Washer/Dryer Combo

Do any of you folks have a washer/dryer on your boat? Is it worth having or is it a big hassle? We carry enough water that I don't think that would be an issue plus we do tie up to slips a fare amount of the time. But, it seems like we are always having to find a marina that has a laundromat and then half the time they either are busy or don't work. At the nicer marina's it get pretty expensive to do the laundry, but maybe not any more than the cost of a washer/dryer in the long run.

Thanks

Greetings,
Mr. j. Funny you should ask. Yes, a Kenmore stackable unit(s) on board (1990's vintage-220v dryer) and used them for the first time in 9 years about a month ago. Previous to that we would lug the laundry home and lug it back again. First test was a load of towels. No more lugging.

We had a set of little stacked Maytags that we used constantly, but then again we lived aboard and cruised full time. Loved those things. Taking all your stuff on shore and then having to look after it is a real PITA in our opinion. However, if we were just vacationers or weekend warriors it would not be an issue.

We have a Splendide in our RV and had one in our last trawler. They are the vented units. The non vented ones do not dry very well. The vented ones dry fine if you load the unit per the specifications. The problem is that people jam in too much and then expect it to dry like a home unit that is 220V instead of 120V. You need to have open space around the clothes in the drum so you get air circulation so they will dry. Having said that, we love them and intend on installing one in our "new" trawler. If you are weekending on the boat, maybe it is not needed. However if you are spending time on the boat, not having to find a laundry facility, lug the clothes to and fro, hang out waiting on the laundry to finish and not having to use a machine that someone just washed their really nasty clothes in is well worth putting up with the smaller loads and longer drying times. Some people hate the combo units. Yes they are a compromise, but most things on a boat are a compromise...

I have the Maytag stackable units built in to a cabinet. A little noisy so I do laundry during the day. They do a very good job and it's very convenient. I watch other boat owners haul their loads to the pier head laundry and fish for sufficient quarters and that's not for me. I do laundry twice a week and that keeps the load size moderate. Of course I am solo on board so I don't build up a huge pile.

Our boat came with washer and dryer. I was adamant to take them out and convert the space to another fridge and some storage. The Admiral wanted to keep them.

The Admiral prevailed (as Admirals typically do). Now, I see the wisdom (other than keeping tha Admiral happy). We use ours regularly. Sure beats lugging laundry and a sack of quarters back and forth to a laundromat.

We have a Kenmore stackable washer/dryer. It is used weekly and is much more convenient than hauling the laundry to a laundrymat or marina laundry room.

It is running now as I type this.

We have a 110V Splendid and it works fine as long as you understand its limitations. It is a fairly compact unit. For just the two of us doing a load every other day and don't pack it solid, it's a 3 hour cycle. While cruising, we use the generator every day or two. During that time, water maker, washer, hair dryer, microwave and any other high AC use items are used. Takes a little planning, but it works.
Hope that helps.

Have a vented Splendide on my trawler that does very well. The object is to do laundry before it reaches critical mass. Mine either runs off the generator (when it's running) or shore power. So the object when cruising is to check if there is a load to do before starting the generator. After docking (if you're only their for the night) check to see if there is enough for a load. Really try to avoid running the generator just to do a load of laundry.

Unit uses 7.5 to 16 gallons of water depending on how many rinse cycles you select.


Ted

We also have a 110v Splendide. Like Crusty says, know it's limitations. You can't overload it. And it doesn't get things completely dry, at least here in the soggy Pacific Northwest. We end up hanging the laundry in the flybridge to finish drying.

We have a combo unit off the engine room and a dryer only in the master SR. We do use both (although we are no live aboards -- just easier to wash sheets, etc., on the boat), but the dryer in our stateroom actually gets more use. Its really nice to have a completely dry, warm towel after showering on a chilly morning.

We took ours out and made a large pantry which we needed more. I can send pics if you like, just PM me. It's amazing how much storage we gained. Every place we go has the laundry facilities. When we are out on the water for any length of time we are not dressing to please anyone else so our cloths are worn sometimes every day. Nobody ever does that at sea have they? Plus, when at sea requires generator use which is noisy on ours. A little time at the sink for what must be done is adequate. If we are docked for any period of time we use a service for $.90/ per pound. Cheaper than all the quarters and much more convenient.

porman said:

We also have a 110v Splendide. Like Crusty says, know it's limitations. You can't overload it. And it doesn't get things completely dry, at least here in the soggy Pacific Northwest. We end up hanging the laundry in the flybridge to finish drying.

Click to expand...

On our 40'er we had lines in the shower to hang clothes. Clothes went on hangers and sheets were clothes-pinned up. Turn on exhaust fan. We also bungie-cord'ed a fan to the head pointed at the shower. Most dried within 30 minutes.

I do similar though without the benefit of an exhaust fan in my head. I do have a cord though and that's where I dry things. I turn my Hella fan and within an hour everything is dry.

Of course my clothes are picked by the ability to dry fast. And at anchor I tend to wear nighties -- from a distance they look like dresses. With a wrap around skirt on the helm chair I can be "presentable" at a moment's notice.

Blue Sky came with an old Splendide combo, probably 20 years old. It performed marginally; washed okay but really did a poor job of drying. (It was vented)

Last year we replaced it with a new Splendide and what a difference! it washes better than our home washer (a fancy Whirlpool) and dries everything completely. But as has been mentioned, you have to know it's limitations; don't fill it up, and know that it takes a very long time to go through the complete cycle - 3 hours at a minimum.

It sure beats hanging around a laundromat for hours.

Any particular type of soap to minimize suds in the marina? Do any marinas frown on dumping soapy water overboard?

The PO had stackable Whirlpool units, which I managed to keep running until recently. The washer was basically worn out (rotary mechanical selector) and the dryer ran but overheated and shut off quite often once back in Oz. It wasn't too happy with 50 Hz AC feed I think.

Initially I was going to install a heat pump dryer as they are very energy efficient. However, after buying one for home and using it for a time I decided not to install one on the boat. Sure, its energy efficient and it doesn't need to be vented, but its rather slow and doesn't get to the level of dryness I would like. So I went with a vented condenser dryer for the boat which is quite good and a lot cheaper than the heat pump unit. Normal household front load washer as well. On board washing and drying is really nice if you are spending much time aboard.

Much has been said about not overloading the Spendide during the drying cycle. Standard separate home units avoid this issue by making the drum of the dryer twice the size of the drum for the washing machine. An option for those who need the drying cycle is to wash the clothes filling the washer and then letting half of them sit in a basket while the remaining half drys and then doing a second drying cycle. This avoids a 2nd wash cycle and the water usage.

We routinely use the Splendide in its wash cycle via our inverter.

After spending 8 months on our boat over the past 2 years I wish we had laundry facilities. Our boat is too small but if I had a boat that could have one, I would install it.

At least once a week we spent half a day doing laundry and trying to find quarters. And it does get expensive.

However if you're spending less than a week at a time on the boat it's probably not needed and the space better used for storage.

MYTraveler said:

Its really nice to have a completely dry, warm towel after showering on a chilly morning.

Click to expand...

Now that's the cat's meow.

jstauffer said:

Any particular type of soap to minimize suds in the marina? Do any marinas frown on dumping soapy water overboard?

Click to expand...

With the Splendide and other front loading low water use machines, you want to use the HE (think it stands for High Energy) soaps. It takes a ridiculously small amount and there are generally no suds (bubbles).

Ted

I had a stacked unit for years but one of the mechanical "isolators" broke on the washer base and it made major noise. Ultimately took it out about 5 years ago and replaced with a Splendide. I was happy with the stacked unit; but now, I appreciate even more the added space with the Splendide vented unit. Load capacity is less with the Splendide but also less water use and a lot quieter.

Glen

Wife said our stacked unit is better than our home units. Being able to wash stuff as needed removes one more PITA from boating. No roughing it for us any more, all the comforts of home. Much better to sit on the aft deck while close wash than in some cruddy laundromat.

Our "new to us" American Tug has a Splendid unvented combo. The first couple tries were not very promising but we have learned that patience and reading the manual can pay off. The last couple loads went very well. Even the towels were fairly dry although it took a "LONG" time. The boss seems to like it so I am happy.

Tom aboard Zin

Like others here we installed the 110V Splendide vented about last year. As we will be cruising the Inside passage this summer, we didn't want to have to pull into town to do laundry. As stated, it does have limitations. We are trying to figure out how to just run the dryer without having to go through a wash cycle again....So far the Admiral likes it.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Like others here we installed the 110V Splendide vented about last year. As we will be cruising the Inside passage this summer, we didn't want to have to pull into town to do laundry. As stated, it does have limitations. We are trying to figure out how to just run the dryer without having to go through a wash cycle again....So far the Admiral likes it.

Click to expand...

With ours, a WD2100XC, you just put the cycle selector on 5, 10, or 13; those are dry only cycles and stand out on the selector as they have non coloured backgrounds.

Conrad said:

With ours, a WD2100XC, you just put the cycle selector on 5, 10, or 13; those are dry only cycles and stand out on the selector as they have non coloured backgrounds.

Click to expand...

Thanks

We loved ours! We had an older Splendide (labeled Karibe) combo washer/warmer. As it was the non-vented type, it did not actually "dry" clothes, but it made them "drier". As liveaboards with a 5-yr old child (she was two when we moved aboard), we NEEDED to be able to wash clothes fairly frequently. So the unit was well used, typically weekly, until it died right before we left last summer for the Broughtons.

As much as we wanted a new combo from Splendide, the space for the washer will not accommodate the deeper vented models (even the shallowest units would stick out over stairs about 3.5 inches). And as we were leaving on a two-month trip the following week and did not want to be without the ability to at least wash clothes, my wife found a portable Panda RV washer/dryer online for about a tenth the price - and a quarter of the weight. With a smaller overall footprint it has done the job just fine, though it's more labor intensive in that it doesn't automatically run through the various cycles (you have to physically fill the wash tub and fill it again for rinse, and manually switch to drain which it does semi-automatically). And the dryer is one of those high-speed spinners, but the clothes actually come out drier than they did with the old unit.

Robot Check

With the new unit as with the old one, we dry clothes one of two ways. During the winter here in Port Ludlow, we wash all the clothes (multiple loads) and dry them in the marina's laundry room. It's a huge commercial dryer that drys everything all at once. In the summer when we're out cruising/working, we hang the clothes on the aft deck and never have to come ashore for laundry.

Long story short, we think having a washer/dryer on board, especially for long-term cruising or livingaboard, is essential. For now, we will keep using the Panda washer until such time as we figure out how to shoe-horn in a new Splendide...

"For now, we will keep using the Panda washer until such time as we figure out how to shoe-horn in a new Splendide..."

We have the vented combo Splendide. The unit fits snugly in a locker, the back of which is the wall in an adjoining state room. The venting is in the state room, under a vanity/desk top, then through a locker to the outside. The vent tube is enclosed/boxed in so it is protected from being kicked under the vanity. Good use of space I think.

The beauty of the stacked units is that you can be washing a new load while the first one is drying. Such as when doing bulky items like sheets and towels, or colors and whites. Coupled with the faster drying time, cuts way down on laundry day time requirement. It would be really tough for us to have a Splendide and do the kind of cruising, swimming and beachcombing we enjoyed and have the delight of clean sheets and towels and plenty of clean clothes to choose from.

To add a little more sinful creature comfort, having a steam iron and ironing board were also great. It always blew guest's away to find crisp ironed linens on their berths, not to mention the dining table. As I have said before, we're pleasure boaters, in that order!

We always use one of the "eco" detergents, usually with a dash of OxyClean powder. Almost no suds over the side or soap scum on the hull, never an issue with a marina or harbor master.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Will probably go with the vented Splendide as we had one of those in our 5th wheel and seem to work good other than the small load size. Now to figure out the best place to install it on the boat.

Thanks again.