Some of you may have wondered how RVers do their laundry. It’s a valid question. For the recreational RVer with several kids getting dirty every day, they might be miles from the nearest laundromat. And what about the fulltime RVer?
As it turns out, either could use the laundry facilities at the campground or RV park where they’re staying. Most places have washers and dryers available at fair prices. Of course, they come with pros and cons, some justified and some not. Let’s start with the pro arguments. They’re very convenient. Many times, you don’t even have to drive to it. Just load up a laundry bag, grab your quarters and walk to it. Again, many also have soap/bleach/dryer sheet dispensers available. It gets you out of the RV for awhile and you generally have a table available to fold clothes, if you’re into that. Can you remember the last time you cleaned your personal washer and dryer? Probably not. The machines at campgrounds and RV parks are typically cleaned on a daily or weekly basis.
What about the cons? Well, especially at a campground that caters to kids, many people want to do laundry at the same time. You might have to come back to start your load. Or you might have to deal with one of the rude people who don’t stay with their laundry. They typically think their time is more valuable than everybody else so their laundry will sit in the machine for an hour or more after it’s finished. Feel free to remove those loads and just place them on a nearby table.
If you’re close to a town, even a small one, you can generally find a commercial laundromat. These are great if you have a lot of stuff to wash. They have multiple machines and sometimes even machines capable of handling multiple loads (for an increased price). This can be a real time-saver, especially for large families. And while you’re in town, you can always restock groceries when the laundry is finished.
And now we come to the part of the discussion that almost always generates lively debate – putting a washer and dryer inside your RV. Most of the larger RVs you see now are plumbed for laundry and you have a few options. Both of my 5th wheels were plumbed for washer and dryer but I never seriously entertained the thought using those areas for the intended purpose. Others absolutely must have their own washer/dryer with them when traveling. Some love the convenience. You can do laundry on your terms, without worrying about others or facility hours. Some also claim that they would never use a commercial facility because somebody else’s germs/dirt might still be in the machine. Whatever!
Regardless of the reason, once you’ve decided to have onboard laundry, you still have choices to make. I’ve seen some units that could accept a full sized washer and dryer, just like you see in a house or apartment. That would be great if you have lots of laundry at once (like with kids) but you would need to be camping with full hookups for that. A washing machine will fill up a gray tank rather quickly.
I’ve also seen units where the space was designed for a stackable washer/dryer. If you haven’t done any small apartment living, you may never have seen one of these units but they do a fine job, although the loads would be slightly smaller than a conventional washer/dryer.
And last (and certainly least in my opinion) are the all-in-one units. That’s right. Just one machine to wash and dry. I’ve never looked at these seriously since most comments I see online talk about the very small loads they can handle and the very long time it takes to complete just one load. That being said, I’ve finally figured out a situation where a unit like this would make sense to me. Drumroll please! A nudist park!! You still have clothes, towels and bedding to wash but there’s really no rush to do any of it and the loads would be very small to begin with. I just recently realized this since I’m staying at a nudist RV park and noticed how long it takes me to generate enough dirty clothes for a visit to the laundromat.