cloths washer what do you think

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Gater Dunn
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cloths washer what do you think

Post by Gater Dunn »

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fishheadbarandgrill
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by fishheadbarandgrill »

It can double as a salad spinner.
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Chinook
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by Chinook »

Reminds me of the setup John Steinbeck wrote about using in his book Travels with Charlie. He traveled the country in an old pickup and homemade camper with his poodle named Charlie. He put his dirty clothes in a barrel and let them bounce around with soap and water in the back, while he rolled down America's back roads.
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ris
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I prefer the simplicity of a 5 gal bucket

Post by ris »

Growing up we used to camp for a couple of weeks at a time out in the woods. After marriage we continued this tradition with our sons. We used a galvanized wash tub placed near the fire to take a bath in when it was cold and we washed clothes in the tub using a toilet plunger to agitate. We camped on the Kissimmee river here in Florida so water was not a problem.(We bathed in the river when it was warm) I think the 5 gal bucket would do the washing better with less effort. Wringing out cloths sucks and drying jeans and cotton cloths take forever if you just wring them out. I think the 5 gal bucket and one of those squeeze rollers would be the fail safe way to wash cloths. Not many parts to break.
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Ixneigh
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by Ixneigh »

Wear as little clothing as possible. Skin is easier to wash and dry then fabric.
In the warm climates of course. Don't forget the "sail naked" bumper sticker.

But really. When I start being in serious cruise mode, where going ashore for laundry and things is not possible, I have a set of light clothing that gets worn outside. Long sleeves if sun exposure is an issue. I do everything from swim, fish, operate the boat, explore Ect in this clothing. I take it off before going below decks after the days activities are over. While below I wear pj's or other light simple stuff. The outside clothing gets rinsed with freshwater at the end of the day when I rinse myself off. It dries over night. Once in a while you can give it a good scrub if you feel like it, and it goes in the dirty cloths bag after a number of days. This system is really for saltwater sailing. It conserves water and it helps to keep the salt out of the living areas of the boat because you aren't dragging salty clothing down below. However the same system would work even in areas were fresh water was readily available , if just to cut down on the number of dirty cloths.
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chuck
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by chuck »

Do what they use to do in the Old Navy. Put your laundry in a mesh bag and drag it through the water while traveling. It works. Dad did this on the battleship USS Navada. It worked. The bag takes up little space on you boat.
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March
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by March »

chuck wrote:
Do what they use to do in the Old Navy. Put your laundry in a mesh bag and drag it through the water while traveling. It works. Dad did this on the battleship USS Navada. It worked. The bag takes up little space on you boat.
The downside in salt water is, your clothes will remain covered in salt. Salt is hygroscopic and it will suck in humidity more greedily than a mortgage interest. You still have to stretch the clothes out to dry and the clothes will tend to remain damp, no matter how much they flap in the wind. Wearing salty underwear or t-shirts on naked, sweaty skin is detrimental to one's sense of comfort and well-being, commonly associated with long range sailing. Never tried it in sweet water though.

With all due respect to Steinbeck and Charlie, the sloshing bucket in the back of the boat doesn't work much better either. I tested it personally in a bouncy pop-up camper van, before I graduated to a MacGregor. You need to rinse and wring the clothes by hand, several times, before you obtain any noticeable results.

The best solution for me is, get spare clothes, wear them until they become uncomfortable to wear, but them in an expandable mesh bag, and forget them until I get home--or to a laundromat.
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mastreb
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by mastreb »

This works great:

Image
http://www.amazon.com/Scepter-04239-7-G ... B000BPK766

Put your clothes in, some water, some non-foaming soap, and trail it behind the boat on a dockline with a swivel shackle. The indents force it to rotate and also tumble the clothes. Just make sure the lid's on tight.
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yukonbob
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Re: cloths washer what do you think

Post by yukonbob »

I think for a larger cruiser with more room that would be the way to go (OP) vs installing a washer and dryer. But on a Mac it should be dual purpose like a 5gal bucket and an arm work out. Lots of things can go in the bucket after its done laundry duty.
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