Washing Laundry On The Road | Quick & Easy Tips

How do you wash laundry during your travels? What about backpacking laundry?

This is a question we’ve been asked a bunch of times!

How many times did you get your clothes dirty during your travels? Or you spilt something on yourself just like Steff does 100 times! In this blog, we’re giving you some ideas on how to keep your clothes fresh and clean while travelling long-term and backpacking laundry. Don’t worry, we’ve been there, we know the feeling!

In reality, it’s never a big deal for us, as we always travel with a small number of clothes, so we wash them only occasionally. We carry primarily dark-coloured clothes of good material, so we don’t need to wash them regularly in case of minor stains.

Here are some quick and easy tips on washing your laundry during your travels and keeping your backpack from stinking!

Use Packing Cubes

 Packing cubes is the easiest way to separate your dirty and clean clothes.

Use a Dry Bag for Extremely Dirty Clothes

Sometimes, in certain places, you spend days or weeks without laundry access, and you’ll end up smelling bad. Using a dry bag is ideal to separate those stinky clothes.

Avoid White Clothing

Even though white clothes look fresh, try to avoid them, as minor stains will be noticed immediately, and it’s impossible not to wash them instantly. If you’re somewhere with no laundry access, you might get your white clothes ruined forever.

Carry Washing Soap With You

We always carry washing powder to wash our clothes at the first opportunity. You’ll not always find washing soap or powder in accommodations; some are far away from groceries and markets. In this case, you can always use shampoo as an alternative to washing your clothes.

As you know, we always travel on a budget, avoiding hotels and expensive accommodations. By all means, sometimes we find it hard to find cheap accommodation with a washing machine. Quite obvious, right?

Miracles of The Washing Machine

When we get to that moment, all our clothes smell bad, and we search for an apartment with a washing machine. For us, that would be a must. With a washing machine, you can wash everything immediately, remove all y

You might pay a little extra for the accommodation, but it’s all worth it.

Use the Sink!

Whether it’s a kitchen or bathroom sink, you can wash your clothes with simple steps.

• Make sure the sink is clean
• Fill the sink & put washing soap or powder (or shampoo)
• Put clothing in warm water
• Wash and scrub the clothes with your hands
• Let them stay for a few minutes
• Rinse and gently squeeze the clothes

This method is the one we regularly use, especially in hostels.

Bonus: Free of charge!

Be Polite and Ask Locals

If you’re staying with locals and you need to wash some clothes, you can ask them politely if they can wash your clothes with theirs. It’s fair if you offer a nice gesture in return, like washing their plates or sweeping the floors for them. Show them appreciation and respect. Sometimes, locals ask you themself if you need your clothes cleaned!

Extra Bonus: Free of charge mixed with a new friendship!

Go To A Laundromat

A laundromat is a self-service laundry where you can wash your clothes without help from others. These can be found globally, usually in larger towns or cities. You can also find this service in guesthouses and hostels. If the instructions are in a foreign language, ask a local for help or use Google Translate to ensure everything is clear about which cycle to use. Some machines work with coins, others with tokens.

Costs between €2 to €6

Maybe now you’re asking. But how do you dry your clothes without having a drying rack? This is quite simple.

In Summer, clothes dry out much faster than in Winter, so it’s not much of a problem. In most places, accommodations are centrally heated, so in Winter, you can leave them close to the central heating and dry in no time.

If you don’t have a drying rack at the accommodation, we suggest using clothes hangers to avoid having wrinkled clothes whilst drying. Please don’t put them over furniture to prevent damage.

In some cases, you can use the hairdryer. We found the hairdryer convenient while Camping in Macedonia during our backpacking adventure. We had a night thunderstorm and got our backpacks soaked. We had to leave for Albania the following morning and needed somewhere to dry our stuff. We used the only option we had, the hairdryer, and managed to dry everything, let’s say, in a few hours.

While travelling, you learn a lot, and sometimes, especially in the worst moments, you do the first thing that comes to mind. You don’t know what you’re capable of until you put yourself in a position to do something you’ve never done before.

How do you wash your clothes when you’re on the road? Do you use any of our methods? Let us know your way of washing, especially if it’s not something we mentioned; we’re curious!

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