Clothes drying at the roadside in Cebu, Philippines
Dirty Laundry: a Backpackers Guide
By Gillian Boyd Published 25 March 2026
Running out of clean clothes while backpacking? This blog gives my top tips on dirty laundry so you smell fresh as a daisy with least effort.
Knickers draped on the bedside lampshade and clothes all over the room. What is this? Evidence of a night of passion?
Disappointingly, no. Just some laundry hanging up to dry on every available space in the room.
Travelling for 3 months in multiple countries with only a 12kg rucksack requires planning and discipline in creating a functional yet stylish capsule wardrobe. But you also run out of clean clothes surprisingly quickly. After raising a sporty family and having my turn at washing the team kit for my son’s football and rugby teams, I have learnt a thing or two about laundry and stain removal.
So, what do you do? Let me give you my top tips so you smell fresh as a daisy.
Top 12 Tips for Laundry
1. Wash Yourself Everyday
As the saying goes, ‘prevention is better than cure’. It is easier to wash yourself than your clothes so shower at least once a day. In very hot countries we shower morning AND evening. Bacteria on your body develops a sour odour after 24 hours so if you wash yourself often, your clothes will smell better, even if you get sweaty.
2. Air Clothes and Re-wear
Let your clothes air for a day or two, by turning them inside out and leaving them to hang over a chair, or on a coat hanger. Your room looks messy but no judgement here. If you air the clothes and were not sweaty when you wore it first time, then you can definitely wear it again. But it’s best to do a sniff test, just to be sure it smells like a daisy, before putting it on.
3. Clean Knicks and Socks Everyday
Knickers and socks are the exception. Clean ones every day. When hiking, consider having hiking socks and evening socks. Maybe an extra hiking pair in case you get wet or just need something to revive you.
4. Separate Damp Clothes
Smells and moisture transfer so keep stinky or damp clothes separate from your clean clothes. Packing cubes can help with this.
5. Choose Fabrics Wisely
Choose clothes made of fabrics that resist odour such as merino wool, silk, hemp, bamboo, or polyester with silver ion treatment. Remember cotton absorbs and holds water deep in its fibres creating a warm damp environment for bacteria. That’s why a sweaty cotton t-shirt smells fast and dries slowly. I prefer to travel with a mixture of fabrics and can wash and dry a polyester top quite quickly in my room.
6. Colours
Select colours for your clothes that wash well together in one load. It’s more efficient and less problematic. Also, through embarrassing personal experience, I have learnt that sweat marks are less visible if you wear dark colours like black or navy or alternatively, white. These colours definitely look better in photographs. I cringe at the memory of my triumphant arms up in the air, at reaching the top of a mountain, dark sweat stains in my arm pits on my grey cotton t-shirt. It is possible now to edit the stains out of the photograph but why make extra work for yourself.
7. Air Footwear in the Sun
Air your trainers and hiking boots in the sunlight if you can, as UV rays damage bacteria and fungi at the DNA level, reducing odour causing germs and athlete’s foot. Loosen the laces and open the tongue to speed up the evaporation of moisture in the footwear. We set our hiking boots on a sunny patch of grass at the hostel in Cusco, Peru on our way to breakfast. By the time we came back, five pairs had joined them.
8. Soap Bar
Conscious of keeping the weight down in my backpack and minimising liquids which can leak, I carry a good old-fashioned bar of soap for myself and my clothes. If my accommodation supplies hand wash, body wash or shampoo, then I use those first. After all, they are just different forms of soap. Even dish soap is a whizz at removing grease stains.
9. Shampoo
I have found shampoo to be very good for cleaning clothes. But not in India! There, the shampoo nearly ruined my clothes and my hair! Practically every homestay we stayed at in India gave us the same little sachet of shampoo with a ‘recommended price of 1 rupee that would make your hair look black and glossy.’ That’s because the shampoo contained a black dye!
Sachet of shampoo containing black dye in India. Looks great on her!
10. Clothes in the Shower
Clothes can be freshened up by chucking a few into the shower with you. Wet them and apply soap directly on the stinky bits. Stepping on them will agitate the suds that help to wash them. Then rinse thoroughly in clean water.
11. Laundry Service
Alternatively, use a laundry service, where they take your dirty clothes away and give them back to you clean a day or two later. So far it has always been our clean clothes returned to us – nothing missing and no extra surprises… yet. In India the homestays offer this service too. Laundry service is offered by many hotels, hostels and homestays but the cost and timescales vary enormously and since hotels charge by the item that can soon add up. We’ve found that taking them to a local launderette in less developed countries is the cheapest option and they’ll often return them to your hostel at no extra charge.
12. Tumble or Air Dry?
All laundry services normally tumble dry all your clothes which can damage technical wear and shrink clothes. Although you can ask them to air dry clothes, I still prefer not to take the risk and end up doing a bit of hand washing of my more precious items.
Final Thoughts
One of the many things I have learned through travelling is an appreciation of the little everyday things in life that I take for granted while I’m at home. When travelling I have such excitement and delight at getting a clean load of laundry back. Nothing quite beats that wonderful feeling of putting on freshly laundered clean clothes. Ahhhhh…
Never miss an Adventure!