Washing Machine Saga

[Pizzazz]

I have a Eudora mini on my current motor boat and I am quite happy with it. I never had good experiences with combined washer/dryers. My suggestion would be a small dryer that vents outside (if you have the space, you can also use it to store clothes) or one of these travel dryer bags that you can feed with a hot air from a diesel heater.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

snip..
But one question -- why is it that modern washing machines take so long? A full washing and drying cycle is more than 7 (!) hours. There is a "quick wash" function for small loads, but all the normal cycles are incredibly long.

It's to save energy and water, basicly allowing the "stuff" soak more time with the detergent instead of stirring with force.. Not a big fan..

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

It's to save energy and water, basicly allowing the "stuff" soak more time with the detergent instead of stirring with force.. Not a big fan..

I see. I'm all for saving water, so might be worth it. Wish there were an option for an old-fashioned quick cycle.


But seriously, my old Eudora used about 60 liters just to wash 4kg of laundry -- the drying didn't use water. This one will wash and dry 6kg of laundry for 100 liters. So clearly there is some water economizing going on here.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Pizzazz

I have a Eudora mini on my current motor boat and I am quite happy with it. I never had good experiences with combined washer/dryers. My suggestion would be a small dryer that vents outside (if you have the space, you can also use it to store clothes) or one of these travel dryer bags that you can feed with a hot air from a diesel heater.

My Eudora combination washer/dryer worked great. I would not have replaced it had it not broken in a way I doubted I could get parts to fix.


The heating element for the dryer was in the door, which you flipped around to switch between washing and drying.


It's only flaw for me was very small capacity -- 4kg wash and 2kg dry. The new one is GREAT in that regard -- although it's super slim, it has the same capacity as a normal domestic one.


The capacity of the old one was something I just accepted because I didn't think anything more was possible on a boat this size. But now of course I would never want to go back.

[Dockhead]

Let us now praise modern washing machines.

I've been using the new machine for a while yet, and it's advantages are become gradually apparent.

For one thing, unlike the old machine, which used a fixed (and large) amount of water and fixed amount of time no matter how large or small the load, this one washes faster and uses less water, when you wash or dry less than a full load. It is really remarkably efficient, and per kilogram both washes and dries for less water than the old machine, despite the fact that it's a condensor machine which uses up fresh water for drying.

It has a quick wash cycle for small loads of clothes which aren't dirty but just need freshening up -- stuff you only wear once like underwear and socks. It can wash and dry in a little over an hour and seems to use like 30 liters of water for this. This is extremely handy.

It's much more quiet than the old one, and hardly vibrates when it spins despite the 1400 RPM spin speed.

The normal wash cycles are extremely long but the capacity is so much bigger than the old one (3x for drying), it's not really a big deal. An entire cabin's worth of linens in one load, for example.

I'm really pleased with this change. Wish I had done it years ago.

Hope this info helps others who are thinking about changing out an old washing machine.