One of the biggest downsides to long backpacking/bikepacking trips comes in dirty clothing. When you’re packing light, you pack as little clothing as possible, and that clothing gets dirty fast. Sure you can try to wash your clothing in nearby streams, lakes, sinks, or whatever water you have access to, but you’ll never get that machine wash freshness. The Scrubba wash bag could get you much closer to any of those methods, and it’s very portable.
When rolled up for storage, the Scrubba wash bag is just 6.3 x 2.4 x 2.4 inches. When at its full size, it has a near 3 gallon capacity (though it’s optimal working volume is closer to 1 gallon). It works in pretty much the same method as a traditional washboard. You simply add cleaning liquid and up to 1.5 gallons of water & clothing. Then you tightly roll down the top, clip it closed, remove the air through a twist valve, and get cleaning.
Rubbing your clothing against the washboard for up to three minutes should clean it, though bulky items may need to be moved around a bit more. Once the rubbing is done, remove the dirty water and replace it with clean and shake the bag until the clothing is thoroughly rinsed. Then you can dry it with a towel or air dry it, whichever floats your boat.
The Scrubba wash bag claims to be affective at cleaning a couple of t-shirts, a couple pairs of underwear, and a few pairs of socks in one go (2 days worth of summer clothing). Obviously the size and thickness of said clothing impacts the Scrubba’s capacity. Leave No Trace should still be kept in mind while doing your laundry, so make sure to use an eco-friendly biodegradable laundry detergent and empty dirty water at least 100 feet from any water source.
Several Scrubba color options and packages can be purchased on their website, starting at $55. They also have a wash/dry option, which comes with their Scrubba travel towel to help dry your clothing.