Scrubba Portable Wash Bag

Your vacations and camping expeditions are supposed to be the time to unwind and avoid mundane tasks like doing your laundry. But does that ever happen? Unfortunately, no. Doing laundry is a crucial part of travel.

But what if there was a way to achieve machine-quality wash results while on the move without breaking your back? Well, that’s what the Srubba wash bag promises.

What’s the Design Like?

Branded as a portable little washing machine bag, you’d expect an intricate design, and maybe a couple of moving parts. Oddly enough, the Srubba Bag looks like an ordinary laundry bag – just that it can clean your laundry.

The only thing that gives it away is how it looks inside – there are rubbery bumps that agitate your clothes during the wash cycle. Aside from that, there aren’t additional fancy elements worth pointing out.

One thing that matters when traveling, however, is the size and weight of what you’re carrying. When packed, the Scrubba Bag is tiny at only 6.3″ x 2.4″ x 2.4″ (16cm x 6cm x 6cm). Once you unroll and lay it flat, the dimensions change to 21.3″ x 12.6″ (54cm x 32cm).

And weighing in at only 150g, it’s well worth the “trouble”.

How Does It Work?

It’s quite easy to use. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Add water (avoid using very hot water), then soap (you can also use powder detergent), and finally your clothes into the bag (don’t fill past the marked fill-line).

Step 2: Seal up your Scrubba Wash Bag by rolling and clipping it, then get out the air inside the bag using the release valve.

Step 3: The washing begins – agitate your clothes against the nubbed washboard.

Step 4: Rinse cycle – dump the wash-cycle water, rinse the clothes, then dry them. In my experience, it was easier to do this without the wash bag.

Does It Work? Is It Worth Buying?

Costing around $50, Scrubba is quite pricey for a wash bag, so it needs to work! Luckily, it does. For clothes with tough stain spots, you may want to do a little spot scrubbing before tossing them into the bag.

But other than that, I liked the final cleaning result, so I’d say it’s worth spending on. Besides, it packs compactly, so much so that it doesn’t attract much attention when in your backpack.