Washing Laundry While Traveling

Everyone who travels with a camper van (motorhome) knows it: storage space is limited, and you have to think carefully about what you need when packing. Especially for clothing, you should pack light. There are washing machines and dryers everywhere on the road, or you can wash by hand.

Here you will find my tips on how to properly wash and dry your clothes while camping, as there's bound to be dirty laundry with all the hiking and activities in nature. With these tips, you can easily freshen up your clothes on the go. This way, you can travel stress-free with always fresh-smelling laundry.

The must-haves in the camper van for dirty laundry and washing are:

Do you spill as much as I do? I'm really clumsy; a splash of salad dressing or a piece of fresh fruit quickly ends up on my shirt or pants.

That's why I've made it a habit to always carry a stain stick with me. It's important to treat stains immediately. I always have the Dr. Beckmann eXpress stain stick on hand while traveling.

For clumsy people like me, stain removers for greasy substances & sauces (oil, ketchup, and butter) and for lubricants & oils (especially when I have my mountain bike or gravel bike with me, this stain remover is great for removing chain oil)

For trips (whether by camper or road trip with a rental car), I always pack laundry for seven to a maximum of ten days. Rarely more. You can always wash on the road. Either by hand or in a washing machine.

Minimalism is key, as that's what van life and traveling in a camper is all about. Don't pack your entire household, just the essentials.

I always collect dirty laundry in a laundry bag (one for light and one for dark laundry). Even when I separate laundry, I often wash everything together regardless of color. Tip: I use color and dirt catchers ULTRA as a color protection, so you can throw everything in one machine.

I use cotton bags for this. Laundry bags are also practical for transporting the dirty laundry from the camper to the laundry room.

On camping trips, it's crucial for me to use as environmentally friendly and biodegradable products as possible.

That's why the water-soluble laundry detergent sheets MAGIC LEAVES by Dr. Beckmann are very practical and easy to use. A pack is much lighter than a bottle of detergent. Additionally, it generates less packaging waste and is simple to apply.

They are also suitable for hand washing, as the sheets dissolve upon contact with water. This way, you always have the option to wash quickly and easily.

At many campgrounds, you have the option to wash your laundry with the available washing machines and dryers. This is especially ideal when traveling in northern regions of Europe where laundry does not dry quickly.

Alternatively, there are laundromats in larger cities and tourist areas where you can wash. I have never used them on my travels. I prefer the facilities at campgrounds for a day. While the machine is running, I can do other things (travel planning, working on the road - I'm self-employed, or other important tasks).

The great thing about campgrounds with washing machines and dryers is that you can wash and dry everything completely. Afterwards, you can directly put everything back into the cabinets and change your bedding. You save the weight of a second set of bed linens.

I wash everything in one day: from bedding to towels to clothes. During a camping vacation, I often wash all items in one machine. Regardless of color or material, everything gets washed at 30° C.

Unfortunately, these washing machines are rarely free. Either you have to buy a washing token, or in modern cases, even pay directly at the machine with a credit card.

You will almost always find instructions on the washing machines on how to operate them. Because the machines are often not in German and not always in English. If there are no instructions available, ask at the reception or other travelers.

In some campgrounds (rarely), laundry detergent is provided that you are supposed to use. I dislike that and prefer to use my own: MAGIC LEAVES laundry detergent sheets by Dr. Beckmann. These come in versions for colored and white laundry.

These water-soluble detergent sheets have the advantage that they smell great, are easy to transport and store, and there's nothing complicated in the application. Unlike some pods, they dissolve quickly (one time I accidentally dropped one on the floor, and a drop of water immediately caused it to dissolve).

Everyone has a wash basin on board. These weigh very little and thanks to their folding mechanism, they are optimal for storage. You can easily and quickly wash clothes by hand with this. For 4 liters of warm water, even half a detergent sheet MAGIC LEAVES is sufficient.

The dirt dissolves in water that is about 20° C warm. For heavy soiling, you can soak the laundry a bit. After washing, you should rinse all clothing items with clear water again.

After that, you should wring everything out well to remove as much moisture from the clothing as possible. Now you just need to hang your clean laundry to dry - ideally on a clothesline.

Disadvantage: If it rains, you'll have to dry your laundry inside your camper. Many motorhomes are not designed for that, as drying inside introduces moisture. My bathroom in the camper works as a drying room and thanks to a rod, I can at least dry 1-3 pieces of clothing in there.

For many, this is unfortunately not a good solution, and you need to make sure to ventilate properly.

As with camping in general, when doing laundry as well, be responsible with nature. What does not come from nature should not be disposed of in nature. Neither gray water, nor cooking water, and especially not the water from washing laundry.

You can either pour the water from hand washing into your gray water tank in the camper or dispose of it directly at an official wastewater disposal point at the campground or parking area. Never in nature.

As you can see, even while camping you don't have to forgo clean-smelling and fresh laundry. There are numerous ways to wash clothes. Everyone needs to find out what works best for them. My preferred method is washing in washing machines at campgrounds.

Leave me a comment and share your tips and tricks. Have you tried the MAGIC LEAVES by Dr. Beckmann?

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