Living tiny the way I’m living tiny means that a dedicated laundry room with a washer and dryer are pretty much not happening. Folks with massive Class A RVs often have a combo washer and dryer, and I’m happy for them.
If my tiny home was not a teardrop shape, but squared off, and if it had a standard-height ceiling, the whole thing would be considered quite small for a laundry room. Still, if I was willing to sacrifice my sleeping area, sitting area, working space, storage cabinets, breakfast area, air conditioner, heater, refrigerator, stovetop, and counter space, then I’d have room for a rolling laundry room and I would not have a laundry issue. But of course I am not going to do that. So I need a solution to doing laundry with the least amount of cost, time, and hassle.
Many who live tiny use laundromats. That is kind of the philosophy behind tiny living, whether in a stationary house or a rolling RV. You make communal use of things like laundromats, libraries, community gardens, gyms, and even showers and toilets so that you don’t have to have/maintain/pay for/make room for one of your own.
But I don’t feel good in laundromats. They are expensive, for one thing. I have spent between $1.75 and $6.00 per load, depending on the size of the washer (admittedly the $6 washer was pretty awesome), and the location of the laundromat. The machines at campground laundromats are typically less expensive than commercial laundromats.
Also, they are usually inconvenient. At one campground I visited for 3 weeks in Northern California, there was no laundromat in camp, and the nearest one was 15 miles away. Major hassle. But most campgrounds I frequently have laundry facilities.
At the campground, unless the laundry room is right across the way from your camp, you either have to lug a bag or basket of laundry to the destination, or drive there. Some enterprising campers have a rolling cart they use to transport laundry. They get their walking done, and they don’t have to lug. I saw one woman with her laundry in her bicycle basket. That looked sweet.
Even if the transport of the laundry to the machines was easy, and even if it was free, there is time waiting for it to be done. It takes 3 trips:
- Hauling laundry from camp to machine
- Back to machine to put it in dryer
- Back to dryer to haul laundry back to camp
That’s a lotta back and forth. Or, you can sit there and wait. Oh, god no. I feel the drip, drip, drip of a life slipping away.
That’s just me. Others may see it as a spiritual practice, or a meditation. If I cannot figure this out, I’ll need to adopt that mindset. Until then, I’m going to look for a solution.
Here are the options I’ve discovered:
Option 1—Hand wash everything in the sink in the campground bath block, or in a bucket at camp, and hang it to dry it in camp.
Pros: No money spent, wash whenever you want. You don’t have to wait until everything is dirty to endure the trauma of a trip to the laundromat.
Cons: Unless the items are delicate, they probably won’t get clean. And, depending on the fabric, there may be lint and dog hair and blue human hair (optional) left behind. Plus, all that hard work might give you (me in particular) carpel tunnel syndrome, and then I couldn’t type these magical words. Oh hell no!
Option 2—Buy an electric mini washing machine
Pros: A machine will agitate for you, and the spinning function will get stuff almost dry.
Cons: These things are much bigger than the proverbial bread box, and a big bulky item takes up valuable space in my Durango. Plus, their track records according to Amazon reviews are not great. They have a tendency to stop working just when it’s too late to send them back. Ugh.
Option 3—Buy a hand-tumbling device
Pros: They are cute! And the turning motion will be very much like a washing machine.
Cons: A little bulky for my truly tiny lifestyle. And some report the turning motion gets tiring.
Option 4—Try out a plunger-type washing device
Pros: Relative inexpensive, and takes up very little space and there’s nothing electrical to stop working. Also, the ergonomic handle provides opportunity for upper body exercise, which I’m currently lacking.
Cons: Lots of work and the lint/hair problem remains. And it looks like you’re churning butter.
There may be more options. What have you tried?
Stay tuned for The Laundry Issue: Part 2