I don’t normally write reviews but…

I don’t normally write reviews but…

I know a few travellers are reading this and I thought that I’d share a rather nifty discovery that we are using for the first time on this trip. 

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The Scrubba was recommended on a travel website I read late last Summer, just after we’d arrived home from our road trip.  Now, I don’t normally spend my time doing laundry when I’m on holiday, but when travelling for three weeks or more, I don’t want to bring 20+ “smalls” and for sure, it’s useful to be able to rinse a T shirt through on occasion too.  Hotel bathrooms are not really set up for laundry activities and I thought the Scrubba would be really useful.

When it arrives, it’s packed like a samosa – folded into a small triangle.  As you can tell, I haven’t been folding it up every time and actually, it’s rather easier to fit into my suitcase when it’s open and flat.

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The bag’s about 30 x 60cm when open and has a fold and clip fastening at one end.

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What makes it more than just a watertight bag is the nubbly surface inside, which gives the “scrubby” effect.

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The instructions are clearly printed on the side, though it’s not rocket science!

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There are two suggested water levels, depending on what you’re going to wash.

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I stuffed T shirt, undies and socks inside and filled it to the first mark with hot water.  I added a teaspoon or so of soapy liquid (shampoo or shower gel works fine). 

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As you can see, we don’t have much room in our bathroom here on board, but it’s no problem because everything is neatly contained.

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I rolled the top down 3 or 4 times and clipped the clip.

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Next, I had to let out the air – there’s a small valve, just like those on pool toys.

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It was easy to tell when all the air was out – I got an eyeful of water!

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Here’s the clever bit.  It’s still all dry, there’s no water or soap suds dripping all over the place and even my hands stay dry as I “massage” the water-filled bag.  The washing inside gets the “scrubby” effect and in just three minutes it’s done.  We have a very useful flat surface in our shower that’s perfect for doing this, but actually, it could be done on the floor with a foot!

I didn’t take a picture as I emptied the bag into the wash handbasin and photos of the “rinse and repeat” cycle didn’t seem necessary either.

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About ten minutes after I began, the process was complete and the squeezed out smalls were on the line in the shower alongside the inside-out Scrubba.  Best of all, I hadn’t turned the bathroom into a wetroom or laundry!

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When I packed for this trip, I hesitated before putting the Scrubba in my suitcase.  Here on the ship, there are self serve launderettes, free of charge and open all day.  Why might I want/need to handwash small items when I could just go and put them in the machine?  Well, who would have guessed that for the last week – and possibly for the next one, too – the launderettes would be closed as one of the hygiene precautions?  Suddenly, my little Scrubba is worth its weight in gold   I love it!

(I bought it on Amazon – now, there’s a surprise)

The end of the world

The end of the world

An afternoon in Punta Arenas

An afternoon in Punta Arenas