Sometimes Things Are Better Than Expected
Laundry rooms in RV parks are not always as clean as I would like, but sometimes I'm surprised and impressed.
The laundry room shown in the picture above is at the Strawberry Fields for RVers RV park in Chiefland, FL. It's super clean, and all the machines are new. I guess that's to be expected since the campground has only been open for a few months.
What could possibly be better than having a laundry room like this?
The only thing I can think of would be to have a washer and dryer in your RV. I just installed the Splendide 2100XC washer/dryer combo in my motorhome. I will still be using the campground laundromat when I want to wash a quilt or a bedspread.
My washer/dryer is small and convenient
It does an excellent job, but I have to run small loads. It doesn't dry things well if I overload it. I guess you could say that about any dryer. Here's a picture of it installed in the closet.
Another thing I like about my small washer/dryer unit is that it's small enough to sit on a shelf in the closet, I don't have to bend over to put clothes in or get them out.
When I read reviews of the washer/dryer combo I bought, I see a lot of people complaining that you have to run small loads. That's like buying a sports car and then complaining that you can't carry as much stuff as you can in an SUV. Duh?
I put clothes in and come back in an hour and a half, and my clothes are all washed, dried, folded, and the shirts are on hangers. (Well, at least, the clothes are washed and dried.)
In the picture below, you can see where I added two tees and ran pipes for the hot and cold water to the washing machine. Connecting the drain was going to be a lot harder.
The drain pipe coming out of the bottom of the tub is that big black pipe. I could cut it and put a tee in the line and then run a pipe from there to the washing machine, but I decided to do it in an easier way.
Since the shower stall was on the other side of the wall from the closet, I drilled a hole in the wall and inserted the washing machine drain hose and then clamped it inside the shower stall. You can see what it looks like in the picture below.
One thing I learned
When I looked at the drain water going into the shower stall, I was shocked at how black the water was when I was washing anything dark (even when using cold water). I expected it to be dark when I washed black jeans, but I didn't think it would be so black when I was washing black socks and tee-shirts in cold water. Now I'm a believer. You should never wash dark and light things together--even in cold water.
Christmas present to myself
Bottom line: Since my older motorhome was not built with washer/dryer connections, running the plumbing pipes and electrical wire (and cutting a hole in the wall for the vent) was a major job. Thank goodness, I had my brother to help me. The good news is that it's all finished and working great. I'm going to consider this my Christmas present to myself. I love it.