After five years, we upgraded from our sweet little mini washer, to the ZENY, a larger, heavier-duty portable washer/spinner.
Why the upgrade? Two things: the pandemic and thread-count.
Thick flannel sheets kept us warm throughout the extra-chilly winter months of 2020-21. Our Brave Little Washer couldn’t handle the weight of the thicker sheets even when washing one at a time. The machine didn’t stop or break, it just didn’t have the oomph to agitate those heavy sheets well enough. So I put a FREE sign on our lil’Buddy and let it go to some happy campers at our James Island campground. That amazing small, portable washer is seven-years old and I’ll bet it’s still going!
Nevertheless, it was time for a larger-capacity and a more muscular upgrade. We needed a portable, lightweight electric machine to handle every item we own. During the pandemic we longed to be liberated from the laundromat – freed from small, hot stuffy rooms with broken machines, dirty floors, rusty dryers, sign-up sheets, allergens, and, we were tired of saving quarters.
For years, Jim researched portable lightweight machines with a dual tub – a washer and spinner – which would fit on the shower floor of our Airstream. Most of these high-performance portables were either too wide or too heavy.
At last, he found the ZENY!
The ZENY unit weighs only 24 pounds – about the size of a two-year-old child – so it’s easy to lift it in and out of the shower. The dimensions are 23.62″ x 27.17″ x 14.96″ inches, perfect for our shower floor. This machine looks classy and raises the bar on full-time RVing.
The wash side holds about 7 pounds of laundry. The spin side holds about 5 pounds.
The wash tub requires 5+ gallons of water for a full load.
Here are some of the reasons why we love the ZENY:
1) Independence from commercial and campground laundry facilities. It is unfortunate that the water in most coin laundry facilities is too cool and the dryers run too hot. So, now, we wash our own laundry, spin it, and then hang it out in the sun for a few minutes to finish the job.
The spinner is amazing. It has the power of an industrial swimsuit spinner like you may have experienced at the pool. A quick spin and our items come out nearly dry, ready to hang on the line. On a normal sunny day, the laundry takes from ten-thirty minutes to dry. Of course, rain, dust, wind and smoke are problematic. On days that we can’t hang-dry we’re stuck with a commercial dryer solution – fortunately, after a quick 5-10 minutes in ZENY’s spin-cycle, laundry dries to the touch within 5-10 minutes in a commercial dryer.
2) Furthermore, the ZENY is an allergy-free solution. Liquid soap residue with harsh preservatives and chemicals which are commonly used in commercial machines irritates my skin. Washing my own laundry in DR. BRONNER’S SAL SUDS and a half-cup of vinegar in my own machine keeps me healthy and rash-free.
3) ZENY is also gentle on clothing. Jim’s expensive Tommy Bahama shirts last longer now. Our lightweight, quick-dry outfitter clothing – which I buy at discount outlet stores or resale shops – along with our down jackets and wool and silk layers will probably outlast us.
4) ZENY is the Perfect dog shower too! When we’re camping off-grid, we take the ZENY outside, place it on top of the picnic table and fill the tub with warm water. As Pico stands, obedient as always 😉 on the bench, we lower the drain hose to shower him as needed.
5) ZENY also functions as a salad spinner! Yeah! And, I mean, a fantastic salad spinner – like, I’m talking commercial quality. We place fresh lettuce in a mesh vegetable bag, put it in the spinner and let’r rip! In a minute the lettuce is perfectly dry with no damage! When we discovered this little secret we threw away 0ur wimpy salad spinner which once occupied half of an overhead storage bin. Woot!
6) The ZENY pays for itself. Coin laundries are expensive and they are not even inspected by the health department.
The ZENY washer handles all of our laundry, but in smaller loads. That means some planning is required, but it’s well worth the results to get the job done our way.
On big cleaning days we keep the ZENY busy while we tackle other chores. Here are some examples of this small lightweight machine’s capacity: we can wash a queen sized bamboo bed sheet plus a pillow case, plus a couple of tea towels in a single wash; or four beach towels; or a pair of jeans and two Tommy Bahama shirts, a pair of socks, and dog sweater; or, about twenty small lightweight garments such as underwear, washcloths, dishcloths and tea towels.
The agitation-power of this machine quadruples that of the mini washer we had before. No more double and triple cycles. One fifteen-minute wash, followed by an eight-minute rinse and then a 3-minute spin is usually adequate. That’s why we say ZENY is a game-changer.
Check out the agitation on a queen sheet, two pillow cases, and three pairs of underwear.
Here’s how it works:
We set the dial on “STANDARD” (STANDARD signifies a setting that holds water in the tub) and then fill the tub with water (hot, warm or cold) from the shower head as we load it with laundry and apply soap. You can use any soap you like, but we wash with Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds because it’s good for us, the environment, and our plumbing.
When the wash cycle is complete, we turn the dial from STANDARD to DRAIN which releases water through the hose. The technology is very basic. From the hose attached to the unit, we drain the laundry water into the grey water tank. Then, we turn the dial back to STANDARD, and fill the tub for the rinse cycle. I like to add a few drops of lavender to the rinse water. When the rinse is done, we repeat the drain process.
We’re always careful to never let ZENY get wet! We prevent water from pooling around the base of the machine. There is more than one way to do this. Jim prefers to hold the drain pipe and release the water slowly as he watches it go directly down the drain. When the trap fills with lint he turns the dial to STANDARD, clears the trap and returns to the DRAIN process. I prefer to just empty the water into a pitcher and pour it into the sink behind me. On very busy laundry days we sometimes raise the entire ZENY up on a stool so there is no risk of water damage to the machine.
How do we dry our clothes? Quickly! The ZENY spinner is incredibly efficient. After a good spin-dry we hang the laundry out on a rope attached to our awning to finish the job.
We started using this machine in March 2021 and we still have it and love it. Our fingers are crossed that ZENY will last as long as our dear old Mini Washer.
So that’s the story of how we became LIBerated from the coin laundry and we hope you can be too with ZENY.
