If you’re lucky enough to be planning an RV trip for longer than a week or two, you might be wondering about your laundry. Some people might be turned off by visiting a laundromat, but they are missing out and all the time savings! The last thing you want to do is spent time in a laundromat while on vacation and this video will help you get in, out and on your way!
This may be a new idea for some but if you are out on an extended trip there will be a “hard stop” when everyone runs out of things to wear. Check out the tips below so you can be in, out and on your way till the next laundry day.
Picking the right laundromat
Keep your eyes open for cute, clean and even new laundromats. The cool thing about RV travel is you become very good at hunting out a town’s resources. Look for a laundromat on your way into a new location or Google map the area and find one in under 15 minutes from where you are staying. If you want to keep your commute time even lower stop with your RV on the way in or out of your destination. Many places will have large parking lots for your rig…but be sure to look on a satellite map to verify the parking situation.
Safety is a concern when you are in an unfamiliar area so if your gut says, “no!” to a laundry spot, then listen and move on. Look for spots that have an attendant, usually owner-operators that enjoy the work and take pride in keeping the shop clean. This is a good sign that the machines are in good working condition.
Sorting
If at all possible it is nice to sort your clothes before you arrive. We all know about sorting darks and whites but now we need to start considering technical fabrics. Exercise clothes and lightweight fabrics are not made to withstand long periods of dryer heat. These cloths will need their own load so they can be dried lightly or for a short time. Some tags will even instruct you to lay the item flat to dry as not to damage the delicate fabric.
Then you have the darks, consider separating them by the weight of the cotton so they will wash well together. Have you ever dried t-shirts with cotton socks? The t-shirts (light cotton blend) will be done far quicker than the sock. So if at all possible it is best to separate things like softer cotton from jeans and heavier cotton socks. By sorting these fabrics correctly you will be able to time the dry cycle accurately.
Laundry Detergents and Products
There are great products on the market to keep your clothes from fading and looking warn out too soon. Look into what works well for you and your skin. One benefit of commercial laundry is you don’t need to use too much product. In fact, the machines do not respond well to using too much product. Symptoms being; overflowing suds, the machine being incapable of rinsing, clogging the drain and then having overly wet cloths that were not able to be wrung dry.
Some ways to help your laundry stay fresh longer are using extra scented soaps in your wash cycle. If you use some of these products be sure to use a laundry soap that doesn’t conflict with the new scent. Another way to keep your laundry looking great is to pre-treat those stains before you drop in the wash…or better yet before they hit the laundry bin.
Pods vs. Liquids…there is no doubt that detergent pods are the easiest thing to pack and use especially when you are on a trip. However, if you are going to use commercial machines you will want to have liquid soap as helps the machine create a better end product.
If you live in a dry area or if it’s winter, dryer sheets are a necessity. But some people have sensitive skin and the chemicals in these dryer sheets are too strong. An alternative to dryer sheets are re-usable wool balls. You can add essential oils to the balls for the desired scent, they can be used many times over and they help break up laundry in the dryer from getting clumped up so it doesn’t remain wet in some areas.
Our Favorite Laundry Items
Folding
Having your laundry dry in “waves”, by planing on getting out the lighter weight fabrics sooner, makes for smooth folding and gives you the ability to start commuting it back to the truck or RV one load at a time. Put your exercise clothes and lightweight fabrics, on medium heat, in the dryer first. Most likely, they will be done in under 15 minutes. Meanwhile, your other loads are still drying – multitasking at its finest. You can then move on to your darks and on to your towels.
You can bring small (re-usable grocery type) bags to help divide laundry after its folded so it can be given to the appropriate family member to put away. While you are folding you can use one of these smaller bags as a “privacy” bag so you can collect items you don’t want to be folding in public.
Laundry is one of those chores you just can’t get away from…unless you live in a city with laundry service…New York and Mexico have been my favorite on that score. So instead of resisting the piles create a plan and battle the chore as quickly as possible.
What tips do you have?
Leave a comment below and share your laundry tips! The collective community is pure genius and I’m sure there are other great tips that can help others save time at the laundry mat. *Word Press saves comments to be approved so it might not show up right away.
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Love the tips for using laundromats and saving time while traveling. Do you have any tips for folding clothes to fit well for the space in rv living?
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix has phenomenal folding instructions that are huge space savers. It also helps get you into decluttering mode and overall organization.
We have used the Konmari method for years both in our sticks and bricks and now in our RV. Google it 🙂 Actually 3 of us use that method and our 11 year old son prefers his tshirts rolled instead 🙂 Either way we have found that finding shallow baskets, bins or drawers that fit and or stack well in the cabinets of the RV works the best.
Lots of good info; thanks.
We also prefer to do a quick cleaning of the washer and dryer before we commit our own clothes. Lysol wipes or vinegar on a paper towel will clean up the machines and it gives you a chance to inspect for grease or debris from prior, less considerate users.
Yes, but why do people, and the laundromat owners leave the lid rest rim area and agitator post so nasty with dirt? I am often placing my clothes that are cleaner than the machine into the dirty machine hoping I won’t touch the nasty areas. I have noticed that people live with their machines like that in their home……gag factor. Super nasty way to live. I hate commercial laundromats for this reason.
You are to be commended for your willingness to clean up other people’s grossness.
Put a washer and dryer in your camper. There are a couple of major manufacturers, we have a Splendide set, that do the job just fine. Bonus, you don’t have to do any research on location, carting your clothes, soap products and quarters all over town and then find the place is packed and/or the machines were left filthy or many not working. One requirement is a full hookup site.
Anyway, my 2 cents opinion.
We’ve been enjoying the videos, especially the several from Michigan where we live.
Another neat trick for your reusable bags; get pcs of 1/8 pegboard & cut to fit the bottom of your bags. Everything you put in it stays flat, & when used for grogeries, milk, bottles, etc don’t fall over!
Plus, using pegboard allows sand & other particles to fall thru; remove the board, invert the bag & shake out the stuff!
K.D.
We are extremely sensitive to laundry scents and use unscented Laundry detergent (liquid pods) and no drier sheets. In fact scents from left in driers from previous users are problematic for us. We generally prefer laundromats at our RV park rather than in town. We usually dry camp or boondock and stay at an RV park every week or so to do laundry and dump our tanks.
We are also super sensitive to scents. We’ve had some good luck with Seventh Generation free and clear dryer sheets— never used dryer sheets in my life but when we were in Arizona, we (humans and cats) couldn’t take the painful static any more!
But more than once, I’ve had real bad reactions to laundromats that scented our clothes due to what was left behind by a previous customer. So frustrating! I’d love to see dedicated scent-free machines in places.
Can’t beat doing 6 loads in the time it takes to do 1, but when the 6 loads need rewatching due to migraines or asthma attacks….. it’s a real bummer. 🙁
We have a combination washer/dryer in our RV. Everyone complains about how long they take to do a load. No problem, we plan to put a load in and go out and explore, eat, lay on the beach or whatever for the day. When we get back, run the dryer for a few minutes and we have fresh wrinkle-free clothes.
We have only done this one time, but that is our plan when we start full time 1/1/2020. Does anyone have any experience with the combo?
We have a combo machine and I definitely love not having to locate and hang out at a laundromat to get laundry done. I can do 2 or 3 loads in one day if we are around the RV and need to catch up on laundry or just a load a day to keep up. I hate having a huge pile of dirty laundry. Though I have still used the campground machines for towels, sheets and/or blanket on occasion because I can do larger loads.
Thanks Jessica. That’s kind of what we figured.
Coop
My laundry room hint: before removing my clothes from a washer, I check the empty dryers for extra time. Some people pull their clothes out of the dryer before the end of the cycle leaving available drying time. More than once, I’ve been able to get a load of whites or bed sheets dried for free.
What about ironing? Do you travel with an iron and small ironing board for those few things that need touching up?