Portable Washing Machine for Camping
See how easy it is to make your own washing machine to clean your clothes while camping. No need to drive to a laundromat!
We like to go on camping vacations. We will go out west and enjoy the mountains or up north to cool off. Keep your food cold longer with this DIY Thermal Cooler Cover.
These longer trips mean extended time away from home. That means we need to do our laundry while we are gone.
We stay in public campgrounds, which usually means no laundry facilities.
It’s a pain to take the time to drive into town to find a laundromat, feed a machine with quarters, or carry back wet laundry to hang.
We just wash clothes at our campsite with a portable washing machine.
Portable Washing Machine Directions at the Bottom of the Post
Campground Laundry Tips
- Wash approximately 4 shirts and/or shorts at a time.
- Separate clothes by the level of dirtiness, then wash the least dirty first.
- Change the water after 2 or 3 cycles.
- Wash undergarments and socks last.
- Use clothespins on the clothesline.
- Dispose of the water properly.
- Remove stains before you wash with a baby wipe. I was able to remove a grease stain on my shorts by rubbing it with a baby wipe for about a minute.
Kids love using this washing system. They also love this Roasting Forks Cover or Fishing Pole Cover.
When we were on our last trip, one of the camping neighbors came over to our site and offered to help. His parents wondered why he was so enthusiastic to help because he’s not so enthusiastic to help at home.
That’s kids for you!
They took off to ride bikes once it was undergarment time.
Look how bright and clean our laundry came out.
Have you ever washed clothes by hand like this?
Portable Washing Machine for Camping
Wash your clothes by hand when you are camping or homesteading.
Materials
- Two 5 gallon buckets with lids
- Two new toilet plungers
- Two different colored permanent markers
- Biodegradable laundry soap
- A clothesline or drying rack
Tools
- Drill with a 3/4" drill bit
Instructions
- Drill a hole into the middle of each bucket lid.
- Optional: Drill 3 evenly spaced holes in each plunger to create the agitators.
- Color a small section of each plunger handle a different color so that you know which one is wash and which is rinse.
How to Wash Clothes While Camping
- Add water to each bucket. We like to mix in hot water into the first bucket.
- Place a small amount of laundry into the wash bucket and place the plunger agitator in.
- Put on the lid. It helps keep the water from splashing out.
- Move the plunger up and down, moving the clothes around as you go.
- Ring out the clothes before adding them to the rinse bucket.
- Repeat the plunging process to rinse the soap out.
- Ring out the water and hang the clothes to dry.
Notes
Change water as needed. Properly dispose of water, please.
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Salad spinners work great. I work in the theater and allot of touring shows bring them in for small batches of clothes we need right away!
My son took his washer to summer camp every year and now his son will be using it.
Love this idea!
Rolling pin And a wash board is a diy wringer.
Great idea!
I was looking for an idea to help our camping cadets ( we had 114) to do their laundry and I think this will work. Need to get an idea how to hang them up to dry since there are no trees where we camp.
That is a challenge. Look at Karen’s comment above. It might help a little.
@Rhonda, you can string cord from tent peak to tent peak or from car door to tent peak to hang clothes for drying.
Look up eco spin…. Made for clothing it’s rather expensive. I got lucky and found mine brand new at a second hand store for 5 dollars
That is an AWESOME find!
I made 2 of these due to Hurricane Ida here in Louisiana last year. My mother in law has 1 and I have the other one we still do not have washing machines due to us living in campers. These have helped tremendously!
I am sorry that you’ve had to endure Ida and the hardships from it, but am grateful that you can use this trick to have clean clothes!
Is there a third bucket for spin dry?
A spinner is a great idea, but we have not made one.
@Let’s Camp S’more,
I recently had a friend suggest a salad spinner. I’ve yet to find one big enough to handle the amount of laundry you’ve suggested, and I plan to have my guy figure something out on a bigger scale after seeing this… If we have success I’ll let you know!
Yes, salad spinners aren’t very big, so it would be a few clothes at a time. Keep us posted!
@Bob Theoret, for small stuff I use a salad spinner…. otherwise wring then. Towel wring….
@Let’s Camp S’more, For a spinner, take a STURDY net laundry bag with a STURDY drawstring cord. Put a few items (not your whole load) inside and pull the draw cord. Stand in a open area outdoors. Swing the bag around fast by the draw string.
This is an AWESOME idea!! Kids probably love doing it.
I’m going to make these for my emergency prep stache. I live in a hurricane prone area and even smaller hurricanes can leave you without electricity for an extended period.
A good use of these. Stay safe!
Neat way to clean you clothes.
thanks
I love this idea! I want to try this. My only questions is, where did you empty the water when you were done?
Check with your campground on how they prefer this or even water from washing dishes disposed of. It could be a bathroom drain or they might have a designated dumping area.
Great lesson. Thank you, very much,clear, concise, easy tofollow. God bless you all!!
Have a great day!
I lay out a clean towel and place a washed clothing article on it. Roll up tightly and twist the excess water out. Using same towel till it is too wet and dry it with cloths on line.
Great suggestion!
I would prefer to wring my laundry. It won’t chime it only goes splat/drip drip. 🤣
lol
Love this. Summer camping does call for washing. With limited clean water may have to stick to essentials, but any little bit is a great help.
Have a great summer, Nancy!
This is great for a newbie camper! Great to have two and have the plungers be marked accordingly as well as drilling the holes to create more agitation!
Wondering if you have any ideas how to wring out the clothes when your hands won’t let you (mild arthritis!)? Any ideas??
How about a salad spinner? It would only work on smaller items, but it’s worth a shot.
@NanC, you could place on a towel, roll them up in it and stand on it.
@NanC, for small items like socks, underwear, hand towels, etc you can use a large salad spinner. For bigger items they sell foot operated clothes spinners. You can google for more product information. Of course for the more capable DIY person’s there are portable 12 volt projects you can make from a 5 gal bucket. i.e.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNv6mUmyIY just some ideas.
Love the salad spinner idea!
I an on making some of these for the homeless. I know of several campsites that I could take them to. Thanks for the idea!
Great idea!
I live on a boat with limited access to fresh water or electric. I can’t wait to try this. I wonder if I could use heated salt water? Thanks again!
I have no idea!
I would think that salt water would leave a mineral deposit on the fabric as it dries. Maybe washing in salt water with a fresh water rinse would be the way to go.
Great idea!
@Jim, Hi Jim I was told by my uncle, who was in world war 2 military,that they washed there clothes and sheets in salt water and it made there clothes very clean.
cool
What a great water-and-money saving idea! Thanks!
How long do you usually churn for a wash cycle? 5 minutes? 10? One full round of Bohemian Rhapsody? 😉
Ha! It’s the Queen of laundry. 😉
Have the kids do it while singing all verses of Wheels on the Bus.
Unless your stuff is super dirty, 5 ? minutes should suffice.
I have washing my laundry in the bathtub for a year now, using a cheap plunger. I like your way — and it will be so much easier on my back! Thank you!
Happy to be of help!
This is such a fantastic idea! We always seem to go through a ton of clothes with the little ones when we’re camping. This is the perfect way to clean clothes and keeps our packing lighter. Thanks for sharing your tutorial with us at Merry Monday this week!
They do get dirty real quick!
This is such a great idea!!! Big camper and this is on my list! #merrymonday
Thanks, Tracy!
This is amazing!! Thankyou for your post!
You are welcome!
Love this simple solution. Good description.
Thanks, Betty!
Wow, your clothes came out so well from that experience, and it looks like it gave your kids something to do too 🙂 Thanks for the post! I really like the idea of marking the posts too, so you don’t get confused. Great tip.
Thank you, Carie.
Ok I am a very visual person and I am not understanding where the 3 holes in the plunger are located. Do you still them through the rubber portion? I am excited to try this!
Carol, Sorry we don’t have a good photo up there. The plungers are packed away in the trailer so I cannot get a photo for you but I just photoshopped some circles on the plunger image for you to see placement.
.