Laundry is one of the challenges of full-time RVing. While some rigs do have their own washer/dryer combination, we opted not to do that. Sometimes the campsites do not allow that amount of water/power consumptions. The RV machines are combinations and do small loads rather inefficiently with respect to resources. The dryer part can usually take a very long time compared to regular machines. So, we have traded off that convenience for conservation.
Most campground facilities are relatively inexpensive ($1.25 wash/$1 dry) and conveniently located throughout the camp. The biggest negative is that other patrons do not always know how to wash; or dry for that matter. Too much softener in the machine carries over to the next few loads. If there isn’t a lot of usage for a particular machine the standing water (that which has not been totally drained) will be stale at best; stagnant at worse.
Ruthi will be sniffing her way from machine to machine selecting the best. Luckily, we do not have much in the way of laundry 1 load a week at most. We have separated the collection bags (hot water verses cold water) and minimized any color-running items (i.e., no more “red” sweatshirts that make all “whites” into “pinks”). Then there is the water quality. Some rustic campgrounds have their own water that is rich in hard minerals.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the campground had informed us of the situation but they didn’t (buyer beware). So, after ruining a few of Boots’ shirts (favorite, of course), we asked about the water and were informed that the iron content was pretty high. So, we were off to the town Laundromat from then on. Why couldn’t they have just mentioned it? It’s not like they are making a fortune off the 4 machines (2 washers, 2 dryers) they have in the room.
