The washing machine was invented in 1851 and didn’t become popular until the 1950’s. Factories that had been repurposed to support the war effort could now turn their assembly lines to creating all manner of consumer conveniences, including home laundry machines. These however were large and cumbersome, not well suited to life on the road.
The first recognized ‘RV’ was built in 1910, according to the RVIA. As far back as people have been camping in RV’s they’ve had a need for clean clothes. For the weekend camper it was sufficient to wait until you got home to do your laundry but things have changed. Today people live on the road in their RV’s full time, Snowbirds, Retirees and Remote Workers.
Since those early days camping trailers and RV’s have gotten bigger, a lot bigger. Filled with every modern convenience including microwaves, TV’s, huge refrigerators, even fire places. It was only a matter of time until supply met demand and manufacturers started offering RV’s with onboard laundry hookups. But just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
I tent-camped as a kid, my wife’s family had an old Coleman tent trailer and did lots of camping. In 2001 we bought our first camping trailer, a 23 foot Jayco Kiwi hybrid. We took that to every state west of the Rockies, and quite a few on the other side, even all the way to Canada. We were generally out no longer than 3 weeks at a time, but my wife dreamed of life on the road.
Every year when the RV shows came to the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds we paid our admission to peruse and dream. Taking photos, collecting brochures, and making notes about the brands and features we liked or disliked. About 10 years ago I started noticing that laundry hook-ups were becoming more common. My wife and I discussed this and after reviewing all the factors, we decided against an onboard laundry. In 2023 we bought a new 30 foot Grand Design Reflection 150 fifth wheel without a laundry. Today we are retired and full-time RV-ers. We spend summers in Vancouver, Washington with the kids and playing with our granddaughter, and winters on the road south. So what were my reasons and how do we get our laundry done?
Pro’s or ‘the’ Pro
In my mind there was just one ‘Pro’ which was convenience. Being able to just pop our laundry in without having to load it into the truck and drive across town, and sit around for hours in a public laundromat, then drive back and carry it back inside. And really that was it. Aside from this one ‘Pro’ everything else was a ‘Con.’
Size and Weight
The first consideration was Size. We wanted to be under 30 feet, which some might consider small for living in full-time but it is just perfect for the two of us and our dog. Trailers with laundry on-board were all a minimum of 5 feet longer. We like to stay at state and national parks and forests and at 30 feet we’re just barely making the size limits. Any longer and we could not fit many places except private campgrounds. There is also the consideration of the additional weight. Up to 3,000 pounds more for the larger trailer and the laundry machines. That would require more fuel, meaning more fuel stops, and more wear and tear on the engine, tires and brakes.
Water is the Enemy
I was the VP of a commercial construction company and I’ve seen hundreds of repair jobs resulting from water leaks, from a few thousand dollars into the hundreds of thousands. When we were contracted to do facilities maintenance for Starbucks I asked the client what their biggest repair issue was, they replied, “water is the enemy.” In the 20 years we owned our first trailer we had only had two minor water leaks on board. Having a washing machine with tens of gallons of water in it was just too big a risk for me. And small leaks would actually be worse as they take longer to detect and can do tens of thousands of dollars in damage in an RV before discovered.
Power
Another concern was the type of camping we wanted to do, which was mostly boon-docking. And most of the places we like to camp do not have hookups. At about 18 amps per hour per machine our onboard battery bank could have handled the electrical draw for no more than one laundry load per day, but we still would have needed extra water. Without a generator or electrical hookups and without having to make extra stops for loading fresh water and dumping our waste tanks, these appliances could not be used.
The Cost
The main cost was going to be the extra $10k for a larger trailer with laundry hookups, not to mention taxes and registration for the higher value. Then I’d have to buy the laundry machines and have them installed. There would be ongoing costs for the extra fuel to pull the extra weight, and then there were going to be nightly fees for private RV resorts since we would be too big to camp in the places we wanted, which were much less than private resorts. And what do you do when you are in Nowhere New Mexico and your machines break down and you need to find a mobile tech that works on RV appliances? How much is that going to cost?
Our Solution
In the end we decided that the Con’s outweighed the Pro’s and we opted to not buy a trailer with an onboard laundry. So what do we do? That depends on where we are and how long we are going to be there. When we are home we just take our laundry into our son’s house 125 feet away. On the road we do laundry about twice a month.
After boon-docking for a few weeks I’ll plan a stop at a KOA for a night. While I’m setting up the RV my wife starts sorting clothes into baskets. We usually have about 4 loads and if we get there early enough we usually have the laundry room to ourselves. But it’s just a minute or two walk and they’re usually very clean. I’ll dump the tanks while we wait and it’s also a good opportunity to get a long hot shower. Then she’ll start cooking while I finish up the laundry. Everything is clean, dry, folded and put away by the time we’re ready to sit down to dinner.
There have only been a few times when we’ve had to drive into town to find a laundromat. And I’ll grant you that they were not always fantastic places, except for one in Lake Havasu. But we’d combine the trip with grocery shopping, mail a package to our granddaughter, or a haircut for me. Or if we were lucky a stop to pick up some In-N-Out on the way back to the campground!
During our last winter sojourn from November to April we spent a total of $202.50 on laundry machines, just $33.75 per month! At that rate it would take 25 years to add up to just the $10k extra I’d have spent on a larger trailer. To me the convenience of the onboard laundry simply wasn’t enough to make me want it. And heck, who is going to say ‘no’ to In-N-Out?