Laundry is one of the small logistics of van life that turns into a real problem if you ignore it. Without a machine of your own, clean clothes mean finding a laundromat, timing it around your route, and having the right coins or app ready. This guide covers where to do laundry on a Canadian trip, what it costs, and how to keep the load small enough that you are not hauling a week of damp clothes around. Every claim below is something to confirm locally, because laundromat hours, prices, and payment methods vary by location.
muddytires carries a free laundry filter on the live map. Turn it on and we surface laundromats near you and along your route, with the operator and hours where the source gives them, and a note when a place is self-service. No account, no paywall.
Where to do laundry
- Self-service laundromats. The standard answer. Most towns have at least one coin or card laundromat with washers and dryers you load yourself. They are open long hours, often unattended in the evening, and built for exactly this. The muddytires laundry filter flags self-service where the source reports it.
- Campground and RV-park laundry rooms. Many private campgrounds and some provincial parks have a coin laundry for guests. If you are paying for a site anyway, it is a convenient place to run a load while you shower and refill water.
- Truck stops. Large highway travel centres sometimes have laundry alongside the showers, aimed at long-haul drivers who live on the road the same way you do.
- Hostels. Many sell laundry access to non-guests or include it cheaply; useful in cities where a standalone laundromat is harder to park near.
What it costs and how to pay
Expect to pay per machine, with the dryer billed separately by the cycle or by time. The honest planning number is that a full wash-and-dry runs you the price of a modest meal, and a big shared load is more economical than several small ones.
- Carry coins. Many older laundromats are coin-only. Keep a small stash of loonies and quarters in the van so a coin machine never strands you. Some modern places take a tap card or a phone app instead — check before you load.
- Bring your own detergent. Vending detergent at a laundromat is overpriced. Carry a small bottle or a few pods and you save every visit.
- Use the big machines. One large washer for a combined load beats two small ones on both time and money. Pool a few days of clothes and do it all at once.
A rhythm that works
The trick is to keep laundry small and regular rather than letting it pile into a crisis.
- Wash on a three-to-four-day cycle. Pair it with your supply restock and shower so you handle clean clothes, food, and a wash in one town stop. That matches the rhythm in the supply-store and shower guides.
- Rinse small items by hand. Socks, underwear, and a shirt rinse out in a basin or a sealed dry bag with a little soap and water, then line-dry over the seats or outside on a still day. This stretches the gap between real laundromat visits.
- Pack quick-dry layers. Synthetic and merino layers wash and dry faster than cotton and need washing less often, which cuts the size and frequency of every load.
- Do not let it go damp. Folding damp clothes into a bin in a van invites mildew. Dry fully at the laundromat or line-dry before packing away.
The short version
Laundry on the road is a town errand you plan, not a chore you stumble into. Self-service laundromats in any town are the reliable option; campground and truck-stop laundry rooms fill the gaps. Turn on the free muddytires laundry filter to find the nearest one, keep coins and your own detergent in the van, wash a big combined load every three to four days alongside your restock, and hand-rinse the small stuff in between.
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Found a laundromat that has closed, changed payment, or is missing from the map? Tell us. The muddytires laundry filter is free, community-checked, and only as good as what people report back.