I know a few travellers are reading this and I thought that I’d share a rather nifty discovery that we are using for the first time on this trip. 

The Scrubba was recommended on a travel website I read late last Summer, just after we’d arrived home from our road trip.  Now, I don’t normally spend my time doing laundry when I’m on holiday, but when travelling for three weeks or more, I don’t want to bring 20+ “smalls” and for sure, it’s useful to be able to rinse a T shirt through on occasion too.  Hotel bathrooms are not really set up for laundry activities and I thought the Scrubba would be really useful.

When it arrives, it’s packed like a samosa – folded into a small triangle.  As you can tell, I haven’t been folding it up every time and actually, it’s rather easier to fit into my suitcase when it’s open and flat.

The bag’s about 30 x 60cm when open and has a fold and clip fastening at one end.

What makes it more than just a watertight bag is the nubbly surface inside, which gives the “scrubby” effect.

The instructions are clearly printed on the side, though it’s not rocket science!

There are two suggested water levels, depending on what you’re going to wash.

I stuffed T shirt, undies and socks inside and filled it to the first mark with hot water.  I added a teaspoon or so of soapy liquid (shampoo or shower gel works fine). 

As you can see, we don’t have much room in our bathroom here on board, but it’s no problem because everything is neatly contained.

I rolled the top down 3 or 4 times and clipped the clip.

Next, I had to let out the air – there’s a small valve, just like those on pool toys.

It was easy to tell when all the air was out – I got an eyeful of water!

Here’s the clever bit.  It’s still all dry, there’s no water or soap suds dripping all over the place and even my hands stay dry as I “massage” the water-filled bag.  The washing inside gets the “scrubby” effect and in just three minutes it’s done.  We have a very useful flat surface in our shower that’s perfect for doing this, but actually, it could be done on the floor with a foot!

I didn’t take a picture as I emptied the bag into the wash handbasin and photos of the “rinse and repeat” cycle didn’t seem necessary either.

About ten minutes after I began, the process was complete and the squeezed out smalls were on the line in the shower alongside the inside-out Scrubba.  Best of all, I hadn’t turned the bathroom into a wetroom or laundry!

When I packed for this trip, I hesitated before putting the Scrubba in my suitcase.  Here on the ship, there are self serve launderettes, free of charge and open all day.  Why might I want/need to handwash small items when I could just go and put them in the machine?  Well, who would have guessed that for the last week – and possibly for the next one, too – the launderettes would be closed as one of the hygiene precautions?  Suddenly, my little Scrubba is worth its weight in gold   I love it!

(I bought it on Amazon – now, there’s a surprise)