By Eve O'Neill
An inexpensive clothesline is the secret to traveling well.
I bought a Flexo-Line almost five years ago because of a Wirecutter article. It’s a 5-foot-long travel clothesline made of three braided rubber strands, with two cord loops on either end for hanging.
Our pick
The Flexo-Line attaches easily to a door handle or faucet and grips garments securely between its loops.
Buying Options
May be out of stock
Since then, I’ve come to believe that drying things while traveling is an underrated necessity. It doesn’t matter if you’re fully prepared to do your own laundry or never wash anything, the need to dry things is universal. And as road trips become more popular, with cars and RVs as our mobile basecamps, a little organization in those small spaces goes a long way toward creating peace of mind.
It’s true that a drying rack can be easy to improvise. But for a moment, allow yourself to imagine not just a more practical world but one made more pleasant and sensory by the addition of a clothesline.
Imagine pulling a bone-dry towel (not a half-dry, workable yet faintly odorous one) out of your daypack the next time you’re tempted by a summer swimming hole.
Also imagine the toasty feeling of warm gloves and socks, once wet from the rain, drying in front of a fire in your rustic cabin.
For me, that feeling of comfort and satisfaction is worth the extra 0.96 ounces this clothesline adds to my bag. You don’t need clothespins because the braided strands pinch the fabric to hold items in place. It can hold up to 12 pounds of wet supplies and stretch to 8 feet.
In rainy or snowy weather, bring this clothesline with you to hang gloves, windbreakers, socks, hats, and base layers. If you’re traveling by car (like most of us these days), string it across the trunk and hang up towels, kids sunglasses, or wet bandanas.
At the beach, use it to corral visors and hats, surf leashes and goggles, as well as your bathing suit that gets dipped in the ocean daily. It’s especially useful for two people, with double the wet things.
This clothesline is an exceptional tool in small spaces, both for organization and privacy. String it between two posts of any sort, hang your towel over it, and you have a small curtain.
Always knowing where your stuff is––hanging on this clothesline––keeps disorganization at bay as the world changes around you. Soon, a psychological calm settles over the daily routine of no routine. Not even packing cubes can top that.
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We’ve never posted a deal on this clothesline. If you see it for under $16, consider picking one up.
The numbers
$16 Average street price
Meet your guide
Eve O'Neill is a former senior staff writer reporting on travel and outdoors at Wirecutter. She can remember the titles on her childhood bookshelf that set her in this direction: Into Thin Air, On The Road, The Call of the Wild. She has always been drawn to ideas about how to relate to, and play in, the wilderness.
Further reading
The Best Gear for Travel
by Wirecutter Staff
We put in another year and tens of thousands more miles of travel to test the best travel gear—and we stand by last year’s choices alongside a few new picks.
How to Sleep Well (or at Least Better) While Traveling
by Christine Ryan
Our sleep and travel editors recommend gear for coping with travel-induced insomnia, vetted through hours of testing and years of personal experience.
Bathroom Accessories and Grooming Tools We Love
by Daniela Gorny
Here are the gadgets we buy for ourselves and use in our own bathrooms to get organized, save time, and make grooming fun and luxurious.
The Gadgets We Bring on Every Trip
by Haley Perry
You don't have to be a digital nomad to travel like one. Here are a few gadgets and accessories to make travel as painless as possible.
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