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.

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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.

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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:

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.

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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.

Travel Resources For Your Next Trip

If you’re in the process of planning your trip and putting together your itinerary, these are genuinely the best resources that the Going Awesome Places team stands by 100%.

Credit cards: Don’t get burned by hidden fees on top of terrible exchange rates. When we travel now, we use the Wise Card. Simply load it with the currency you need before you go and use it as a regular VISA or their digital wallet card. Use their free app to track how much you have and top up when you need to.

Flights: Of all the booking search engines, Skyscanner is the most helpful and easy to use thanks to their Everywhere feature. Kayak is also another that’s we will often check as well.

Car Rental: If you’re looking to save money, these car rental coupon codes will be a true game-changer. Otherwise, DiscoverCars and RentalCars are great places to start.

Rideshare: For new Lyft users, use code WILLIAM4825 to get 50% off your first 2 rides (max $10 USD per ride). Offer valid for 14 days after you take your first ride. For new Uber users, use code psuqbjg4d7rn for the same offer except it’s valid for 30 days.

Airport Parking: You’ll need a spot to leave your car at the airport so why not book a spot at a discount. Use code AWESOME7 to get at least $5 off at Airport Parking Reservations or Park Sleep Fly packages.

eSIM: Lately, we’ve really loved using eSIMs. We’ve tested several over the years and we have access to a few special promotions.

  • AmigoSIM – Use GOINGAWESOMEPLACES to save 25% off. Code is re-useable.
  • Gigsky – Use TANG149 to get $3 USD when you sign up, then use code GOINGAWESOME to save 20% on all eSIM orders.
  • KnowRoaming – Use code GAP10 to save 10%.
  • AloSIM – Use code GOINGAWESOMEPLACES to save 15%.
  • Airalo – Use referral code WILLIA9500 to get $3 USD credit on your first purchase.
  • UbigiAWESOME10 to save 10% on your first order.

Wifi Hotspot: We’ve been a huge fan of wifi hotspot devices such as PokeFi (use code GAP24300) because their rates are are hard to beat and it works globally. Solis is another that we recommend. Pros are that you can share the wifi with your whole group but cons are that you have to invest in a device and you have to charge it every night.

Hotels: Our go-to is Booking.com because they have the best inventory of properties including hotels and B&Bs plus they have their Genius tier discounts. Expedia is also worth using especially with their One Key rewards program which is basically like cash. The exception is Asia where Agoda always has the best prices. Always do a quick check on TripAdvisor as well.

Vacation Rentals: Your first instinct will be to check Airbnb but we always recommend checking VRBO as well if you’re looking for a vacation rental (now eligible for One Key).

Tours and Activities: When planning our trips, we always check both Viator and GetYourGuide to at least see what’s out there in the destination that we’re going to. They often have different offerings and prices so check both.

Travel Insurance: Learn how to buy the best travel insurance for you. This isn’t something you want to travel without.

  • HeyMondo – Popular insurance provider for frequent travelers and comes with great coverage and special perks. By booking through our link to get a 5% discount!
  • RATESDOTCA – Search engine Canadians looking for the cheapest insurance including multi-trip annual policies.
  • SafetyWing – A perfect fit for long-term nomads.
  • Medjet – Global air medical transportation.
  • InsureMyTrip – Best for seniors, families, and those with pre-existing conditions.

If you need more help planning your trip, make sure to check out our Travel Toolbox where we highlight all of the gear, resources, and tools we use when traveling.

William Tang of Going Awesome Places
About The Author

Will Tang

Will Tang, founder of Going Awesome Places, has traveled to 51 countries. He shares his insanely detailed itineraries, travel guides, and packing lists. Will’s travels have been featured on Huffington Post, Men’s Journal, and Entrepreneur.

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The Discussion

  1. I’ve been using laundry sheets recently at home; the ones I get are by Kind Laundry & they come in different scents. On my next trip, I’ll drop a few sheets & a portable clothesline into my carryon & I’ll be good!

    1. Ooh I’ve never heard of Kind Laundry. I will have to pick some up to test them out! Thanks for sharing Elise!

  2. This is my exact technique, right down to the timing! I always bring the powdered soap called Forever New because it rinses out so easily and I like the smell. I also bring my travel clothes line, which is so handy. It’s two twisty elasticized cords with suction cups (hang in the shower) and hooks (hang everywhere else by stretching around and hooking to itself. You don’t need clothespins since you can just tuck bits of the clothing in between the two twisted elasticized cords and it holds fairly well, unless it is very gusty! (Lost a bathing suit in Santorini temporarily under very windy conditions!)

    1. Hey Karin, thanks for stopping by! Those are great tips as well. I still need to get a travel clothes line as that sounds super handy to have!!

  3. Easier than wringing out the towel is to put the roll on the floor and step on it! Walking on it gets every last drop of water squeezed into the towel.

  4. 1. We carry a flat rubber disk that serves as a stopper when there is no stopper in the sink.

    2. Since the bath towel will become quite damp after wringing one batch of clothes, it is better to wash small batches of clothes unless you have a surplus of towels. (Towels used to wring out clothes will be too damp to use after showing.)

    3. Instead of wringing the “Swiss Roll,” put it on the floor and walk, barefoot, back and forth along the roll a few times.

  5. My method is almost exactly the same as yours, though (if there’s time) I like to throw in a 2nd rinse.

    At first I only ever hand-washed clothes in the sink, but lately I prefer doing larger loads in the tub. It does put extra strain on your knees and back, which isn’t comfortable, but I’ll put up with it to get more laundry done in less time.

  6. Will, my go-to trick for bathroom or kitchen sinks that have faulty or missing stoppers is duct tape. Works like a charm and you can buy mini rolls of it so it’s pretty compact. Indispensable travel item.