RV Laundry Tips for Keeping Clothes Clean on the Road

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Laundry—nobody likes it, but everybody has to do it. And when you live full time in your RV, it is just a little bit more annoying to deal with. That said, there are some ways you can improve your RV laundry experience and make it a little more tolerable.

In this article we are going to discuss our top RV laundry tips so you can keep those clothes clean during your travels without as much hassle. Free up a few hours, grab a book, and let’s head to the laundry room!

Choose RV Laundry Day Wisely

First, we recommend that you put a bit of thought into which day you do your laundry. Surveys tell us that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the slowest days at laundromats. These are closely followed by Thursdays. In the case of small laundry rooms with few machines, choosing to do your laundry mid-week might mean less waiting for washers and dryers to be available. 

Research Laundromats Before You Go

If you plan to head to a laundromat outside of the campground, be sure to do a bit of research before you go. Just a quick peek at Google reviews will help you pick a location with decent machines and service so you aren’t left dealing with any RV laundry nightmares. 

Reading reviews could also help you save some money, as people tend to mention in their reviews when a laundromat is overpriced. 

Check Campground Laundry Room Hours

Hoping to do your RV laundry at the campground? That’s what we choose in the vast majority of places, but often we find that the campground laundry rooms have hours that don’t lend themselves well to those who like to wash clothes early in the morning or late at night.

Be sure to check the hours before you go so you aren’t left with no way to wash and no clean underwear. 

Buy Some Good Laundry Bags or Baskets

If you can’t do laundry in your RV, you will need to carry it to a laundry room or laundromat each time it needs to be washed. A set of good quality laundry bags or baskets can make this process much easier. 

Note: If you plan to carry the bags to the campground laundry room regularly, a foldable wagon is also recommended. 

Always Carry Quarters

While more and more laundry rooms and laundromats are now using cards and apps to collect payment, there are still plenty out there that require quarters. Unfortunately, we find that these laundry facilities don’t always have quarter machines available, making it very difficult to do RV laundry.

For this reason, we’ve taken to always carrying a stash of quarters with us wherever we go. 

Take Your Phone to the Laundry Room

Quarters are great, but as mentioned above, many laundry rooms want guests to use an app to pay to wash. Therefore, it’s a good idea to carry your phone in addition to those quarters when you visit a laundry facility for the first time. Add a card and some cash into the mix, and you should be able to pay no matter what the facility requires. 

Be On Time to Move Your Clothes

Very few things are more frustrating than waiting for people to remove their clothes from the machine(s) long after they’ve finished washing or drying. This is a pet peeve of many campers, and for good reason. Some people (the bolder or less patient ones) will move your clothes themselves after a certain amount of time. Others will simply fume without taking action.

In any case, you do not want to be the culprit of this frustration. Make it a priority to be back to move your laundry as soon as the machine is finished and everyone in the laundry facility will thank you. 

Scrub Stains Before Laundry Day

Because RV laundry rooms and laundromats are not always readily available, a week (or sometimes even two) might pass between laundry days. When it comes to stains, this can be a problem because the stains get set into the fabric, making them nearly impossible to remove. 

Instead of waiting until laundry day and letting the stains stick, scrub them away in the sink before placing the clothes in the hamper. We’ve found that Dawn dish soap works well to remove pretty much any stain you can imagine. 

Once the stains are scrubbed away, you can hang the clothes to dry before you put them in the laundry hamper. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Wash by Hand

Can’t find a laundromat anywhere near you? There is always the option of washing your clothes by hand. This isn’t much more work than scrubbing the stains out and will leave you with clean, fresh-smelling clothes even when there are no clothes washers to be found. 

The video below provides excellent instructions on washing laundry by hand. 

Grab a Drying Rack

If you do choose to scrub out stains or wash by hand, a drying rack can be extremely helpful. It gives you a place to hang the clothes—even in a teeny tiny space—and allows you to put them outside when the weather is nice. Best of all, a drying rack can be folded flat for easy storage behind a couch or under the bed. 

Make Use of Your Dehumidifier

If rainy weather or campground rules keep you from hanging clothes outside to dry, you may have to get creative about getting them to dry inside. The RV vent fan can get rid of some moisture and help the clothes dry faster, but a dehumidifier does the job even better.

In fact, we’d even go far as to say a dehumidifier is a must-have if you plan to hang clothes to dry on a regular basis (and it has tons of other uses too)!

Invest in an RV Washer

Finally, we must mention the idea of investing in an RV washer to make RV laundry an easier task. There are a number of different kinds of RV washers out there, including super simple foot-powered washers and fancy automatic washer-and-dryer combo units. 

Hopefully this post helps you make your RV laundry days just a bit easier so you can spend less time worrying about clothes and more time having amazing adventures.

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