Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Friday, December 18, 2015

A great way to do laundry!

Normally when we're in Mexico we get our laundry done at a "lavanderia". It's usually relatively inexpensive. You simply drop off your clothes, they weigh them, and the price is based on what your dirty laundry weighs. If I remember correctly, prices are usually between 10 and 13 pesos per kg, and your clothes are washed, dried, and folded and you pick them up fresh and clean later that day or the next morning. Normally, our total cost is between $5 and $10 CAD depending on how much stuff we have.

It's a great way to do the laundry! However, where we are parked up just now there is no lavanderia within walking distance.

And so, we need to use our RV Mobile washer. We had bought this unit from Amazon last year and it works really well.



Yes, this video shows Ruth doing her laundry, however I also use it to do my laundry. We each wash our own dirty laundry.

It's a neat design...as you push up and down on the plunger, the water is forced through the clothing. It even makes the sounds of an actual washing machine.

You can only do a few pieces at a time, but it doesn't take very long at all, and it gives your arms a bit of exercise. And most importantly, it actually does a good job!

RV Mobile Hand Operated Washing Machine

Puttered around a bit yesterday afternoon. I needed to check the water level of the batteries. Two of them are under the steps, and two of them are in the storage compartment right beside the steps. I noticed right away that one of the connections at one of the terminals was very corroded and I had only cleaned them just before we left to come south in early October.

The batteries that are in the storage compartment have never had any corrosion on the terminals, but the ones located under the steps do require cleaning every now and again. But this one terminal was covered in crap. I should have taken a picture.

I went to scrap some of it off, and the cable broke right off with very little effort on my part! I boiled up some water and poured the hot water over the batteries. That gets the crap off really well. Cleaned the terminals, topped the cells up with some distilled water, and now ready to go.

Except...I need a new cable. It's just the short connecting cable that connects the positive and negative between the two 6 volt batteries to make them 12 volts. I'll probably have to get one made at a shop in town.

I think what happened is that the cable was obviously weak in that area and not making a good connection. Bad connections will often attract more corrosion, and I guess this was really bad.

We normally operate 4 six volt batteries, so our system is temporarily down to 2 of them. Not a problem, and we still have enough battery power for our needs.

Love the view from under our awning!

Played a few games of backgammon yesterday afternoon. We have running totals of both backgammon and yahtzee that we start January 1st of each year. I'm winning in both games so far, but there is still almost two weeks to go and Ruth is not far behind me. She could easily catch up! In Backgammon, I'm winning 59 to 48. And in Yahtzee, she's only behind me by 281 points. It's going to be close!

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A great deal on Amazon.ca for our Canadian readers...




18 comments:

  1. Nice view and you have your own little island there!!!

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    1. It's a beautiful view and one that we don't tire of! :-)

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  2. I saw this and thought of you guys a few weeks ago:
    http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,42194,67373&p=72942
    I'd get it for myself for longer camping trips so I could pack less, but it's just a little to pricey.

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    1. Thanks Janis, this looks like a great idea for when we are actually travelling/backpacking. It is a bit pricey though, we will have to think about it.

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  3. That mobile clothes washer is a great idea, would work well in a remote cabin too. Enjoy your peace and fabulous view!

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  4. Battery maintenance is very important if you want reliable power. Nice to keep on top of it.
    Nice washing machine.

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    1. Yes, it is a very important maintenance job and should be looked a very regularly.

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  5. I thought for sure that "agitator" would be going a whole lot faster. C'mon "agitator", get with it! :)
    Lots of sunshine for the drying end of things, that's for sure.
    (it's OK "agitator", you can take your time)

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    1. Bob you sound like a good "agitator" so I think this job would be right up your alley! ;-)

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  6. I had just finished washing out 3 days worth of undies by hand (the exficio kind that dry fairly fast)... sat down to have a beer and read blogs... wooohooo.... I know what I'm going to buy in a few months. I bet the handle comes off and I could pack it as well. Sure beats my rub-a-dub-dub efforts. Now... does it extricate some of the water as well?

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    1. When we are traveling like you without the motorhome, we also travel with clothes that dry quickly and are also lightweight.

      Yes, the handle does come off but the head is a hard plastic not a flexible type so it won't collapse down for easy packing. No it doesn't extricate the water but with the temperatures here in Mexico, it doesn't take long for things to dry even if you just hang them up dripping. Another good thing to remember and this is what our Mexican friends do with their laundry all the time, is to turn all your darker (anything non white) clothing inside out before hanging it up, it will help to protect the colours from fading in the hash sun here.

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  7. Okay, it looks like a big toilet plunger and a bucket to me:) I can see how it would work well as long as the plunger does not have to do double duty!

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    1. Basically that is what it is. There are actually instructions that will show you how to make your own out of a toilet plunger but from what we have read they aren't as effective and don't last as long. No, I would hope that they aren't used double duty! Lol

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  8. Moisture got in and greatly accelerated the corrosion process. So for the new interconnect, simply use heat shrink tubing at both ends, around each cable-connector junction.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip Doug, Kevin will have a look and see if that is something that we can get here.

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  9. Am ordering one of those dyi washing machines! Thanks for the tip!

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    1. We have been using it every day since returning to Sherman last week. We do a little laundry everyday. I am even trying out the bed sheets in it. I put one in last night to let it soak and today it will be washed and then we will do the same with the other sheet tomorrow.

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