Some months back, I was sent a complimentary Scrubba – a 150g pocket-sized wash bag featuring a patented washboard-in-a-bag design. This past week, I finally got a chance to use it.
The Scrubba is essentially a small dry bag with a flexible washboard lined along the interior of one side. It’s available in a range of colours with a see-through strip along part of the side with the washboard. To use it, add water and cleaning liquid (or laundry sheets); close and deflate the bag; rub clothes against the inner washboard for up to three minutes (or 30 seconds for a fast wash); rinse in the bag; and hang to dry. Easy.
The sturdy Aussie-made bag offers an eco-friendly way to wash clothes while travelling, designed to greatly reduce excess use of water and carbon – perfect for minimising their travel footprint and allowing campers and hikers to dispose of grey water well away from water bodies to avoid polluting lakes and rivers. The Scrubba brand is Climate Neutral certified and a 1% for the Planet member.
Back in the day when I would live out of a rucksack for weeks at a time and go camping on a fairly regular basis, an item like this would have seemed like a dream come true. These days, I’m less likely to rough it. Nevertheless, the Scrubba came in handy during a recent holiday to Crete, and I’m already planning to take it on an upcoming beach break in Devon I’ve got in the diary.
While visiting Crete, the Scrubba was an ideal little bag for toting my swimming costume, flip flops and a small towel. I’d throw it in the back of the car, grab it when an opportunity to hop in the sea presented itself – keeping my non-beach apparel dry and clean while in the water and then keeping my wet beach stuff contained afterward.
I actually used the Scrubba as intended too. A Saharan dust cloud hung over the island for a couple of days during my visit (a rather unusual but not unheard of phenomenon), leaving a thin layer of grit on some of my clothes. The Scrubba proved it’s worth when I used it to scrub clean a t-shirt and a few pairs of socks I’d worn while exploring Crete during on the dustiest day.
The Scrubba helped when packing for my return flight as well. I stowed my dirty socks and underwear in the bag, sealed it up and then deflated it flat to conserve space in my suitcase.
I’m certain I will bring the Scrubba along in another week or so when I go to Devon for some more seaside downtime. I’ve got a strong feeling it will become a standard item to pack for much of my future adventures.
The Scrubba is priced around £40-45. Find out more at thescrubba.com.au.
