Is this the best off-grid washing machine? Rovin Ecospin Review

[@DTC2_Blue]

A good concept manual machine, but it could be better as we can clearly hear the gears slipping 5:49 when you cranked too hard. The other versions by other makers have no center agitation tower. They use gears to counter spin the center relatively flat agitator to the sides of the spin basket. Those ones, the gears are VERY beefy and even cranking at 3-4x per second the gears never once slipped. Also their gear design is for every clockwise turn we make, the inner basket rotates 1:1 in clockwise, but 5:1 in counter clockwise. So our 3-4x per second spin in counter clockwise motion means the basket is spinning at 20-25x /second which accounts for their 1200-1500 RPM claim. Also instead of two different handles, the other versions have two different locations to plug in their removable handle. The center position is for washing, but the outer position is for spin dry. This Rovin Ecospin handles both move the same center disk, so This Rovin EcoSpin model RCC422 seems to spin 3x in counter clock wise but only 1.5x in clockwise ( I counted your clothes rotating as you cranked ) So though the others without the center agitator spin much much faster, this one's only good idea is the separate center tower agitator. Now if we can mix the gears and crank from the other machine to the center tower agitator then we'd have the perfect manual machine. This one is okay, but the sound of the gears slipping (5:49) was a FAIL. Which also means more chance of breaking if we overload the machine. I find these things are better suited to do SMALL clothes or thin clothes only. For adults, our clothes are too big and weigh too much weight for the machine to handle. The last shirt you added in helped overload the machine because the max line is the ridge under the center towerl agitator. You loaded both clothes and water ABOVE that line so it became harder to turn which may have lead to the machine slipping gears. Better suited to kids or baby clothes, rags and small towels. To do adult clothes like jeans or shirts, no more than 1-2 at a time. The limitations of the torque produced by these manual machine depends on the drag load we put in. Adult clothes are larger so produce more drag. The more clothes we put in, the more drag it produces which the limited torque can't handle. Small clothes like for babies, kids or even small rags and towels have a much lower drag because they are smaller and can relatively move freely without touching or creating more drag when bunched up with other items in the wash bucket.

[@Susanne-dk4of]

When my 4 children were small back in the 1980s we spent 2years travelling around Australia in a caravan I had a plastic rubbish bin with a clip down lid when were moving from place to place the clothes were being washed and I only had to rinse and dry them when we arrived at our next destination nappies were washed in a 20 litre bucket with a tight fitting lid We didn't use disposable nappies Thank you from Gippsland Victoria Australia

[@alapoftheblock]

That’s awesome!

[@weekendnomad5038]

This machine he’s using looks underwhelming and they are expensive . I washed my kids clothes in a plastic bin today too lol Ohhhhh wait .. you are saying they washed themselves in the CAR!!! This is GENIUS!!!

[@anniehope8651]

Great idea!

[@jewellhershey]

The electric models circulate the clothes in one direction for about eight seconds-pause for about five seconds until the movement settles-circulate the clothes in the opposite direction about eight seconds- pause again about five seconds, and keep repeating. I think you are likely to strip the gears, so to speak, by bucking against the momentum, besides the fact that it’s just too hard to do.

[@alapoftheblock]

Good point!

[@ayupmeduck5708]

I use mine in the bath. Machine between me sitting on a low stool, and the taps, attached shower hose to the taps. The attached handle is for spinning, the removeable handle is for the washing cycle, I use both with both hands for washing clockwise and anti clockwise. Washing is easier with fewer items.

[@alapoftheblock]

Nice 👍🏻. Completely agree that fewer items makes it easier.

[@MrWirelesscaller]

@@alapoftheblock That spin washer defeats the purpose of it being a time saver, you're better off using a 5 gallon bucket or a tall rubber waste can/container, two plungers (I tried one and it only sloshes the clothes right/left vs forcing them through the water), and about half the detergent of a small load of laundry which has a much better agitation for the two minutes of action. If you have a big enough area and pretty strong, you can use the 5 gallon bucket, 4 gallons of water, and put on the lid and pinch it hard while shaking it violently for about a minute or two as well but be careful because if the water is warm/hot the little air expands on this will try to force the lid to pop open when shaking. I've done this for a while but it sucks if you have a moment or lapse of concentration and the lid pops some causing mess. You can buy a single cheap plastic grated shelf stacking organizers from dollar tree to use as a strainer in their plastic section to drip drain much of the liquid before hanging without having to wring dry. The methodology I use when washing this way is wash/agitate at least 2-4 times depending on how dirty it is then strain/drain the soapy water, rinse, strain/drain first rinse, rinse again second time, strain/drain second time, and then hang. Do this with any human powered washing technique. The only thing this has over the bucket/waste can is the centrifugal dehydrator but even then you better do this outdoors, tub, or sink with the drain hose positioned because it's way too short and keeps popping off (yes I bought it in the past, had it for about 5 washes and gave it away) because the sucking cups kept detaching and if the load is unbalanced it shifts constantly. I know the one I bought the rubber feet also plugs the manufacturer's holes when they made/cast it so if the rubber feet comes off or the rubber feet distorts where it's pushed into the base it leaks there so I recommend only doing this in an area where if it leaks you don't have to contend with a mess which includes when you're distracted and may leave everything there for a while. Personally I recommend against purchasing this as a bucket/waste container method seems faster and better with less mess imho. Costs: I bought my spin washer on ebay for $60 with shipping about 4 years ago at the time but you can buy a two plungers for $1.25 each from dollar tree and a plastic stacking grate/rack for $1.25 from there as well. 5 gallon bucket with lid from walmart is about $5 or you can buy a plastic vertical waste can for about $10 (it contains the liquid more for how I use it) either option is cheaper taking less time doing a much better job imho.

[@Charliemmafan]

That looks just like the laundry pod I believe is what they call it that they sell here in the United States!

[@janet5610]

This is alright if you do not have electricity available. The price for this is pretty much the same as a same capacity electric powered bucket.....washer & spin dryer. Not right that the price is so high for a bucket sized salad spinner. Next time I wash my personal items by hand I will use my salad spinner to get the excess water out of them.....lolololololol

[@dinarusso3320]

Maybe a little more convenient to do that outside so no mess?

[@alapoftheblock]

Cheers Dina - we usually use it outside, just inside for the demo vid 👍🏻

[@gwiazda3209]

That looks like hard work. Better with a smaller electrical one. Those with USB can be plugged in to a power bank.

[@melaniepace1971]

I have something like this I didn’t like the hose hookup doesn’t stay put

[@kizpouncey27]

20 litres seems a lot of water for one person’s daily clothes by the time you rinse

[@alapoftheblock]

G’day Kiz. I thought so too, but a comparison to the automatic washers and even the scrubba bag showed that it’s pretty good by comparison. Not great, but not bad either.

[@coralieofjumpwithnofear]

@@alapoftheblockAre you saying that the Scrubba wash bag uses about the same water as this washer?

[@deborahjenkins3457]

Where do you get Rovin Ecospin washing machine at?

[@alapoftheblock]

Hi Deborah. We got ours from RoadTechMarine. You can also find similar ones on eBay and Amazon.

[@deborahjenkins3457]

@@alapoftheblock thank you! I found one on Amazon .

[@miradamit]

@@deborahjenkins3457 How much it cost?

[@deborahjenkins3457]

@@miradamit 80 dollars

[@susiehenders]

The plastic construction looks weak 👎

[@janet5610]

Big salad spinner....

[@mariapatriciafernandezfran7949]

Pienso que es mejor lavat en re cipiente plastico con chupa para sanitario y enjuagar de ka misma manera y otro recipiente con huecos y meter rl balde anterior dentro de rl de los huecos con la ropa en su interior y hacer presión para wue por los huecos salga el agua . Menos esfuerzo y fificultad.

[@weekendnomad5038]

This thing looks underwhelming… and with what they cost .. I’ll just hand wash lol it doesn’t seem worth it

[@sharonmatheka4164]

This looks more tedius than handwashing.