One of the most popular products that come up when searching for how to do laundry while backpacking or traveling is the Scrubba Wash Bag.
Once I saw the price tag, I immediately looked for a cheap Scrubba alternative.
The Scrubba is currently above $50 making it very expensive way to wash clothes on the go. This is especially true when you can simply use a dry bag as an alternative.
Best Scrubba Alternative Wash Bag
Most dry bags will be a great alternative to the Scrubba Wash Bag. I already had one from a previous purchase, a 13L Sea to Summit dry sack.
5 colors ranging from 1 Liter to 35 Liters
I use the 13 Liter
While some are going to use this in their traveling “one bag” (shout out r/onebag), others may find this very useful while camping or in the backcountry.
Personally, I use this method while I’m on 7+ day camping trips in the backcountry. If it can clean my stanky boxers and socks, it can handle anything you throw at it.
I’m also a huge fan of products with multiple uses. This dry bag is used regularly as that AND it doubles as my portable backcountry laundry.
Tip: Don’t go TOO cheap with these, if it’s too thin, they can damage easy or if they are too cheap they may not be very waterproof.
Scrubba vs Drybag Alternative: What’s the Difference?
The primary difference between a Scrubba and a dry bag is that Scrubba has the backing of Instagram influencers promoting it so people buy an overpriced dry bag.
Joking aside, the Scrubba has 4 primary differences than a standard dry bag:
- The Scrubba Wash Bag is over 2x the price of a normal dry bag.
- An “internal washboard” also known as plastic nubs on a portion of the inside
- A clear plastic window to see in
- A valve to easily remove air to make it easier to scrub
A Scrubba weights about 5.0 oz and my 13L dry bag weights ~3.3 oz. The Scrubba is slightly larger as well.
When I use my Dry Bag alternative method, I follow the same steps one would use for the Scrubba:
- Add water and liquid soap to the dry bag, then add clothes
- I compress the bag at the lowest point where there is no clothes (ie: getting the air out)
- Roll the dry bag top ~3 times and clip it together
- Then I knead/agitate the clothes and try to make sure the water is going through the clothes
- Empty the water, and refill with clean water to rinse it
- Repeat step 2-4 to finish the rinse
- Hang dry the clothes
Another alternative washing method I do with REALLY dirty clothes is keep the dry bag open and just use it as a container essentially. Then I just use my hands inside the bag to use my hands to directly agitate it in the water.
Once you’re done, just turn the dry bag inside out and it drys pretty quickly.
What Size Dry Bag for a Scrubba Alternative?
Personally, I use a 13 Liter dry bag. It works great for me. For perspective, my clothes are all a size Large.
Each load can do a couple of pairs of socks and underwear along with a t-shirt OR pair of shorts.
If you’re washing a pair of jeans or bulky pants, you would want to do that as a separate “load” and agitate it by hand without closing the dry bag.
In my opinion, going larger to 20L or more will make it more difficult to agitate and fully soak and rinse the clothes.
Lastly, if you’re smaller than me, you can probably get away with an 8-10L bag for most situations.
5 colors ranging from 1 Liter to 35 Liters
I use the 13 Liter
Best Soap for Scrubba and Travel Laundry?
The best soap to use for Scrubba is Dr. Bronner’s. It’s concentrated, so you don’t need much and a bottle lasts a realllllly long time. You can use a smaller bottle to bring it while traveling.
It’s also environmentally friendly especially compared to most other types of liquid soap.
Conclusion: Best Scrubba Alternative
The Scrubba has great intentions behind it and is a unique product. However, a drybag is the a great cheap Scrubba Wash Bag alternative.
Some companies are so good at marketing they convince you their product is the only solution for the problem (in this case, travel/backcountry clothes washing). They show off their patents, fancy photos, and influencers reinforce the benefits on social media.
A few years ago, I was ready to purchase the Scrubba until my girlfriend made fun of me and told her to just use one of her dry bags.
Duh!
Keep it simple = keep it cheap.
