Use merino wool, even in hot countries, wash, wear and a spare. Wash by hand in sink. It works. Merino doesn't smell bad after wearing it.

Plus-comfortable, no smell, quick drying.

Negative-can be expensive, not as durable as other materials.

For winter I use heavy duty Swedish brand Woolpower, for hot countries I use Icebreaker from NZ, bloody expensive made in China, excellent, no quality issues with either. Icebreaker is addictive....Woolpower can be too hot!

Use Woolite in small bottle or ordinary soap, no need to buy expensive travel soap to wash it.

I have been travelling every year since 1978, it works for me.
Be kind and be safe.

I have used a scrubba washbag once I stopped for the day. It leaked straight away so was of limited use. If I am in a position to use a washing machine, I put a capful of antiseptic in with the clothes to try to keep any bugs away ( the infectious variety). The antiseptic has worked so far. For what it’s worth!!

A washing 'how to' from one of my Moroccan trip reports...

I’m highly organised with clothes packed in sets with one of each of a t-shirt (or wicking top), underpants, socks and a hanky, each set in a medium-sized supermarket ziplock freezer bag. So when I need fresh clothes it’s just a case of pulling a ziplock bag from the luggage. The dirty clothes go back in the ziplock bag to prevent musty smells.

When I get to a hotel, I shower immediately to get the road dirt off, then change into a different set of clothes which I will then go on to wear the next day. I still had two fresh sets left but thought I’d take the opportunity for washing the used sets.

As Morocco is a Muslim country with no sink plugs, I carry a large and a small sink plug, a travel wash line that has elasticated twisted cord so doesn’t need pegs, and a small bag of detergent. I do not use (non-bio) travel wash, I have a keen nose that detects the slightest musty smell, so I prefer as much help as possible from the detergent. But you have to be careful of exposing your hands to the biological powder, so I'm careful to constantly rinse my hands during the wash.

Getting additional supplies of detergent is easy, it’s sold in tiny packs (5-6 dh) and you just ask the hanout owner, “Wash anduk teed?” (Wash = here comes a yes/no question; Anduk = you have; Teed is a popular brand of detergent (Tide) and is the generic name used.)

After washing, rinsing and wringing, I lay a towel on the bed, lay the laundry on top, then roll it up, put the roll on the floor and walk up and down on it, pushing much of the remaining moisture to the towel. Then hang to dry making the room look like Widow Twankey's laundry.

(For any non-Brits reading this, Widow Twankey is a character from the pantomime based on the Middle Eastern 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'. Twankey is a green tea of inferior quality thus implying the widow is well past her prime. So a bit like me then.)

My anti-bacterial high-tech clothing dries quickly, but both the cotton t-shirts were still a bit damp in the morning. If I’d been leaving that day I would have worn one to breakfast to dry out with my body heat, then travelled on wearing the other.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Socks, jocks, shorts & t-shirts i do by hand in my sink, i never let it pile up to a mountain of washing, when i`m in a caravan park & my bed sheets need washing i splash out the four bucks & do everything.

Mezo.

That even worked fine for me on a sail boat.

I never tried yet but I had the idea to fill a waterproof rollbag with cloth, water, soap and to hang it on my motorcycle.

Did anyone of you try this out?

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That is what I had planned. Wash during the day and rinse out dry that evening.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

There are a few tips for this situation. Do not twist the garment so that the fabric does not stretch. Spin it out. Try washing clothes at home before a trip, preferably by hand, identify things that shed, take a long time to dry, or cause any other problems, and do not take them with you. If a small part of the garment has not had time to dry (such as the elastic on shorts), you can dry it separately with a hairdryer or iron. Choose clothes made of fast-drying materials like polyester, which can be dried in a few hours. You can travel for weeks with just one set of clothes. And in general, traveling is an unforgettable experience, especially for girls. Usually, they are more likely to share photos from their travels emotions on social networks.

Avoid those quick wicking high tech synthetics. The oils from your body bonds with the synthetics and won't wash out (stains and releases smells).

Avoid cotton. Doesn't wick sweat. Dries slowly. Too hot when warm. Too cool when cold.

Go for merino blends (80-90% merino and 10-20% synthetics - the synthetics to retain shape and increased longevity). It dries really fast. It is more comfortable than cotton. Cools you when hot, and warms you when cold. A natural oil in the whool, combined with fast wicking properties, makes it "self cleansing" and keeps them smelling fresher than any other material. Does not stain as easy. Easy to clean. Only down side is high cost and less longevity. Looks good.

Bring a travel sink plug and powdered detergent for handwashing. Bring something you can use as a clotheslines and a few clothes pins.

Immediately after arrival, shower, change into a fresh set of clothes, and then hand wash the dirty ones immediately (needs time to dry). Wring and let air dry until the morning. The clothes you changed into will be the ones you wear until laundry time the next day.

Avoid laundry services. You don't know at what time they will clean, or if they will centrifuge (if machine washed) or wring (if hand washed). In many places clothes are washed in the evening when it is cooler and less straineous to do the work or other chores are done). Also, centrifuging or wringing is often avoided to increase the longevity of clothes, to reduce work/energy, to make them less wrinkled, etc. If they are left to drip dry then they will not be dry when you want to leave. Better to wash them your self, in the sink.

Clean your thicker slow drying outergarments on days where there is ample time to your following departure.

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I've never managed to make the 'sealed bag and let it slosh around as you ride' method work. I've tried it - as have others I've travelled with - but it either leaks or just doesn't clean stuff. Maybe we over packed it or something but the simplest diy clothes washing approach has been a sink of some sort, some detergent and a bit of manual labour. As Wheelie says: "Bring a travel sink plug and powdered detergent for handwashing. Bring something you can use as a clotheslines and a few clothes pins."


It never ceases to amaze me what I learn here. Who'd have known to "Avoid those quick wicking high tech synthetics. The oils from your body bonds with the synthetics and won't wash out (stains and releases smells)." I must have at least 30 or 40 or those knocking around the house - I get one 'free' at most running events I enter, and I use them a lot. Yes they smell after you've sweated your way through a 10 mile run but I can't say I've ever had one stain or continue to smell after washing. Some of these have been used regularly for years.

I'm with you on "Avoid cotton. Doesn't wick sweat. Dries slowly" though. It certainly does (or doesn't).

"Avoid laundry services. You don't know at what time they will clean ..." I've had good service from a lot of laundrettes, but on the other hand we had one lot of laundrette washing in a hotel locked in overnight as we got back too late. That set us back the next morning when we were supposed to leaving early.

Gets a "like" for the explanation of Widow Twankey alone

I'd give another one for the advice of a travel sink plug which isn't an issue I've come across before. Don't really agree with advice re wicking tops, so far mine have washed out fine. But yeah, cotton doesn't sweat well and doesn't dry well.

If you're in a hotel they often supply shampoo, which is good for washing clothes as it's designed to completely rinse out. Otherwise I carry a 500ml bottle of Dr Bronner liquid soap which is good for clothes, body, hair and everything else if need be.

"...polyester fabric is oleolphilic, or able to absorb oil and not water. It just so happens that body odors are oil based, binding to the polyester fabric and not letting go. After you launder your polyester shirt it may smell nice and clean, but once it warms up to body temperature being worn, that smell, well, there it is. You just cannot get the “hiker stank” to go away and stay gone! Nylon fabric on the other hand is NOT oleolphilic, so when you wash your clothing the smell goes away completely". This was scissored from another article with some doctor of some sort explaining it. \you cn read it here.


Actually, all synthetics absorb oils - but polyester is in a league of its own. Nylon absorbs only a fraction.

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That's actually a great idea - and if water gets into your luggage on a soggy day, your clothes stay dry. I'm going to try that on my next trip.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

I did read severall times about that way. We did also buy the decent equipement for that:



Trans-Africa: Einige Details - a so called weithals canister...

Just get something like this, some rocks, soap & water and mount it to the roof for driving. We did buy, we did carry it. We never did use it.

The last 117`000 Kilometers, from the transafrica to southamerica to europe - anywhere it was possible to let wash it quickly against a small fee. Often by giving the locals a business opportunity, by asking at private households....

Is the mentioned oldscool travel washing machine it a urban myth? We dont know, because we did still didnt test it. But at least it was perfect to collect the dirt clothes...

Overlanders on a extended trip are working sometimes on the car, fire or repair their gear. Want to say that this produce serious dirt who often even dont vanish on a normal washmachine.

People who are living extended in their RV and are using campsites from time from time, they will find the washing infrastructure there.

Are those devices usable for vanliefers who are staying wild, I cant say, they probably dont drive enough and freqently.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

Riding a motorcycle I keep my wardrobe small - one change of outerwear and one or two changes of underwear. That means doing some laundry just about every day. Washing a small amount of laundry in the sink goes a whole lot quicker than dealing with all the aspects involved in getting someone else to do it.

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Blog: www.bamakobyvespa.no
My Youtube Channel