An adventure holiday gave Sydneysider Ashley Newland all the impetus he needed to invent a way to revolutionise the camping industry.

His bright idea, the Scrubba washbag, is described as the “world's smallest washing machine”. Since launching, the lightweight wash bag has been sold to tens of thousands of travellers worldwide.

Devised over Friday night after-work drinks with a travelling mate, Newland hatched the idea as an ultra-light luggage solution for an upcoming trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

“I really was only going to be able to take two or three changes of casual clothes, which meant doing washing every day or every couple of days and that led to the next problem of what I would do if there were no facilities, no sink,” Newland said.