“It’s just so nice to be able to do my own laundry again!” If you said this to anyone other than a long term traveler, you might be met with a raised eyebrow or two. But fellow nomads know there’s something comforting about being able to simply wash your own clothes, which is why you’ll often see it on travel bloggers’ things I love about being home type posts. Yet despite not unfounded accusations of overpacking, a washing machine definitely hasn’t made the cut onto any of my packing lists — until now.
Introducing The Scrubba Washbag
This super-light portable wash bag allows travelers to do their own laundry using no electricity and minimal amounts of water — anywhere. At just 5oz, it’s a super light addition to any backpack or suitcase. And the bonus? It’s a serious multi-tasker. It can double as a laundry bag when you’re on the road, and you can even use it to hand wash delicates once you’re back home.
How It Works
I was impressed with how simple the Scrubba was to use. First, put your clothes and powdered laundry detergent into the bag. Then, fill with water to the line that corresponds with how large your load is and roll and clip the top of the bag shut. If you’ve ever used a drybag, it’s a very similar mechanism. Next, you deflate and agitate for anywhere from thirty seconds to three minutes while the internal washboard works its magic. Finally, rinse and hang!
How many pieces can you wash at once? Scrubba’s manufacturer suggests two shirts, two pairs of underwear, and two pairs of socks as an example of the maximum load, but I also tested a pair of jeans that fit great on their own — I probably could have stuffed a t-shirt in there too.
For a great video explanation, watch here.
Why Having a Scrubba is Awesome
Sure, plenty of hotels offer wash and fold, and cheap laundry services in places like Southeast Asia can be convenient and wonderful, but those options do have drawbacks:
• Hotel laundry services are expensive. (I still wince at the $64 bill I stupidly and unintentionally racked up once having, like, two t-shirts washed.)
• Laundrys lose stuff. (Yes, I’m thinking of you, Koh Tao’s Jitson Cleaners and my favorite jean shorts!)
• You could forget your stuff at the laundry and leave the country entirely without 50% of your clothes. (WHAT I NEVER DID THAT okay it was just once. Oh, El Salvador.)
• Laundrys might not be an option! You could be camping or traveling in remote areas with no access to laundry facilities. (Or, you could be in Brussels and it could be really nice out yet you could have to spend the entire day camped in a laundromat because there are no drop-off services and you are out of underwear. For example.)
All that said, when and where cheap drop-off laundry services are available, I will probably continue to keep using them much of the time. But now that Scrubba has entered my life, there are a million irritating travel scenarios that just got easier. From now on, I’m definitely going to be setting aside my most beloved and delicate items to wash with the Scrubba so I don’t risk them getting lost or damaged. And I’m already looking forward to using the Scrubba everywhere from camping adventures like my upcoming road trip to the Grand Canyon, to luxury getaways where getting a t-shirt washed would set me back $12. It’s the best thing I never knew I needed!
Where to Buy A Scrubba
The Scrubba retails for $54.99 with free shipping at Eartheasy. I admit I wish it was priced a little more affordably, but I recognize this is an investment similar to the SteriPEN or a Clearly Filtered Water Bottle (comparison post live now!) in that it will eventually pay for itself. While you’re shopping, you might want to pick up a travel clothes line and some natural laundry soap.
Eartheasy itself is a carbon-neutral, family-owned business that promotes sustainability — my absolute favorite kind. They have all kinds of great eco-friendly gifts, home goods and travel products on their site. Have a peek!
Win A Scrubba
Now it’s your turn. Enter for your chance to be the proud owner of a brand new portable washing machine — the Scrubba washbag!
How do you clean your clothes when you travel?
Have you had any disasters like mine?
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This post is brought to you by Eartheasy. I was provided with a Scrubba in order to write this review and compensated for my time in doing so. Find more travel product and app reviews here!
that’s a very interesting concept – I was kind of excited to try it until I saw the price tag. The thing is, how different is it to use a scrubba bag by agitating it for a few minutes vs. just washing your t-shirt and delicates in the sink? We went for a year of doing the sink method mixed in with giving our laundry to wash for a fee (which was also mostly a river/sink method), and felt pretty good about it. In fact, I would say that now that we are home and use regular washing machine for our laundry, I have noticed that hand-washing actually gets my clothes cleaner!
I don’t know why, but I seem to really struggle with hand washing in a sink. I think the internal washboard inside the Scrubba is what gets things really clean, and I don’t know how to replicate that by hand in a sink? I always ended up just like, rubbing the clothes together, but it never really worked very well for me! Any tips from an expert? 😀
I’ve been looking at the Scrubba bag for ages but haven’t been able to justify the cost given how rarely I get to travel these days, so this giveaway is super exciting for me!
On a side note I love that your reviews, partnerships and giveaways seem so consistent with your personal values and brand, it really emphasises your integrity as compared to some other bloggers who will shill anything. Keep up the good work
Thank you Rachel! That is a really lovely compliment and means a lot to me. Good luck!
I was thinking this was a fantastic idea until I saw it’s price. I’ve never been one for the filter bottles (bottled water is cheap) or any other gadgets like that.
However, I handwashed everything for months and months and months when travelling for myself and my boyfriend and something like this would probably save me time.
I still would not pay that for it. Thanks for the review Alex!
Bottled water might be cheaper in the short run, but the filtered bottles will actually save money in the long term as you can use them hundreds of times! If you drink a bottle of water a day on a trip, a Clearly Filtered bottle can pay for itself in a month. And actually, for me that is the least of the benefits — I cringe when I have to use single use plastics as I feel so guilty over the unnecessary environmental ramifications. But the long run financial benefits don’t hurt 🙂
What a brilliant product! This would solve so many laundry hassles on the road. Even though it’s a bit pricey, I think that by saving money on laundry costs over the long term, it would end up paying for itself. Thanks for sharing! I had no idea a product like this existed!
I actually didn’t either, until Eartheasy approached me… I need to get more on top of the travel trends!
Interesting concept! This would definitely be handy when all I need to wash are a few pairs of underwear or the shorts I wear every day (not gross, right?).
SO true. I totally wear things more than once before washing them, so I often just have like, seven pairs of underwear and a t-shirt that need washed, and feel a little silly dropping those off at a laundry. Would be great to be able to wash them myself.
Love this concept, especially traveling with a little one.
Didn’t think of that, but I bet it would be great for washing out onsies and bibs at the end of a day!
I don’t know how you do it! You just took a product review and made it funny, adorable and totally personal. It didn’t feel pushy or cheesy or forced. That’s a serious skill. Plus now I really want one!
You’re too sweet Lauren, thank you! You made my morning 🙂
Brilliant concept and thanks for the review (and creating such a fantastic giveaway – fingers crossed)
Good luck, Fatemah!
We got the Scrubba as a gift before we left on our year of travel, and it has come in handy countless times, especially while camping/living in a van in New Zealand for three months (doing laundry in a campground sink–not an option). I still love sending my clothes out to be washed if it’s cheap, but this is a major money-saver everywhere else.
Yeah, I notice a lot of hostels explicitly ban doing laundry in the sinks — I’m guessing the campgrounds did too?
This would be amazing to have when you just have a few things to wash. And it would have saved me from loosing a LuLuLemon SportsBra in Cambodia…
If it’s anything as amazing as the SteriPen has been while camping, it’s worth the money! Great idea!
I feel for you Shoshana! There are a lot of things that are easy and cheap to replace in Thailand but jean shorts for a someone who isn’t a size 0 are not one of them. I was devastated to lose one of my two pairs!
This would be so handy to travel with! And I feel like it’s something I’d probably use at home, as well.
I think so too. I’m crap at handwashing and I feel guilty putting a few lacy things in a big ‘ol washer just to use the delicates cycle! This is the perfect compromise.
Great review and think it would be a great addition to any backpacker’s list.
Thanks Janine!
That’s so cool! It would be really nice to actually keep all of my go to items clean while on the road. Like my jean shorts…Come to think of it I could have totally used this during my recent trip to the Philippines!
I know, in retrospect I can think of so many times this would have come in handy! Ah well, I have it now 🙂
Well, add this to the list of things I never knew I needed but now I want desperately!! Awesome concept and definitely something I’m interested in trying – I wonder do they have a money-back guarantee if you don’t LOVE it? May be a good way to get people to purchase it considering it is a bit spendy!
Interesting question Shelly, and a good idea given the steep price tag. I’ll ask!
i hope this giveaway is open to all internationally and i like this concept of traveling and having an eco friendly washbag . nice idea !
The eco-friendly part is definitely a nice bonus. Love that it’s electricity free and water conservative!
Ooh, love the idea of the Scrubba! I feel like there are plenty of times I could even use it at home when I get something on a shirt or skirt and don”t feel like doing a whole load of laundry. 🙂
Yup, or even like I realized in my reply to Leah, when you’re traveling and just have some undies to wash… you don’t have to wait until you get a bunch of other stuff dirty before you can drop off a load of laundry!
This is great! I didn’t heard about this before, this a great saving tool especially when you are on holiday, it can save you a lot of money. Price is ok, but if we can use this bag for couple of times then it is a perfect piece of art.
Yup, it really can be a money saver in the long run. It would be a great gift for someone leaving on a shoe-string trip!
Cool concept! For now, I use the little laundry soap leafs that REI sells, and just use the hotel sink.
I always struggled with that, which is probably why I’ve so avoided it… I never felt like my clothes got REALLY clean. I feel like the internal washboard in the Scrubba is so key and probably what was missing from my equation. Considering what a disaster I am in the kitchen as well, perhaps I can chalk this up to just not being very domestically skilled 😀
Sounds like it would be great for washing delicates in, if you live in an apartment with no laundry sink (I have been washing mine up until now in my bathtub, which seems somewhat ill-advised.)
Oh man LC, YES! This would have been to key when I lived in a fourth floor walk up in Brooklyn with no machines in the building. We had to use laundromats and I would have LOVED being able to wash a few key things neatly and efficiently right in my own apartment.
this sounds great!
I’m still mourning a bunch of clothes lost in laundry services, so I definitely need a Scrubba!
I feel you Sarah. I see postings on our Koh Tao community board all the time from people who have lost a beloved favorite item. I always empathize!
I think this would be great on a boat too!
Ah, indeed it would Nicole! Another great use…
This seems like an intriguing substitute to bathroom sinks! I’ll probably wait until I get on the road before seriously considering it, but as soon as I lose my first pieces of clothing to the cleaners, I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself!
May you never know that terrible pain, Ashley 🙂
Oh, I love the idea of the Scrubba. I like it even more because it was invented by an Aussie (a bit of local patriotism there, and I’m not even from AU, I just live here!)
Ha, I think a dose of adopted patriotism is a lovely thing, Carolina 🙂
Oh man! I’d been debating about whether to get one of these for an upcoming 3-month trip, and ALMOST asked for it for Christmas. Now I’m wishing I had! It also would have come in handy on this two-week road trip I’m nearing the end of. I have absolutely no clean clothes right now… just some that are less dirty than others!
How did I not know this existed before? I’m impressed with how many of you have heard of it! I need to get with the times, here!
so neat! could it be used as a backup drybag in a pinch?
Hmmm, interesting idea, Sarah! I think the biggest issue would be that it has no strap, so it wouldn’t be great for carrying as a day bag or anything. But for keeping something dry inside your backpack or suitcase, yeah, I think it could be great!
This would be great! I hate paying a ton of money just for laundry. Even when it’s cheap I worry about my delicate items coming back ok.
Ugh, yeah, I didn’t even touch on that, but I definitely have clothes that have been destroyed by over-aggressive laundry services. South America was a serial offender. I have no idea what kind of Hulk-machines they were using down there, but it tore my crappy clothes to shreds!
And most of the things I’ve lost and really mourned were super cheap too (I don’t really buy expensive clothes.) They were just the perfect fit or otherwise perfect — and irreplaceable.
I would have loved this thing on my year long trip through South America where I discovered that laundry is not nearly as cheap as it was in SEA. I definitely want to give it a try for future trips and would even consider buying one or two for my other travel buddies if it lives up to the price tag 🙂
What a great gift that would be! Yeah, I was shocked by the price of laundry in a few Latin American locations (I’m looking at you, Costa Rica.)
I’ve been eying the Scrubba for a while. Haven’t committed because of the price! After 11 months of washing clothes in the sink, I’d love to have something like this. Great to read your review!
Thanks Loren! The price is indeed steep — I was thrown for a loop when I first saw it too.
I like it… definitely good for delicates, and I can imagine would be nice for camping trips! I always hate having filthy socks stuffed in my luggage!
Yeah, I use a nylon laundry bag to keep dirty stuff contained but I love that this is a multi-tasker!
I’ve been curious about this product for a while, now. While I’ve never paid to have my laundry done when I travel, always doing it in the sink, I have to think that this bag would save time and do a better job than my hands alone! Not to mention it would let me avoid some dodgy hostel sinks.
It’s definitely more efficient than I am at hand washing! And yes, some hostels aren’t really the kind of places you’d want to get something clean 😉 Others I’ve encountered ban laundry in the sinks altogether!
This looks handy!
It is indeed! Good luck Rachael!
Thanks for this review…my boyfriend’s mother is huge into travel and this was on my short list of presents for her. I always wondered if it would appreciated.
I think this would make a great gift. It’s a tad indulgent to buy for yourself, which makes it the best thing to receive from someone else!
Such a smart product! I’m terrible at the sink wash.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one, Laura! Some in the comments here had me feeling pretty inadequate, ha.
Looks awesome! Wish I had known about this when I went on my round-the-world trip a couple years ago.
I don’t know how I haven’t heard about it sooner. Based on the comments here, clearly I’m out of the loop!
This is so cool! It’s the perfect quick fix for instant laundry requirements. Even though the price is steep, like you said, it will pay for itself with convenience alone.
It’s one of those little travel investments, if you think about it 🙂
I would LOVE to Win this! 🙂 This would have come in handy on my last trip to Spain
Best of luck, Jelena!
Seems like a good option to those who do not like washing clothes in a sink (and I know many of them 🙂
Ha, my hand is raised!
That would be so handy! To go semi off topic – have you ever written a post about travel fashion? You always look so cute and it seems like your outfits are ever changing. After 4 months in Brazil with (self imposed) limited shopping I want to throw everything in my closet away and never look at it again, haha. And similarly, do you have any tips for choosing clothes that will hold up well during travel? As a newbie, I brought a bunch of stuff that was either too cheap and fell apart in the harsher washing conditions here (hard water, no fabric softener, no dryer, etc.) or that are too nice that I don’t wear them to avoid them being ruined. OR, I do wash them and they’re hopelessly wrinkled and NOWHERE here offers an iron. Wow, I guess I’m a lot more passionate about laundry that I realized 🙂
Oh man, I think of myself as the least fashionable person on earth (and hate shopping!) so I very much appreciate the compliment! I borrow clothes from people often when I visit them or travel with them just so I can wear something new and yup, shake up my photos a bit! I also get a ton of hand-me-downs from friends and fam who know I don’t mind something with a small tear or a little well loved.
I too am guilty of buying cheap clothes that don’t last long. I just can’t resist when I’m on the streets of Bangkok, one of the few scenarios where I DO love to buy. I wear things until they basically fall off my body but a lot of those cheapies shock me in how short lived they are!
Pretty cool! I had never heard of something like this. When I’m on the road, I usually wash in the sink, or pay to get it done. Would’ve been nice to have had this in Don Det, Laos, when my hostel washed all my whites in the Mekong Delta! I was rocking an all-brown wardrobe until I left Laos 😉
Haha! I love hearing everyone’s laundry disaster stories. You reminded me of a time I had my stuff turned pink when a friend I was traveling with threw a new pair of red fisherman’s pants into the load in Mae Hong Son. I was gutted!
I’ve seen this before but I’ve never needed to buy one since I haven’t done any long term travel (yet!) So maybe one day…
I think it would be handy for some shorter trips too, if you like to pack light or repeat certain outfits!
That’s a pretty good idea but the price tag is definitely steep. I usually just handwash stuff when it is too expensive to get laundry done and carry sachets of woolite
I started this comment section feeling like I was bad at handwashing but you guys have made me wonder if I’m just lazy, ha. Maybe a bit of both 🙂
I never knew this existed! I am going to need to invest in one 🙂
Let me know how you like it when you do, Lorena!
This is pretty cool!
It could also double as an Ella bathtub…. insert cry laughing emoji here.
Aha this is great, I’ve been looking for a good review of the Scrubba for a while! It seems great in theory, but as it’s quite pricey I’ve been hesitant to commit! Love the idea though
I understand the hesitation… hope this helped clear things up for you!
I love my Scrubba washbag! I received it as a gift before I moved to Thailand 3 months ago and I use it almost every week. The clothes are clean and I don’t have to worry about laundry services losing my clothes. It also nice to use when I am lazy and don’t want to ride my bike to the washing machines lol.
Awesome! It’s really nice to hear a long-er time user chime in and say they’ve been having a positive experience with it as well. Thanks Kelsey!
This is ingenious! I totally want one for camping and my upcoming trip to Ireland! I can think of another way this could come in handy, besides traveling and camping: washing some baby or kids’ clothes without having to do a full load!
Yes! I can definitely see this coming in super handy for family travel. Kids seem to have a real talent for getting things dirty 🙂
The outrageous rates I’ve been quoted for laundry in Latin america make me miss SE Asia’s bargain basement rates. Where I am now, I would love to have a Scrubba!
Yup, I almost cried once when I picked up my laundry in Costa Rica!
I tried doing my laundry in the sink in Nicaragua this winter and did a terrible job! I think this would definitely make it go a lot smoother!
So glad to hear I’m not the only one who struggles with sink washing!
This is an overpacking savior! 😀
Ha, I don’t think anything could save me from my overpacking tendencies. If only!
Looking forward to your comparison post! Feel free to contact if you have any questions about SteriPEN or UV water purification!
Thanks! I’ve been using my SteriPEN for years 🙂
Yet one more thing to add to my packing list, loL!
Tell me about it 🙂 My packing posts are already out of control!
This looks like a great alternative to launderettes. I agree that they are cheap, but I have lost count how many times they lost my stuff or ruined a piece of clothing. Plus I don’t like letting my underwear cleaned by a stranger. I think this would be well worth the money.
Ha, I always feel a little awkward when my underwear is returned folded into little squares. I’m like, no that’s fine, don’t fold that… just throw them back in the bag!
Could be gold if it was cheaper.
The universal plug remains a good option for us… come on, admit there’s nothing as fun as doing some sneaky hand washing in the communal bathroom basin! 😉
Ha ha… I mean, I can think of a FEW things as fun, if I really put my mind to it. Doing dishes, maybe? 🙂
Very cool…now all we need is a bag to spin the wet washing in:)
Ha! I think draping it over random furniture continues to do the trick for me…
haha I’m too fussy with my white t-shirts… Very cool blog btw…lots of genuinely useful info on here:)
The best thing you never knew you needed is the perfect catch because it’s so true. I’m not going RTW for a while yet, but it’s pencilled in my notebook (yes i’m one of those people haha) for when i do so! Great little invention! xo
Awesome, this would be perfect for a RTW!