Product review: Rick Steves Clothesline (braided rubber clothline rope)

This clothline is made out of three braids of rubber, which can be pulled apart to poke through a small piece of the garment you want to dry. This means you don't need to worry about cloth pins when you travel. This clothline works very well indoors, however the rubber braids are not strong enough to hold clothing outside in the wind or near an open window with strong gusts.

The length of this rope without stretching is 40 inches. Each end of the rope ends in a Velcro loop which I did not include in the 40 inch measurement as it will be tied around something. The stretchy part is 32 inches, and can be relatively easily stretch to 42 inches giving you a total of 48 inches. However, I would not stretch it any more than that as I ran into issues: either the pull moves the objects it is tied to (when I use two chairs) or the Velcro undoes itself. I was also worried about pulling out the rope ends from the rubber part and ruining the rope. My solution to a relatively short length is to pack a short rope with a loop on one end. When I need extra reach to tie the clothline I attach the Velcro tie to the loop of the rope. This extension gives me the extra length to reach another stationary object when needed.

I am attaching a photo  which shows a close-up of the rope with a pen sticking through the braids to demonstrate how it stretches. You can also see how solidly the Velcro ties are constructed. They are quite thick.

When I travel I always wash my items in the sink. This allows me to bring fewer clothes as well as have a minimum amount of dirty underwear in the luggage. Most things I have dry over night. Typically hiking socks are the only things that remain damp. This becomes a problem if you are moving from place to place, so I carry a spare plastic bag where the items that are not totally dry travel if we are switching hotel rooms. To do the laundry I use the shampoo (either the hotel's or the travel bottle I bring myself if we travel in places which do not provide toiletries).

I found having this travel rope makes laundry on the go easier, and I don't need to worry about forgetting to bring cloth pins or using up all hangers for hanging laundry instead of cloth.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★