Travelling, whether for work or fun, is great, but carrying around enough luggage for a longer trip can be unsustainable. Whether you only have a backpack or you’re on a longer trip, it’s often not possible to carry enough clothes to wear something clean every day.

One solution is to wash your clothes in a sink. On the surface, it’s a fairly straightforward process, although working with limited space and products can make it more complicated than it needs to be. So, let’s cover how to wash clothes in the sink while travelling.

How to Wash Clothes in the Sink While Travelling

1. Start by Packing the Right Clothes

The most important thing is to pack appropriate clothes if it’s not too late. For example, fast-drying and crease-resistant fabrics are great, as are odour-resistant and moisture-wicking options. Heavy cotton is a good option, as is wool. Synthetic fabrics are easier to wash and dry but are often less odour-resistant than natural materials.

2. Figure Out What Washing Products You Have

So, now we’re getting down to the actual washing process, the first step is to see what cleaning products you have available. Packing your own laundry detergent would be the best option but isn’t always possible. For example, detergent sheets and tablets don’t take up much space and are far lighter than liquid products.

If this isn’t possible, make use of any free products in your hotel room. Bar soap is probably the best option, followed by liquid hand soap and shampoo. The worst case scenario is that you don’t have anything, but even a rinse in some clean water will get rid of smells.

3. Sort Your Washing by Level of Dirtiness

We might not be dealing with physical, visible dirt, but you should always aim to sort your clothes by how dirty they are. For example, underwear is probably the “dirtiest” thing you’ll be washing, followed by t-shirts and outerwear.

Try to avoid washing everything at the same time and instead sort it into categories like underwear, t-shirts and tops, shirts, etc. This will make things more manageable and will prevent you from making things dirtier.

4. Fill the Sink

Fill the sink with warm water. If you’re using a liquid cleaning product, add a small amount while the water is running. For solid soap, you can try crumbling a bit into the water as the tap is running. Either way, add your clothes, swill them about in the water, and leave for 10 minutes or so.

5. Wash the Clothes

After they’ve soaked for a bit, agitate them in the water. If you’re using a bar of soap, you’ll need to rub it on areas that require cleaning. Rub the bar on the area and then rub the fabric together to generate some suds. Agitate the clothes in the water again to rinse out some of the suds.

6. Rinse the Clothes

Pull out the plug and let the water drain out. Ideally, removing your clothes from the sink will be best but not always possible. Doing so will just help the water to drain a bit more easily.

Refill the sink with fresh warm water and swill your clothes about again. This will help to remove any cleaning product. Once you’re happy that your clothes are clean, drain the rinse water.

7. Dry the Clothes

Try to squeeze as much water out of the clothes as possible while they’re in the sink. The easiest way will be to press on them rather than wringing them, as this can stretch and deform more delicate fabrics. You’ll want them to be as dry as possible before removing them from the sink. You can also roll them in a towel and press on it to absorb some of the water.

Next, fold the clothes while they’re wet and stack them in a pile. Leave them like this for about an hour to press out the most obvious creases. If you don’t have an iron, this is the best way to make them look relatively fresh.

Finally, hang them to dry, ideally somewhere with good air circulation. Try to put tops on hangers and flip trousers and other items over so they dry equally.

Final Thoughts

Washing clothes in a sink is never going to produce amazing results, but it’s certainly better than walking around in a stinky t-shirt! Just make sure you’re methodical and that your clothes dry as quick as possible to avoid musty smells. Of course, if you are travelling in England and you need a cleaner in North London. Then, you can consider hiring a cleaning service to clean your clothes while you travel, so you can spend more time enjoying your holiday.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.