Washing Your Smalls and How to Do Laundry On The Road

[Polaris Overland]

On longer overland journeys in more remote parts especially with your partner the subject of laundry will come up.

On our longer trips taking months not days we carried 4 sets of underwear and T-Shirts, 2 pairs of trousers each and a couple of fleece style tops.

We had space for a little more clothing but we chose to keep the weight to a minimum and this included clothing. We all know more weight equals more wear and tear on the vehicle and the more remote you are the more of an issue this becomes.

So our choice meant max we had 4 days before the stink sets in however what we found ultimately was we could actually almost survive on 2 sets of clothing with 2 sets as back up.

We did this by carrying a washing machine!

Not a hand powered or battery powered washing machine but a sealable container that every morning before setting off for the day we could add hot water, detergent, underwear and t-shirts. We would then spend the day bouncing across corrugations, rocks and roads all agitating the washing in the washing machine.

Then whilst one person sets up camp in the evening another opens up the washing machine and rinses all the clothing and hangs it up to dry.

In warm countries we managed for weeks like this as the clothes dried overnight fresh to be worn next day.

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best and we still employ this solution to this day.

Photos show the washing machine in use on the trailer during our Big Trip in 2017, Mongolia 2018 and Russian Altai Region in 2018.

Final photo is our 2 years of travel during which the washing machine was used throughout

 

[Red_Leaf_Overland]

That's a great idea! My wife and I are usually traveling near water and rinse out close ( and ourselves) off in a lake when we camp. But when we aren't...unfortunately we stink between water sources lol. I remember coming off a mountain and the two of walking into an ice cream shop ( not realizing what we smelled like) and being able to smell everyone else in the room because the soaps and colognes and perfumes all seemed so harsh after being in the back country for a while lol.

 

[Jim SoG]

Love the idea!

Jim

 

[rgallant]

Sounds brilliant to me

 

[Basecamp Overland]

This is awesome. I am going to have to keep this info in my back pocket :)

 

[Polaris Overland]

Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that work the best

 

[El-Dracho]

And it works really well with such a washing barrel. I've been using it for many many years on longer trips.

I just tie it to the back of the ladder and done. Hot water for washing comes out of a black water bag wish I simply throw on the bonnet and strap it down. Simple and good.