7 Best Laundry Blogs for RV Living Tips That Nomads Swear By
Explore the 7 best blogs for RV laundry solutions. Get nomad-approved tips on water conservation, compact machines, and laundromat best practices.
There’s a moment every new RVer has, standing in a dusty campground, staring at a growing pile of dirty laundry and realizing the nearest laundromat is 40 miles away. Suddenly, the romantic vision of the open road gets very real. Solving the laundry puzzle isn’t just about clean clothes; it’s about reclaiming your time, conserving precious resources, and making your mobile life sustainable.
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Finding the Best RV Laundry Solutions and Advice
No single website holds all the answers to RV laundry. The right solution for a solo boondocker in a van is completely wrong for a family of five in a Class A. That’s why seasoned nomads don’t follow one guru; they curate their advice from a handful of trusted sources, each specializing in a different piece of the puzzle.
This isn’t about finding a magic bullet. It’s about building a toolkit of strategies. You might need a DIY setup for daily essentials, a laundromat plan for bedding, and water-saving techniques for off-grid stretches. The best blogs help you understand the tradeoffs between cost, convenience, water usage, and space so you can build a system that actually works for your travel style.
The Rolling Suds: DIY RV Laundry Setups
The Rolling Suds is the go-to resource for anyone who looks at an empty bay or a weirdly shaped cabinet and sees potential. This blog skips the expensive, off-the-shelf units and dives straight into clever, owner-built solutions. It’s for the RVer who values customization and saving a buck over plug-and-play convenience.
You won’t find reviews of fancy Splendide combos here. Instead, you’ll find detailed tutorials for building a simple bucket-and-plunger washer that costs less than $20 and works surprisingly well. They also feature brilliant mods, like reinforcing a shower stall to permanently house a portable spin dryer or converting a shallow closet into a dedicated laundry station.
Quickly dry hand-washed clothes to a nearly dry state with this portable spin dryer. Its durable stainless steel drum and compact, gravity-draining design make it ideal for apartments, RVs, and travel.
The real value of this blog is its honesty about the downsides. A DIY setup might save you a thousand dollars, but it will cost you in time and effort. They offer a clear-eyed view, helping you decide if the satisfaction of building your own solution outweighs the daily reality of, say, hand-wringing your socks.
WanderWash: Reviews of Compact RV Washers
If you’d rather spend your time hiking than building a laundry machine, WanderWash is your bible. This blog is laser-focused on one thing: testing and reviewing every compact washer, spinner, and combo unit on the market. Their team lives on the road, putting these machines through real-world abuse.
Their reviews go beyond the manufacturer’s specs. They measure actual water consumption per cycle, test the decibel levels to see if you can run it while someone sleeps, and see how badly a spin cycle unbalances the rig. They’ll compare a 1.5 cu. ft. portable washer against a vented combo unit, not just on performance, but on critical RV factors like power draw on a 30-amp service and winterization requirements.
This BLACK+DECKER portable washer makes laundry day simple, offering 5 wash cycles and a stainless steel tub for loads up to 6.6 lbs. It easily connects to your sink and features safety functions like auto shutoff and child lock.
What sets WanderWash apart is its "Best For" analysis. They don’t just declare a single winner. Instead, they give you frameworks:
- Best for Weekend Warriors: A simple portable spinner for occasional use.
- Best for Full-Time Families: A vented washer/dryer combo, despite the space it requires.
- Best for Solar-Powered Boondockers: A super-efficient electric washer paired with a manual wringer.This approach acknowledges that there is no "perfect" machine, only the right machine for a specific need.
Nomad Fresh: Off-Grid & Eco-Friendly Methods
Nomad Fresh is for the RVer whose biggest concerns are water conservation and environmental impact. This blog champions the art of doing laundry with minimal resources, making it essential reading for boondockers, overlanders, and anyone trying to reduce their footprint. It’s less about gear and more about technique.
Here, you’ll learn the difference between a good biodegradable soap and one that’s just greenwashing. You’ll find step-by-step guides for using a Scrubba Wash Bag effectively, getting clothes clean with just a gallon of water. They explore time-tested manual methods that don’t require any electricity, perfect for when you’re miles from the nearest outlet.
Get a machine-quality wash anywhere with the Scrubba Wash Bag. This ultra-portable, pocket-sized washing machine weighs only 5.3 oz and features a built-in washboard for fast, effective cleaning without electricity.
But it’s not just for extreme off-gridders. The principles on Nomad Fresh can benefit any RVer. Their tips on pre-soaking heavily soiled items to reduce wash time or using a salad spinner to extract extra water before line drying can dramatically cut down on resource consumption, whether you’re at a full-hookup park or deep in a national forest.
Effortlessly dry greens and wash produce with this 6.22-quart salad spinner. Its one-touch pump and brake system provide efficient drying and easy stopping, while the non-skid base ensures stability. The lid disassembles for simple cleaning, and the entire unit stores compactly.
The Spin Cycle Diaries: Laundromat Strategies
Let’s be honest: no matter how great your onboard setup is, you’ll probably visit a laundromat for big items like bedding and rugs. The Spin Cycle Diaries embraces this reality and turns laundry day from a chore into an efficient, predictable part of your routine. This blog is pure, unadulterated logistics.
It’s filled with practical advice you don’t think about until it’s a problem. How do you find a clean, safe laundromat in an unfamiliar town? How do you transport a week’s worth of laundry for a family of four without turning your tow vehicle into a hamper? They cover everything from payment apps versus coin-only machines to the etiquette of saving a dryer in a crowded facility.
The core philosophy here is efficiency. They advocate for a "laundry day toolkit"—a dedicated bag with quarters, detergent pods, dryer sheets, and a book—so you can just grab it and go. Their strategies for sorting clothes before you leave the RV and timing your visit for off-peak hours can cut your time in the laundromat in half. It’s a masterclass in managing a necessary errand on the road.
Full-Time Clean: Family-Sized Laundry Tips
Doing laundry for one or two adults is a challenge. Doing it for a family with kids is a completely different sport. Full-Time Clean is the only resource dedicated to managing the relentless tide of dirty clothes that comes with RVing with children.
This blog tackles the big-volume problems. Where do you store a week’s worth of dirty laundry for four people in 300 square feet? They offer brilliant solutions, like using hanging shoe organizers for dirty socks or collapsible bins that slide under a dinette. They also have systems for creating a weekly laundry schedule that works around travel days and schoolwork.
Maximize your space with this over-the-door organizer featuring 8 deep pockets, perfect for storing up to 22 pairs of shoes, boots, or other essentials. Crafted from durable Oxford fabric and supported by sturdy tubes, it easily hangs on any door for convenient, clutter-free storage.
More importantly, Full-Time Clean gets into the nitty-gritty of kid-specific messes. You’ll find articles on getting mud out of jeans without a high-powered washer, dealing with campfire smoke smell, and choosing durable, quick-drying fabrics for kids’ clothes. It’s a lifeline for parents who feel like they spend half their time on the road just trying to keep everyone in clean pants.
Boondock Bubbles: Water Conservation Techniques
While other blogs touch on water usage, Boondock Bubbles is obsessed with it. This site is for the serious boondocker who counts every drop of fresh water. It moves beyond general tips into the hard science of getting clothes clean with the absolute minimum amount of water.
This is where you’ll find detailed comparisons of different washing methods, measured in "gallons per pound of laundry." They test whether a single, thorough rinse is better than two quick, low-water rinses. They also provide guidance on the safe, limited reuse of laundry greywater for things like flushing a toilet, explaining the risks and necessary filtration.
Their most crucial advice is often counterintuitive. For example, they argue against using too much soap, as it requires more water to rinse out, and a little goes a long way. Boondock Bubbles provides the technical data to back up its methods, empowering you to extend your off-grid stays by days, simply by changing how you wash your clothes.
RV Gear & Garments: Fabric Care on the Road
This final blog, RV Gear & Garments, takes a unique approach: it argues that the easiest laundry day starts in your closet. Instead of focusing on the washing machine, it focuses on the clothes themselves. The central idea is that a road-friendly wardrobe is your first and best laundry tool.
The content is all about making smart choices before you even have a dirty pile. They feature guides on the best fabrics for RV life—merino wool for its odor resistance, synthetics for their quick-dry properties, and durable workwear that can handle the rigors of the road. They teach you to think about your clothes as part of your gear.
You’ll also find intensely practical skills here. Learn how to hand-wash delicate items in a tiny sink, how to properly air-dry clothes inside your rig to avoid condensation, and basic mending techniques to repair a tear instead of replacing an item. This blog fundamentally shifts your perspective from "how do I wash this?" to "how do I build a life that requires less, easier washing?"
Ultimately, the perfect RV laundry system isn’t a single product you buy, but a collection of habits and tools you adopt. By drawing from these different philosophies, you can piece together a strategy that keeps your clothes clean, your resources managed, and your focus on the road ahead. It’s one of the final frontiers of mastering life in a small space.
