The Scrubba wash bag is a portable pocket-sized washing machine weighing 180 g (6.35 oz). The idea for the product came two years ago when inventor Ashley Newland was preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro.

"I realized that I would only be able to take a few changes of clothing and would have to wash them regularly. While waterproof bags can be used to soak clothing, they really aren’t very efficient. It was then that I had the revelation that washboards have been around for centuries and they work!" Ashley has now incorporated a flexible washboard into a sealable bag, and hopes to change the way travelers wash their clothing.

One of the keys to perpetual travel is the ability to minimize costs and the continual cost of cleaning clothes can mount up. How many travel days have you wasted in a wonderous far off land searching for a laundromat or cursed at the charges of local hotels?

The Scrubba Portable Washing Machine

The Scrubba accordingly offers, at the cost of 180 g of luggage, the first viable portable washing machine and an alternative to soaking clothes in bathroom sinks.

The Scrubba wash bag uses 70-100 oz (2-3 liters) of water per wash plus 2-3 drops of cleaning material (e.g. shampoo, body wash or washing liquid/powder) to wash several items of dirty clothing.

Put the water, cleaning material and clothing into the Scrubba, seal the bag and expel any air through a valve in the bag, then place the bag on the floor or a table and rub the clothing against the flexible washboard for 20-40 seconds, then remove the clothing and rinse and ... job done! You can even do it on a plane.

Australian-based Calibre8 is set to release the Scrubba wash bag in April (2012), which will be available through this (not yet built) site.

The Scrubba Portable Washing Machine - doing the washing on a plane