Drying Washed Clothes

[tx2sturgis]

It looks like a few tinkerers, experimenters, and mad scientists are messing around with the idea, so it aint new:

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=25084.0


If you can wait till December, you can order a brand new vacuum clothes dryer now, for just under $400:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/...-dryer?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button#/

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks for the link to that forum discussion. a lot of the points I brought up plus I didn't even think of the water freezing one. another obstacle to over come.

since OP mentioned a high humidity area and 50 miles to a laundry mat. I would make sure I had enough clothes to last me until a resupply run and go to the Laundry mat when you go shopping(resupply). or get an RV electric dryer and generator. do they make RV propane dryers? boy I am glad I spend my time in the dry west and don't have to deal with this headache.

if it's so damp and humid what about your living space and mold and mildew? if you can't air dry clothes then you can't air dry your bedding, or your shoes. what do they do on boats? the don't have vacuum dryers.

highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yep.

But...going to the laundrymat sucks.

But then, so does a vacuum dryer.

Either way...it just sucks.

 

[CosmickGold]

You are so correct, RoamerRV428.  120VAC will be required, and just over 180 Watts of it.  Fortunately I have that, with four golfcart batteries under the bed, and a 1000 watt inverter that changes 12VDC from those batteries to the 120VAC needed for several items.

However, keeping those batteries charged might be a problem.  I have 400 Watts of solar power on the roof, but that needs sunshine, not rainforest fog and clouds. So I might have to get a gasoline generator for power, but I really hope not.

highdesertranger, last I was there, humidity was handled by keeping the air temperature inside warmer than outside (including wall surfaces).  Since outside can't exceed 100% humidity, the warmed air inside must be less than 100%, so not condensing on anything.  (But try our best, some mold still found a way to grow in a few spots.)

Also, I meant to say the round trip was 50 miles.  My wording at that point was a bit poor.  It was only 25 miles one way, but still...

 

[CosmickGold]

The 'spinner' is supposed to spin them almost dry. Then hang them out for a bit.

Yes.  And also, it is important to spin the FULL FIVE MINUTES.  I'd been spinning for 3 minutes, since clothes feel equally dry to the touch at 5 and at 3.  But discovered they take three times longer to hang dry if spun just 3 minutes.  I guess that's because even 2% drier than 97%, is still three times drier!

But in reality, hanging all those clothes inside the van on rainy days -- even when "almost dry" --  filled the van with unpleasant humidity for ages, and the clothes began to smell spoiled.  I do realize that in a dry climate, your method would work perfectly.

 

[MrNoodly]

I plan to spend time in the Olympic Rain Forest ...no sun, 100% humidity, and rain every day (13 feet of rain a year).

Well, like they say, one person's hell is another person's heaven.

 

[CosmickGold]

If you can wait till December, you can order a brand new vacuum clothes dryer now, for just under $400:

Looks like the Morus  Vacuum Clothes Dryer is just junk.  It's very slow, drying very little clothing, and uses far more electricity (for its heater!). Can't run on batteries, so not worth $400, or anything really.  Here's a link that explains why.

Also, seems my while idea was a bad one, for here's someone who did the same as me, reporting poor results:

 

[RoamerRV428]

can you make a more permanent structure and stationary in your campsite?

A very small woodstove, a small tented type structure, a small fan for air circulation....like make a drying tent?
no clue if this is doable for you but if desperate...

 

[CosmickGold]

Well, the final results are in:  My dryer didn't work! My clothes were still damp even after a night in a vacuum.

And it was not a matter of ice forming, for the boiling process was much too slow to form ice.

The problem is that my vacuum pump removes gas at a specific cubic volume per second, and did so perfectly. But water vapor contains 1312.73 times less water than water as a liquid, for the same cubic space at normal air pressure. Because it's temperature dropped to perhaps 50 F, boiling didn't occur until the pressure was perhaps 1/100th normal atmosphere, which means the vapor was expanding to 100 times the size it would normally be.  100 times 1312 is 131,200 times less dense than liquid water.

In other words, my dryer would have to pump roughly 131,200 times as as much cubic volume of this vapor, to remove as much moisture as it would take to remove the same amount of water as a liquid.  And since the pump runs on 180 watts of battery power, the batteries would have gone dead LONG before my clothes were dry.

 

[CityWoman]

I think you might be more successful with figuring out a way to blow hot air at them.

 

[LoupGarou]

Every 14 days pull into a nearby campground for a night to dump your tanks and trash, take on fresh water, source provisions, take a long hot shower, do laundry, then repeat.