Going Awesome Places

Detailed itineraries + travel guides

  • Destinations
  • Itineraries
  • Travel Guides
  • Packing
  • Travel Blog
    • Travel News, Tips, and Tricks
    • Travel Hacking
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
  • Deals
  • Toolbox

Guide to Travel Clothes Washing

Last Updated January 4, 2022 William Tang

You are here: Home » Travel News and Tips & Tricks » Guide to Travel Clothes Washing

Share
Tweet
Pin
Email
More
This article may contain affiliate links where we make a small commission for purchases you make from links that you click from this article. For more details, read the disclosure page.

One of the most useful skills to have when travelling isn't being able to find free wifi or reading a map. It's actually about making sure you don't stink. Let me teach you how how to hand wash clothes when traveling.

Read more travel hacks

  • How to roll your clothes
  • Marriott corporate codes
  • Offline map apps that isn't Google Maps
  • More travel hacking tips you need to know about

Save money on travel

  • You're being ripped off on car rentals and here's how you can fix that.

Here's what we're covering:

  • How Travelers Handle Clothes Wash
    • Why should you hand wash your clothes
    • The travel clothes washing technique
    • Watch how it's done
    • How often to hand wash your clothes

How Travelers Handle Clothes Wash

travel clothes washing cleaning detergents you can use to hand wash

Why the heck would you want to do your laundry when you're on vacation? You have a point.

But here's my counterpoint. If you want to enjoy your vacation, the rule of packing light that I introduce in minimalist travel packing tips is a strong reason.

As much as it seems like a great idea to pack clothes for every single occasion and to have one outfit for every single day of your 2 week trip, it's just not feasible or you'd need to lug around a brick of a suitcase.

Why should you hand wash your clothes

Pack less – got it.

But if you have less clothes, socks, and underwear, you're going to need to re-wear them at some point right?

Some might point to hotel laundry or going the nearby laundromat but 1) ain't got time for that and 2) do you think we're made out of money?

That's where hand washing comes in.

The travel clothes washing technique

Once you learn the travel clothes washing steps, you'll understand how easy it is and why you might as well do this on your own.

Step 1: Drop the sink stop and fill up with warm water

travel clothes washing step 1 is to fill up the bathroom sink

The water here should be warm but not too hot because you don't want to burn your hands.

In the case where your accommodations has a broken stopper or is non existent, you can stuff a plastic bag there to slow the draining of water or you can just skip this step and use a constant flow of warm water.

You could in theory use the bath tub for this if you have maybe a large load but I wouldn't recommend it because it's back-breaking.

Step 2: Drop in a few pieces of clothing into the sink

step 2 add clothes into the warm water to wash your clothes

Unlike a laundry machine, you don't want to dump all your dirty clothes into the sink. At most you're cleaning 2 items at a time. Otherwise the sink will get too full and things'll start splashing all over the place.

Step 3: Add soap

add any kind of soap to the water in step 3 of how to hand wash your clothes

Soap is what makes the magic happen. You can use almost anything here as you saw in the initial photo:

  • Hotel bar soap
  • Body wash
  • Shampoo
  • Packets of laundry detergent
  • German Rei in der Tube

You only need to put in a small amount in the case of a liquid.

For soap bars, you can drop the whole thing in.

Agitate the water a bit for soap suds/bubbles to form or drop in more warm water.

Step 4: Get your scrub on

step 4 scrub your clothes when traveling

There's no specific scrub technique you need to follow but there are a couple of basic motions you can do. Use whatever you're comfortable with.

  • Take two ends of the garment and rub them together
  • Take two pieces of garment and rub them together
  • Scrunch the clothes together in the warm water, push down, and turn it around (you can pretend to be a washing machine here as well if it help with your rhythm)

If you're using a soap bar, rub the bar against a part of the fabric and that should be enough to work with. Sometimes I even keep the soap bar in the clothes as I'm scrubbing.

In between, wring or squeeze out the water. Be careful not to wring too hard if your item is delicate.

Repeat this 2-3 times.

If there's any rule of thumb, do any or all of these with vigor!

Step 5: Rinse

rinse your clothes in step 5 for travel clothes washing

With the same warm water, rinse your clothes out to get the soap off.

Unplug the sink and allow the water to drain out the soap as well.

Wring your clothes out.

Step 6: Cold water rinse

rinse with cold water step 6

With the stopper in place, fill your sink and clothes with cold water.

You don't need too much here as this is just the final rinse.

If you're in a rush, you can also just keep the tap running and rinse your clothes on-the-fly.

Do one final wringing of what you just washed.

Step 7: Towel wring

lay out your clothes on the towel to do a final wring in travel washing

This step is incredibly important if you want your clothes to dry quickly.

Take a large bath towel (the hotel ones and not the quick-dry travel towels work best here) and lay it flat and open.

Lay out your clothes flat on the towel and space them out.

roll your towel with wet clothes inside in step 6b in how to hand wash your clothes

From one end of the towel, roll it up into a big Swiss Roll.

one giant wring of your wet clothes in the towel in this guide to how to hand wash

Wring out the clothes with good force to make sure the exceess water gets absorbed by the towel. One good wrong should be good.

Unroll your towel and take your clothes for the next step.

Step 8: Dry overnight

last step to travel clothes washing is to dry your garments

The last step is to hang your clothes to dry.

If you're staying in a hotel, there's usually a clothes line above the tub and this is often a great place to hang your clothes.

Clothes hangers in the closet work well.

For backpackers, packing clothesline string can come in handy as well if there are no obvious drying areas.

Worst case, you can hang clothes on various pieces of furniture too.

Watch how it's done

When we talk about old-school Going Awesome Places, this is it. This is literally my second edited vide on the YouTube channel and it probably shows.

This video shows you how to hand wash your clothes when travelling and just how simple it is.

Ever since learning how to do this, I've done this for practically every single trip that's 1 week or longer.

How often to hand wash your clothes

This is a matter of preference, your travel schedule, the convenience of the accommodations you have (hostel vs. hotel vs. Airbnb), and ultimately procrastination.

My advice is to start hand washing your underwear daily when you start travelling and almost immediately.

This sounds crazy and a little too aggressive but this makes sure you always have a supply of fresh undies on the road.

When it comes to your shirts and pants, those you can do every 2-3 days.

Personally, I hate having to do massive piles of laundry near the end because it takes forever to do and you also run out of space to dry them all.

Using the clothes washing technique frequently while travelling, means you're doing it in small quantities and keeps things manageable.

It also guarantees that you won't have to put on stinky clothes because you put things off for too long.

What you should read next

  • 6 Minimalist Travel Packing Tips
  • Winter Gear For Winter Adventures – What Should You Buy in 2022?
  • Ultimate Eurotrip Packing Guide
  • How To Roll Your Clothes and Why It Works
Guide to Travel Clothes Washing
Share
Tweet
Pin
Email
More

Filed Under: Travel News and Tips & Tricks 3 Comments

About William Tang

William is the Chief of Awesome at Going Awesome Places which is focused on off-the-beaten-path, outdoor adventure, and experiential travel. His true passion lies in telling stories, inspiring others to travel, writing detailed trip itineraries to help others plan their own trips, and providing helpful tips and tricks to guide readers to travel better. He is based in Toronto, Canada but you'll find him on the road more often than not. Make sure to learn more about William to find out his story and how Going Awesome Places started.

author will tang going awesome places profile photoHey, my name is Will and I'm here to help you travel to some awesome places around the world and my home country of Canada by providing insanely detailed itineraries, travel guides, and packing lists.

More about me

JOIN TO BE AN INSIDER

Get access to the ultimate packing list, bonus itinerary content, exclusive deals, monthly newsletters, weekly flight deals, and more!

POPULAR POSTS

How to Travel Bora Bora on a Budget – Tips to keep Bora Bora trip costs lowHow to Travel Bora Bora on a Budget – Tips to keep Bora Bora trip costs low54K Total Shares
10 Breathtaking Activities to Do In Maui Without a Car10 Breathtaking Activities to Do In Maui Without a Car1K Total Shares
Yurts in Ontario – From Basic to GlampingYurts in Ontario – From Basic to Glamping519 Total Shares
The Islands of Tahiti Travel Guide – What You Need To Know for French PolynesiaThe Islands of Tahiti Travel Guide – What You Need To Know for French Polynesia402 Total Shares
Must-Read Guide to Visiting Hawaii for the First TimeMust-Read Guide to Visiting Hawaii for the First Time281 Total Shares
When Is The Best Time To Go To Iceland?When Is The Best Time To Go To Iceland?246 Total Shares

Everything I use to travel and link to my travel toolbox

Where do you want to go travel to next? Find your destination

The best travel deals with Going Awesome Places

Learn how to start a travel blog

Find us on social media

YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Work With Us

Copyright © 2022 · Privacy Policy · Disclosure Policy · Accessibility