Best advice for washing machines

[Ian Gardiner]

Hi All,

 

what’s the best solution to clothes washing whilst continuous cruising ?

 

Are there any good 12v washing machines?

 

Thank you

[Nightwatch]

You can get 12v twin tubs. Thosethatknow, say they are good. We have a 3kg Zanussi 240 volt auto machine. 

[Ian Gardiner]

Great thanks. Does your 240v work OK through your inverter ?

[Tracy D'arth]

A decent pure sine inverter should be fine but there are difficulties with some machine/inverter combinations.

[Jon57]

2 hours ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Hi All,

 

what’s the best solution to clothes washing whilst continuous cruising ?

 

Are there any good 12v washing machines?

 

Thank you

Let the wife do it in between opening the locks cooking. Cleaning. Tin hat firmly in position. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Launderette?  If there is only 2 on the boat its hardly worth having a machine. Many just have a spin dryer and hand wash, launderette for bedding when vital.

[Hudds Lad]

We have a 3kg Zanussi onboard too, but i've only ever run it once on shorepower just to make sure it worked and clean it out.

 

It should run when on the move using the Victron MultiPlus 12|2000 and the 3.5kw Travelpower i think.

 

I'm more inclined to swap it for a dishwasher though, if i could find one that'll fill the hole exactly, which seems more sensible for leisure use (gotta keep those hands soft)  

[Ewan123]

3 hours ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Hi All,

 

what’s the best solution to clothes washing whilst continuous cruising ?

 

In my opinion, using a laundrette. As liveaboards CCing for about 2.5 years so far, to a new town every week or two, we've never failed to find a launderette (though sometimes it's a bus-ride away, often a combined trip for shopping anyway). We therefore don't need to worry about power consumption, water supply and humidity (from drying clothes inside the boat) that can all be a concern with an onboard washer. With two of us on board we take a big load every two weeks, so for 13.5 days per fortnight we don't have to think about washing/drying clothes - quite delightful really!

Edited July 19, 2023 by Ewan123

[Nightwatch]

3 hours ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Great thanks. Does your 240v work OK through your inverter ?

No problems yet after nearly ten years. We have an aged Sterling.

[ronnietucker]

I use this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07L89RRFP

 

It's 240V but doesn't use much power at all. The clothes are pretty much dry when they come out of the spinner.

 

It's a gravity feed for the water draining out. I have it on a little platform at the back of the boat with the drain tube going out and overboard.

[cuthound]

47 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

I use this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07L89RRFP

 

It's 240V but doesn't use much power at all. The clothes are pretty much dry when they come out of the spinner.

 

It's a gravity feed for the water draining out. I have it on a little platform at the back of the boat with the drain tube going out and overboard.

 

We use one of those. Mrs Hound says it gets the washing cleaner the the automatic machine at home and in a fraction of the time, BUT you have to be there to fill it, empty it and transfer the washing between drums.

[Sea Dog]

We have a twin tub like the one above. We use it in the well deck with the drain hose out through the well deck drain hole, solving the only issue with the unpumped drain models. It's lightweight, simple, uses very little power, washes very well, spins to a dryness a country mile beyond an automatic. With drying being the biggest issue with washing aboard (imho), this latter feature is a real plus.

[nicknorman]

We have the little Zanussi washing machine and a similarly sized tumble drier. The drier does take 2kw continuously but we run it from the travelpower. I dislike damp washing strewn around the boat as the water has to go somewhere.

[Morris]

 

Best to get the anti splash dolly tub like the one in the pic. Also make sure you have plenty of chamber lye. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

12 minutes ago, Morris said:

Best to get the anti splash dolly tub like the one in the pic. Also make sure you have plenty of chamber lye. 

A dolly tub? Luxury.

 

[GUMPY]

http://aylesburycanal.org.uk/laundrette-list/

 

[TheBiscuits]

10 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

A dolly tub? Luxury.

 

 

You had rocks?  We only had gravel!

[Jen-in-Wellies]

2 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

You had rocks?  We only had gravel!

Gravel? You were posh. Our clothes came out muddier than when we started.

[Ian Gardiner]

Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I think I’ll go for the Zanussi 3kg and a similar sized tumble drier 

 

cheers

 

[Alan de Enfield]

28 minutes ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I think I’ll go for the Zanussi 3kg and a similar sized tumble drier 

 

cheers

 

 

Apparently the Zanussi electronics can be VERY picky about both which brand & model of inverter you can use.

It is not compatible with any / all inverters. 

 

Contact boaters (or post the question here) asking for what washing machines and inverters combinations work for them.

 

There was a thread her some time ago on this subject and one post stated (something like) "Zanussi washing machine broke - replaced it with the same model and it would'nt work with our inverter which had powered the old washing machine for years", so even recommendations are not a guarantee of success.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

By contrast, manomatic twin tubs have simple electric motors and clockwork timers, so are compatible with all inverters with enough oomph to start the motors. Even modified sine wave ones.

I've successfully run one from the emergency back up 600W modified sine wave inverter. Motor powers are 250 to 300W typically, but you typically only run one at a time.

I

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

By contrast, manomatic twin tubs have simple electric motors and clockwork timers, so are compatible with all inverters with enough oomph to start the motors. Even modified sine wave ones.

I've successfully run one from the emergency back up 600W modified sine wave inverter. Motor powers are 250 to 300W typically, but you typically only run one at a time.

I

 

 

We run our twin-tub via a 20+year old Stirling "Modified Sine Wave"- after all it is just a simple electric motor.

 

Our wave profile is very 'square'

 

 

 

 

[GUMPY]

10 hours ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I think I’ll go for the Zanussi 3kg and a similar sized tumble drier 

 

cheers

 

Be warned even on cold wash the Zanussi switches the heater  element on until the stat decides that the water is the right temperature. Might take less than half a second but its enough to trip a lower 1k+ inverter.

[MtB]

11 hours ago, Ian Gardiner said:

Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I think I’ll go for the Zanussi 3kg and a similar sized tumble drier 

 

cheers

 

 

 

Bear in mind the 3kg of washing you put in the washing machine, weighs 6kg when you take it out, wet. 

 

So a 6kg dryer is a better match for a 3kg washer.

 

 

[nicknorman]

13 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

Bear in mind the 3kg of washing you put in the washing machine, weighs 6kg when you take it out, wet. 

 

So a 6kg dryer is a better match for a 3kg washer.

 

Bearing in mind size / space is an issue on narrowboats, it’s not the end of the world if you have to have 2 runs of the dryer. Although a reasonable load of washing all goes into our dryer of similar size (not sure what the kg rating of the drier is).