After five years, we upgraded from our mini washer, to this heavy-duty portable washer with more bells and whistles.
Why the upgrade? Two things: the pandemic and thread-count.
Thicker sheets helped us to get through the cold winter months of 2020-21. Unfortunately, the extra weight was too much for our Brave Little Washer. It isn’t designed to handle a heavy load (even though we washed only one sheet at a time). The machine didn’t break, it just didn’t have the oomph to wash those thick sheets. So I put a FREE sign on our lil’Buddy and let it go to some happy campers in our James Island campground. That amazing small, portable washer is five-years old and still going!
Nevertheless, it was time for a larger-capacity upgrade – a portable electric machine that can handle every item we own.
The time has come to be completely liberated from the laundromat. Laundromats are almost all indoors and require long stays so the risk of catching the virus is increased. Furthermore, we’ve had it with broken machines, rusty dryers and the depressing atmosphere.
For years, Jim has been shopping for a dual tub – washer and spinner – that will fit on the floor of our Airstream shower. Most of these high-performance portables are too wide.
This unit weighs only 24 pounds – about the size of a two-year-old child – so it can be easily lifted in and out of the shower when necessary. The dimensions are 23.62″ x 27.17″ x 14.96″ inches.
We store this washer in our shower. When we use it, we place it on a plastic stool to keep the motor out of water in case the shower basin plugs up and fills with water. We feel this is very important!!
The wash side holds about 7 pounds of laundry. The spin side holds 5 pounds.
The wash tub requires 5+ gallons of water for a full load.
Here are some of the reasons why we love this washing machine.
1) Independence from commercial and campground laundry facilities. It is distressing and shamefully commonplace that most coin laundry facilities do not have hot enough water for sanitation purposes. So, we wash our own laundry, spin it, and then hang it out in the sun to finish the job. The spinner is amazing. It has the power of a swimsuit spinner in a gym. On a normal sunny day, the laundry takes fifteen-to-thirty minutes to dry. On rainy days, windy days or when in dusty or smoky areas we will use commercial dryers – but it only takes five-to-ten minutes for items to dry completely.
2) It’s an allergy-free solution. Liquid soap residue in commercial machines have harmful preservatives that make me miserable. Washing my own laundry on my own turf keeps me healthy.
3) Gentle on clothing. Jim’s Tommy Bahama shirts last longer. I wear high quality, lightweight, quick-dry outfitter clothing and with this machine my wardrobe will probably outlast me.
4) Perfect outdoor dog shower! We fill it with warm water and place it on top of a picnic table. As Pico stands, obedient as always, on the bench we lower the drain hose to wet him as needed.
5) Can you believe it’s a salad spinner!!! I mean, it’s a fantastic salad spinner – like commercial quality. The spinner makes the lettuce perfectly dry with no damage. When we discovered this we threw away the wimpy salad spinner which took up half of an entire locker. We put the greens in a netted bag which we save for the purpose and let’r rip!
6) This machine pays for itself. Coin laundries are expensive and they are not even inspected by the health department.
This washer will do everything a conventional household washer can do, just in smaller loads.
On big cleaning days we keep our washer going while we do other chores. Its large capacity allows us to wash every textile we own. We can wash a queen sized bed sheet plus two pillow cases and a couple of tea towels in a single wash; or four large bath 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 mini washer we had before. No more double and triple cycles. One fifteen-minute wash and an eight-minute rinse is more than adequate. This is a game-changer.
Check out the agitation on a queen sheet, two pillow cases, and three pair of underwear.
When we have water and sewer connectivity, we place the washing machine in our shower and use hot water from the shower head to fill the washer (We only use Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds). To drain the water out, we turn it to “drain” and release the water into our grey water tank. The technology is very basic.
How do we dry our clothes? Well, first of all, the spinner on this machine really spins the wash almost dry. REALLY! We then hang our laundry out on a rope hanging from our awning.
We started using this machine in March 2021 and love it. We have our fingers crossed that it will last as long as our dear old Mini Washer.
Feeling LIBerated!
