Travelling in a caravan or camping for a few days (or a few months) is amazing — but sooner or later, laundry becomes unavoidable. And let’s be honest: damp clothes, wet towels, and swimmers can turn your tiny living space into a cluttered, humid mess faster than you can say “beach day.”

Australian travellers know this challenge well. Between beach stops, river swims, fishing trips, and caravan park pools, wet towels and swimmers become part of the daily routine. Without a proper caravan clothesline setup, you’ll find yourself draping towels over chairs, ladder rungs, awning arms, or even your drawbar.

It’s something almost every traveller has experienced.

The good news? With a little planning and the right gear, drying clothes while camping can become a simple and organised part of life on the road.

1. The Real Challenges of Caravan Laundry

Laundry on the road comes with its own set of frustrations:

Limited space inside the caravan: there’s rarely room for wet laundry

Nowhere convenient for towels and swimmers: leaving them draped over everything, or worse just dropped in the dirt

Wind or rain: makes temporary lines frustrating and unreliable

Campsites without clotheslines: improvise or struggle

Packing damp laundry: moving to the next location with wet clothes is never fun

These are the daily headaches that make travellers dream of a better, more organised solution.

2. Why Most Solutions Fall Short

Travellers have tried all kinds of fixes:

Awning rails- convenient, but always ducking under your washing

Ropes between trees- a classic camping trick, but can be fiddly

Ladder or rear bar draping- keeps laundry off the ground, but looks chaotic

Portable racks- fine at caravan parks, but take up storage space inside the van

The problem? They all feel like compromises. You’re either juggling laundry 

across multiple awkward spots or sacrificing precious living space.

 

3. A Smarter Caravan Laundry Setup

A more organised system makes a big difference on the road. The BBQARM Clothesline Connector Kit provides a sturdy, convenient way to support a camping clothesline without taking up precious space around your caravan. Originally designed as part of the BBQARM outdoor cooking system, it also works brilliantly with collapsible tripod-style clotheslines — including popular models from Wanderer, Spinifex, and now the new Xplore Outdoors Foldable Camping Clothesline.

Tripod-style clotheslines pack down small and offer multiple hanging arms, but they usually sit on the ground, which can take up campsite space and be unstable on uneven terrain. The Connector Kit lifts the line off the ground, creating a stable, space-efficient drying setup right beside your caravan.

Pair it with a collapsible laundry basket with fold-out legs to keep damp clothes and swimmers off the ground, improve airflow, and make it simple to carry laundry between the van and the drying area.

The Xplore Outdoors Foldable Camping Clothesline is designed specifically for caravan and camping travellers, it offers the same compact convenience as tripod clotheslines while completing a full, practical drying solution.

Together, these components create a practical, organised caravan laundry setup that keeps your campsite tidy and your clothes drying efficiently.

4. Tips for Drying Clothes Faster While Camping 

Even with a great setup, a few simple tricks make life easier:

Use the sun
Aussie sunshine is your best drying tool.

Hang clothes where they catch the breeze
Airflow dries items faster.

Wring clothes out well before hanging
Less water means faster drying.

Separate swimmers and towels
These stay wet longer and need more space.

Wash smaller loads more often
This prevents big piles of laundry building up.

5. Making Caravan Laundry Easy

Laundry doesn’t have to be the worst part of travelling.

With a smart setup like the BBQARM Clothesline Connector Kit, a collapsible laundry basket, and the upcoming Explore Outdoors Foldable Camping Clothesline, you can create a simple and organised caravan laundry system.

It’s one of those simple upgrades that travellers wish they had installed earlier — especially when wet towels and togs are a constant in Aussie camping culture.

With a little planning and the right gear, caravan laundry becomes a quick, organised, and stress-free part of the adventure.