An RV Tip of the Day reader offers today’s tip:

An RV combo washer/dryer is nice. I have one in my motorhome. But there is a trick to using them.

I found it is best to have a large plastic tub you can get at Walmart to store clothes in. I sort my clothes into piles and wash one load after another until all is washed. After each load I put the damp clothes into the tub to hold until I start drying.

When I am through washing, I dry one load after another until they are done. I wear an XL pullover shirt and can wash four at a time and dry three at a time. This part you will have to work out.

The washer has a feature where you can set it to wash and then go on to dry the clothes. I find this does not work well for two reasons. First, at the end of the spin cycle the clothes are pressed to the inside of the tub and they bake/dry in that position. You get clothes that are not dry and full of pressed wrinkles. Also, if you wash, dry, wash, dry…, the inside tub gets wet and cold before each dry cycle. It takes longer for the clothes to dry.

So, I wash, put them into a tub, then take them out of the tub and dry one load at a time. This way the inside stays warm and it dries faster. At the end of each wash cycle you will have to wait two minutes before you can open the door. However, in the dry cycle you can open the door at anytime. When drying, it gets very hot, then begins to cool down with about ten minutes to go.

Fran says, Wow… thanks. I’ve always wondered the ins and outs of using onboard washer/dryers.