Laundry. It’s a chore that isn’t hard. In sticks-and-bricks life, you put a load in the washer and, at some point later, move the washed clothes to the dryer. You only have to be careful about putting a new red sweatshirt in with your whites and you cannot leave a washed load in for days without it getting mildew-y. But, other than that, the whole process is easy and fast yet can be done in your own time. Doing laundry while traveling takes a little more thought and effort and planning.  

By my count, there are four ways to do laundry on the road:

  • Use a washer/dryer in your rig
  • Use a compact portable washer in the rig then hang the laundry to dry
  • Hand wash
  • Use a laundry mat

Washer and Dryer in Your Rig

I haven’t heard statistics on this one but I’d guess it’s pretty low. Maybe 10% of RVers have a washer/dryer in their rig. Some rigs have the hookups though owners choose not to add the washer/dryer.

The rigs that have a laundry setup must both have the space and be able to support the weight. In other words, you only find washers/dryers in the bigger rigs. I don’t know if there is a standard, but I’d be surprised if you found one in any rig less than 30 feet in length.

Personally, I have seen them in Class A motorhomes, big 5th wheels, trailers and toy haulers. However, I have not seen one in a Class C motorhome or shorter trailers, though they may exist.

For those rigs that have them, it’s pretty common to find an all-in-one. Have you seen those? It’s one machine that both washes and dries your laundry. They are a popular option in tiny homes because they are a great space saver. Same is true for the RV. Loads take longer (about 3 hours) but then again you put in a load and forget about it.

White kitchen in a tiny home, including a washer-dryer all-in-one for doing laundry. Photo by Dinh Ng. on Unsplash.
Here’s a tiny home with a washer-dryer combo in the kitchen. It’s the front-load appliance at the end.

A stackable washer/dryer is the other option in RV. I’ve never seen the side-by-side washer and dryer. Both the all-in-one and the stackable are smaller than the ones you’d find in your house so, in most cases, you won’t be able to do big comforters, dog beds and the like. As such, on the road, you may need to hit up a laundry mat now and again for those items.

To use either, it’s best to have hookups. It probably possible to do laundry while boondocking but most people won’t want to use the water to do so. In addition to the water needed to actually do the laundry, keep in mind, you also have to consider how much space the used water takes up in the gray tank.

I’m not sure what kind of power these machines take to run but it’s probably not minimal. So, laundry while boondocking will be a load on your batteries and solar or on the fuel used for a generator.

Compact Portable Washer

These are nifty little things. I haven’t seen one in person but I have seen them in use in videos. Like regular washer/dryers, they use both electric and water. But less. That means you need to hook up to a water source, typically either the kitchen sink or the shower in an RV. Or, if your rig has one, even an outside shower. You’ll also need to make sure it can drain once the cycle has run.

I think one of these can be great as long as you go into it with a realistic idea of what it can and cannot offer. First, and obvious by the name, they are “compact.” We are talking a few t-shirts or a pair of jeans. You won’t be doing large loads. And blankets and comforters aren’t even in the realm of possibilities. Depending on the size of the appliance, maybe not even sheets.

They range in size and price. The highest-rated small one I found weighs 22 pounds and washes about five pounds of laundry. The highest-rated larger one weighs 58 pounds and washes about 10 pounds of laundry. As I said, I don’t have personal experience with compact portable washers so links are to give you an idea of them and not a personal recommendation. Though, in both cases, I linked to those with the highest rating because, it seems, many people are happy with them.

White and blue portable washing machine with lid open.
Image borrowed from Amazon. This is the smaller one I linked to.

After your items run through the washer, you hang them to dry. I haven’t heard of, nor found any, dryer equivalents to the compact portable washer. To get ideas about drying items, I wrote a post on drying a bath towel in a small space that you might find helpful.

The great thing about this option is that it can work well to give you some clean essentials (like underwear, socks, t-shirts) in between regular trips to the laundry mat. But I fail to see how this option can be your whole laundry solution. And, if you are in a small space, you’ll have to find a place for the machine when it’s not in use.

Hand Washing

In this option clothes get clean using soap, water and a little elbow grease. It’s the most hands-on of all the options. After washing the clothes either in a bucket or a sink (if you have one large enough) and rinsing them, you’ll wring out as much water as possible. Then hang your items to dry like in the compact washer option.

Five plastic bins for washing laundry by hand. Photo by Fabien Bazanegue on Unsplash
Doing laundry by hand comes in handy. But isn’t probably a good solution for all laundry needs.

In both the hand washing and compact washer options another disadvantage you might run into is one I mentioned in that post about drying a bath towel. If you are adventuring in an area with high humidity, you’ll have a tough time getting those clothes to thoroughly dry. Or, if you want to dry the clothes outside and have some rainy days, you’ll have to rig up something inside the RV.

Good Ol’ Laundry Mat

Now we come to the laundry option I know well. Except for a week when my cousin met me in Dubuque, with her big Class A where I used her stackable washer and dryer, I’ve done all my laundry at laundry mats.

The range on quality of machines, cost, hours and niceness of laundry mats is huge. But I can provide some general thoughts about this option and share my experiences.

On the road, there are two places you find coin-operated washers and dryers. First, you’ll find a public laundry mat in nearly every town. And, second, you frequently will find them in RV campgrounds and, sometimes, in government-park campgrounds such as State Parks.

Painted side of a building. It says "wash Board" on the top and then has a laundry line with t-shirts, each with info about the laundry mat such as hours, telephone number, etc.
The side of a laundry mat I came across in a small Wyoming town.

Given a choice between the two, I pick the laundry mat in the campground every time. You might find this surprising because most campgrounds will have far fewer washers and dryers so it can actually take longer to finish several loads.

Let me share why I choose to wash in a campground laundry when it’s available. To start with, I find the cost is about half that of a public laundry mat. I figure it’s because the campground is making its money from my stay so doesn’t need to gouge me on a few loads of laundry. Whereas a town’s public laundry mat has to meet all of its expenses solely from the coins dropped into the machine.

Empty laundry mat with lots of washers and dryers. Photo by Bianca Jordan on Unsplash.
Doing laundry at public laundry mats add up. Generally laundry facilities in RV campgrounds are much less.

Plus, the other reason I like a campground laundry is because I feel more comfortable putting a load in and walking away, returning to move it to the dryer. In fact, I have never once stayed in the laundry room at a campground while my clothes went through the process unless they had a sign up that said laundry cannot be left unattended.

If you walk away from the laundry, just be sure to set your timer so you don’t leave your wash in too long after it finishes. That’s not fair or kind to the person who wants to wash behind you.

Want a time saving tip? Well, maybe it doesn’t save time but it’s a way to make efficient use of the laundry time. Nearly all campgrounds have the laundry facility near the bathroom facilities.

So I put in laundry in the washing machine then step over the the bathroom. By the time I’m done with my shower, it’s time to go back to the laundry room and put the washed clothes into the dryer. That only leaves returning in 45 minutes to an hour to collect the cleaned clothes. I’ve done the same things with exercise. Put a load in then go for a walk while my clothes washed.

Finally, if you have pets, you may have to go to the public laundry mat to do their bedding. About half the time, I find a sign in the campground laundry that asks you not to use their washers/dryers to launder pet beds and blankets.

Where Do You Put Dirty Clothes?

In a small space, this is an interesting question. It’s hard to justify using precious closet space for a laundry basket, though some do. I know a lot of RVers who use their shower for a laundry basket and supplies. Others put a basket in one of the bays below the rig.

It took me a few months to figure out my own system. I have a medium-sized plastic bin where I keep my laundry supplies (various laundry soaps—liquid, powder, HE for those washers—dryer sheets, extra quarters, spot remover, small mesh bags for delicates, etc.).

Then on top of the bin, I have my tall laundry basket. I keep this little setup just inside the back door of my van. Each morning, I toss in clothes that I took off the night before. That is, socks and underwear. I wear my pants and shirts for several days unless they get sweaty or dirty in order to lessen the frequency of laundry days.

Plastic laundry hamper on top of a plastic storage bin.
The laundry station in my van. The hamper for dirty clothes on top of a storage bin with all my laundry supplies. You might notice the laundry basket in the feature image. The RV park didn’t have a laundry room.

It may take trial and error for you to find the ideal way to set up a laundry system.

Updated Laundry Placement

Yep, trial and error. As you may know, finding the perfect place for things in RV life is a never-ending battle. While I liked the laundry at the back of the van, the problem I found was that I didn’t like giving away the placement for all the things I need access to for setting up at a new campground and hooking up the trailer when it was time to leave.

So, it was back to the drawing board. This is the set up I’ve now had for a while.

Inside a van, lots of junk but at the forefront is a white laundry basket and clear storage bin with laundry supplies inside.
The basket and bin are inside the side door of van. Still super easy to toss in the dirty clothes each morning. I like the supplies not being under the basket. The bonus is they end up creating a convenient little nook for my recycled grocery bags and the hot/cold bags that I love, making them easy to grab when I hit up a grocery store.
Top half of a tall white laundry basket inside the doors of a van. A small bungee is securing the basket to the inside wall of the van.
Here’s a close up shot of the laundry basket. You can see I use a mini bungee to secure it to the van.

A Few Useful Tools and Tips

  • Mesh laundry bag. I find these easier to carry than my plastic laundry bin. Get a mesh bag and you can sling it over your shoulder.
  • Wool dryer balls. I heard about these from someone who loves and highly recommends them. I haven’t tried them yet. Because you never know the strength of a laundry mat’s dryer, these are a good option because they decrease the time needed to get everything dry by 25%. Or so they say. Better than adding more quarters, both in terms of time and money.
  • Quarters. I talked about how quarters make a good gift for RVers in my holiday shopping guide. Purchasing 4 – 10 rolls at a time ensures I don’t find myself scrambling for quarters. I keep them in a big Advil bottle. At first, I used a prescription bottle because it kept the quarters so neat and orderly but I worried someone might see it and think it held pills. I didn’t want to tempt someone to try to steal the bottle. Plus the Costco-size Advil bottle holds more.
  • Spot spray. In my bin in the van, I have Shout for bigger things (like when a bunch of drops of gasoline got on my pants) but I keep a small Tide stick in the rig to try to get something on spots quick.
  • Carry a variety of supplies. Recently, I’ve noticed more and more HE washing machine that are designed to work best with HE detergent. HE stand for high efficiency. Also be weather-aware. In really humid climates, you might want to stick to liquid detergent or risk the powder getting gummy before you use it. Recently, I purchased those environmentally-friendly laundry soap sheets (environmentally-friendly because they aren’t contained in plastic) which I hope will be a great laundry solution. No worries about spills as with liquid soap and they take up much less room and lighter to carry. This is nice when I’m loaded down with the laundry basket and walk from my campsite to the laundry room.

So, there you have it. Doing laundry as a full-time RV traveler. It isn’t glamorous but it has to be done so we can get back to our adventures. No question it’s easier in a sticks-and-bricks life but the good news is that it’s also pretty easy in RV life too.

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