The ultimate guide to laundry while travelling
How to keep your clothes clean on the road.
Hand washing
The most basic option can be remarkably effective. Fill up your bathroom sink, add some soap and get scrubbing. Standard white hotel soap is quite effective, though you can go a step further and bring a special travel laundry soap with you. Wring the items out and hang them over the shower rail or a portable clothesline. It works best for light, delicate items like underwear or tshirts – you'd be struggling to successfully wash a pair of jeans this way.
Travel washing machine
We’re not expecting you to drag a full size Westinghouse along with you, but there are a new range of portable washing devices that are easy to use and do a great job. The Scrubba wash bag is the most popular (and it’s an Aussie invention). Fill the bag with water, cleaning liquid and clothes, empty the air out through the valve, then rub everything around against the internal washboard for just 30 seconds. Rinse the clothes out, roll them in the special towel to remove moisture and hang them out to dry.
Laundromat
Put your dirty clothes in a bag, grab some coins and get down to a Laundromat. This is the best option for when you have quite a few things to wash or some larger items like jumpers and jeans. Bring a book with you or take the time to do something useful like going through all your digital photos.
Send it out
Almost every hotel will have a laundry service – it’s easy and efficient, and your clothes can be back folded and ready for your suitcase by the next morning. It’s the best option if you are short on time and completely out of clean underwear. However, having your laundry done by the hotel can be expensive (and if you’re staying in a luxury hotel it can be truly eyewatering). You will get a better deal at a laundry outside of the hotel, though you can’t always guarantee that they will get your clothes back to you on time.
How do you do laundry while travelling?