There’s always a trade-off when packing for extended trips — bring enough outfits to last the entire trip or bring fewer sets and hope you can find a local laundromat? Or, option three, bring the Scrubba wash bag along and do your own laundry.
The Scrubba is the brainchild of Ashley Newland, who devised the system while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is essentially a flexible wash board affixed to the interior of a waterproof bag. You drop a few garments in, add 2 litres of water and some soap — shampoo, body wash, or what-have-you — then seal the bag, put it on a hard surface, and scrub for 30 seconds. The garments come out clean and just need to be rinsed and hung to dry.
The Scrubba weighs just 180 grams, roughly the same as a pair of Levis, so it can be packed along on camping and hiking expeditions as well. Calibre8 Pty Ltd, a company based in Melbourne is set to release the Scrubba wash bag in late-April.