5 Tips for Doing Laundry on a Motorhome or Campervan Trip

Among the many benefits of hiring a motorhome or another vehicle for your vacation is that you can bring a larger selection of attire with you on your trip.

But while you will start your trip with more clean clothes, you will also find yourself with more dirty laundry along the way. This is especially true on an extended trip.

Thankfully, you can certainly get your laundry done while you are on the road.

A lot of folks aren’t used to doing laundry on vacation, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Following are some suggestions for cleaning your clothes while you are vacationing in a rented motorhome.

1. Know your options.

You may have more options than you initially realize for doing your laundry when you hire a motorhome, campervan or 4WD camper.

Some larger motorhomes may have onboard washing machines and dryers. If you do have access to these, you can wash your clothes after you hook up.

Here are some of your other options:

• RV parks frequently have laundry facilities which everyone can use.
• Parking in or near a town? Chances are good there is at least one Laundromat you can visit.
• Hand-washing your clothes takes some elbow grease, but it does get the job done. But you need to be aware that most motorhome parks will not be amused by you hanging out your laundry on a line or from a tree. Hanging a few items over the shower bar inside your motorhome may work as an alternative.
• Use the laundry facilities at a truck stop while you are on the road.
• There are wash bags you can get to use for camping. So long as you have soap and water to fill them with, you can wash your clothes anywhere. This is a great solution if you are at a remote campground with no access to washing machines or dryers.

Once you know what your route and stops will be for your road trip, you will be able to research laundry facilities along the way and come up with the best plan.

2. Skip the delicates.

If possible, you may want to leave your delicate at home, at least for the most part. Why? The issue isn’t washing them. As already mentioned, you can always hand-wash. All you need for that is a basin, a wash bag, or even a regular sink.

The issue is drying. Throwing your delicates in the dryer is typically a bad idea if you want to preserve them. But as mentioned, line drying them often is not an option either. That leaves hanging them up over your motorhome shower bar, if you have one.

So think about passing on the delicates, along with any other clothing which you cannot throw in a regular dryer. It will make your laundry life a lot less complicated while you are on your road trip.

3. Using the motorhome park’s facilities? Know the rules.

While guests are free to use the laundry facilities provided by motorhome parks, they are expected to follow the rules governing the use of the washers and dryers.

For example, some septic systems cannot handle bleach, therefore, you should not use it if a sign stating such as posted.

So before you start a load of laundry at a motorhome park or campground, check to see if there are any rules you need to abide by.

4. Try to beat the rush.

If you are staying at a park which happens to have a number of full-time residents, be aware that they may have regular laundry schedules and frequently be using the washers and dryers.

If you wake up early, you might want to consider getting to the laundry room right away to check if it is available. If it is, you might want to start a load immediately so that you do not get stuck in line behind others waiting their turn.

For this reason, it is also usually not a good idea to put off doing your laundry until right before you plan to pull out of a particular park or campground and continue on the road.

5. Consider doing smaller loads regularly.

If you have brought a lot of clothing with you for an extended trip in order to avoid doing your laundry as much as possible, you might want to reconsider that plan.

Doing large loads of laundry on vacation can become logistically complicated and overwhelming, especially if it means that you are waiting for more than one washer or dryer to be available.

You might instead want to think about doing your laundry every couple of days, even if that means that you are only washing a few items.

This approach gives you the freedom to hand wash everything instead of using a washing machine. That means you do not need to wait for the laundry facilities to become available, and you do not necessarily even need the laundry facilities.

It should only take you a few minutes to get your laundry done each time you wash this way. You could just take care of it when you are showering and getting ready for the day. If you make it a habit, it should become an afterthought. You can then get right back to your vacation activities.

Keeping Up With Your Laundry On Vacation Can Be Easy

You have a number of options now for how you can approach doing your laundry when you are travelling in a motorhome, campervan or 4WD camper.

While a motorhome which includes onboard laundry machines gives you the most flexibility, there are still many ways you can keep your clothing clean and fresh while travelling in a smaller hired vehicle.

With these tips and ideas, you should be able to keep hassles to a minimum and spend less time doing the wash. That means more time to enjoy your adventures in New Zealand!