg load capacity (it can spin dry a much smaller amount but it's not very effective so we are not using that feature). There are lots of similar machines available. Ours is a "GiantexUK 2-in-1 Mini Washing Machine, Single Tub Washer and Spin Dryer". It does not heat water, it just agitates your clothes in the water you supply (you set a timer up to 10mins) and it has a drain hose.
For large items (mostly sheets and duvets), we will use a large bucket and a washing wand (think Victorian times) to agitate.
We then have a larger spin dryer (up to 7.5kg and 2,800rpm). We do a wash cycle, then spin, then a rinse cycle and then spin again. After the spin dryer our clean clothes dry very quickly (we will use the area behind our Refleks stove as a drying space in the winter).
Our first attempt worked pretty well.
Our problem was that we had nowhere to keep the spin dryer or washing machine. So yesterday we changed that.
I cleared the forward heads compartment (port side) and built a simple framework.
Then added a shelf on top
Finally loaded up the laundry equipment, and potentially we could use it here.
Once we put the second Natures Head Composting toilet in here and start having showers on board (it's more useful for storage at the moment) I may make the shelf less deep. Obviously, they will need to be held in place before we go sailing (and the old shower hull fitting behind the spin dryer will be blocked up so we don't sink).
This represents a tiny fraction of the cost, space, and energy use of an automatic washing machine. Plus we have so much less drying to do after using the spin dryer. Also no need for any holes in the boat, we drain them into a bucket (and Jane reused the water out of the spin dryer several times).
