Washing Machines

Some have the Lemair, but I notice some have what looks like a great little twin tub that would be far easier on the water but a bit more manual labour.
The lemair is great, but does use a fair bit of water even with recycling, and that means you need a few large buckets to catch rinse water for re use.
We have ours where the pantry near the door would be in standard layout (if there is such a thing). No good to you as I think you wanted the along the rear ensuite.
Depends which cupboard space you want to sacrifice.

Jay,

we have one of these:

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strapped to the back of the drawers under our bed. When we want to use it we take it outside and plug it into the external 240v outlet and that way we can collect the water in a bucket and re-use it if we need to. Most times we only use one bucket full for a complete wash.

It then goes back inside strapped away again. It's very light and easy to use.

Jay,
I installed a Lemair (the previous model) 2 years ago.
We live in the van and use it almost daily when water is freely available.
Runs off a 1500W inverter and seems to use little power.
We fill it and throw our clothes in whilst travelling. The rocking washes and we only spin when we arrive at our destination. Chris uses Woolwash and doesn't need to rinse.
The only downside is the small capacity. We usually stop at a park or laundrymat when the bedding needs a wash.
So far we havn't had a problem (even when we flooded it, but thats another story)
Rosco

Hi Jay

We have the 'old' Lemair two years old (and a bit). Have been on the road and use it all the tiime.

We reuse the rinse cycle water and this saves 20ltrs of water. Run off a 2kva Generator.

When we get to a caravan park we also only use the Lemair, cleaner to use ours than those in the caravan parks.

In the time we have had the machine we have been on quite a bit of rough road and it is still going. Wouldn't be without it.

Where is it? Under our bed installed in a water proof compartment built by the team at BT.

Cheers

Allan and Sharon

Hi Jay,

We have a 5 yr old Lemair, it weighs 17kg and we use it outside for towels, sheets and jeans, unless we are stopped for more than a couple of days with good water supply, when we use it for everything. Otherwise, we Handiwash (bucket with plunger) every day or so. We recycle wherever possible, and carry a couple of 20 ltr stackable trade buckets for this purpose.

Machine is stored in designated cupboard below pantry, immediately inside BT entry door. Steve Gibbs kindly cut a chequerplate square (no charge) for us to place the machine on when in use, it makes levelling much easier, and keeps debris out of the workings underneath. Keep the polystyrene inserts the machine comes with, and use them to stabilize the machine when stored.

Only problems we’ve had have stemmed from leaks in the rather flimsy drain hose, which we’ve repaired 3 times, but finally replaced this week. We can run it off our 300 watt inverter (mornings only, on sunny days), although it squeals for a second as the machine goes into the spin.

Very rarely use laundromats or park laundry, due to hygiene issues. The machine paid for itself quickly, (but back then, we paid only $270!) It’s a vigorous washer (check out the lint trap) but gets the clothes much cleaner than pay machines. Only downside is small capacity means more washes. It will do 2 QS summer sheets together, but is a better wash if done separately. Would love to have it plumbed in so I could spin the daily Handiwash before hanging out, but downside would be collecting waste water and tipping buckets back in the top in a confined area, when recycling.

We were on the road for 3½ years full time until April this year.

Cheers Deb

I just saw this one in a caravan accessories shop.

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It's a Companion brand but the Companion website is still under construction. It was priced at about $225.

cheers