Traveling takes a toll on your clothes. One day your shirt is crisp, clean, and smelling like Australian Sandalwood; the next, it’s a wrinkled, slightly damp mess that smells faintly of airport terminal and regret. Between crammed suitcases, limited laundry options, and whatever mystery humidity exists in hotel closets, keeping your wardrobe fresh on the road is a full-time job your outfits didn’t sign up for.
But your clothes shouldn’t suffer just because you’re living out of a duffel. Whether you’re city-hopping, backpacking, or hoping your Airbnb has a washing machine, a little planning goes a long way.
Below, we’re breaking down 8 smart, easy ways to keep your clothes clean, fresh, and wrinkle-free—no matter how far off the grid your itinerary goes.
1. Scout the Laundry Setup
Before you zip up your suitcase, do a little recon. Does your hotel have on-site laundry, or will you be negotiating detergent at a corner store in a foreign language? Are you staying with friends who actually want you to use their washing machine, or will they side-eye you for using the “good” laundry pods?
Whether it’s a washer/dryer combo, a laundromat down the street, or a bathtub and some wishful thinking, knowing the laundry situation in advance saves you from packing like you’ll never see a washing machine again.
No matter what your care tag says, these must-haves keep your clothes looking and smelling their best—minus the guesswork.
2. Pack TSA-Friendly Laundry Detergent Pods
The easiest way to level up your travel laundry game? Pre-pack the world’s best-smelling laundry detergent. Laundry Sauce pods are leak-proof, pre-measured, and TSA-compliant, so you can toss a few in your carry-on and not worry about liquid restrictions or detergent explosions mid-flight.
Plus, they’re built with bioenzymes that work on the kind of grime you pick up on the go—sunscreen, sweat, mystery sauce from that street food you had to try.
3. Bring Fabric Refresher Spray to Release Wrinkles
Toss a bottle of Laundry Sauce fabric refresher spray in your bag and thank yourself later. It relaxes wrinkles, cuts down static cling, and refreshes clothes with signature scents like Australian Sandalwood and French Saffron so you can smell your best, even when you’re rewearing yesterday’s outfit. A few spritzes and that wrinkled tee is suddenly ready for round two.
4. Use Packing Cubes or Compression Bags
Travel rule: If your clothes are swimming loose in your suitcase, you’re doing it wrong. Packing cubes and compression bags keep things neat, organized, and most importantly, separated. That means no mingling between the sweaty gym tee and the one dress you brought for “nice dinners.”
Designate one cube for clean clothes and one for anything you’ve already worn. If you're really committed, pack a small plastic bag or two for stuff that needs to be washed and shouldn't touch anything else. Your nose (and fellow travelers) will thank you.
5. Place Dryer Sheets In Your Luggage
Dryer sheets are the unsung heroes of travel. Tuck one or two between your layers, and your clothes will stay smelling fresh long after you’ve left home. Bonus: they also help reduce static cling—perfect for planes, dry climates, or that polyester jumpsuit that always tries to glue itself to your legs.
Still have static once you land? Rub a dryer sheet directly on your clothes. It’s a weird little travel hack that actually works.
6. Let Clothes Air Out Overnight
Don’t ball up your worn clothes at the end of the day and throw them back in your suitcase. Instead, hang them up—on a towel rack, a doorknob, the back of a chair—anything that lets air circulate.
Letting your clothes breathe overnight helps release trapped moisture and odor. It’s not the same as a wash, but it’s way better than stewing in your own sweat for a second wear.
Pro tip: This is a great time to break out that bottle of fabric refresher spray. You’ll get similar results to ironing and washing, without the effort.
7. Avoid Overpacking
Tempting as it is to bring 12 options for a 3-day trip, overpacking leads to overcrowded suitcases, wrinkled clothes, and more laundry stress than it’s worth. Stick to a few mix-and-match staples and focus on versatility. You’ll not only pack lighter—you’ll actually wear everything you bring.
Less clothing = less laundry. That’s the kind of travel math we can get behind.
8. Pack Lightweight, Quick-Dry Fabrics
When in doubt, go with materials that were designed to dry fast and take up less space. Think: merino wool, bamboo, or technical fabrics you’d wear to the gym. They wick away sweat, resist odors, and can be hand-washed in a sink and dry overnight, making them ideal for long trips or laundry-less stretches.
Also, they don’t wrinkle as easily. So your shirt looks like a shirt, not a sad napkin.
9. Zip Your Shoes in a Separate Bag
This feels obvious, but we’re saying it anyway: Do not let your shoes touch your clothes. Ever. Soles pick up everything from dirt to bacteria to that unidentifiable puddle you walked through while trying to find coffee at 6 a.m.
Use a shoe bag, a plastic grocery bag, or even a shower cap in a pinch. Just seal them off from your outfits like the grimy, travel-weary accessories they are.
Keep Your Clothes (and Sanity) Together on the Road
Travel doesn’t have to mean sacrificing clean clothes, or your standards. With a little strategy and a few travel-friendly laundry essentials from Laundry Sauce, you can keep your outfits fresh, your suitcase organized, and your laundry stress at a minimum.
There’s enough chaos on the road. Your clothes shouldn’t be part of it.
