Peak Design Wash Pouch Review: Leveling Up My Toiletry Bag?

Table of contents

Quick summary
Review of the highlights
Critique and room for improvement
Comparison to other toiletry bags
Worth it?
Where to get yours
Other Peak Design packing accessories?

What’s so great about the Peak Design Wash Pouch? After all, it’s just a toiletries bag, right?

I think what stands out to me about the it is that it reminds me so much of my other Peak Design travel accessories. What I mean by that is that this thing looks_ good and wraps up all my bottles and toiletries in a neat zipped-up cube that slides into my luggage.

Are there any places where the Wash Pouch needs improvement, though? Maybe. Because I expect it to perform perfectly, like all my gear from the brand.

In this review, see how the Wash Pouch from PD works out for my uses, and how it compares to the toiletries bag I was using before from another company.

Quick summary

My first perception of the PD Wash Pouch for travel was that it reminded me of my Peak Design Tech Pouch, one of my handiest and most valuable travel accessories.

The wash pouch is a minimalist and modern toiletries bag or dopp kit, if you call it that, and it’s a smart way to store all my bathroom products and grooming supplies when I’m on the road. It’s durable and can last through tons of wear and tear, which led Becca to put it in her list of the best travel accessories for backpackers.

Because it bares such a similarity to my Tech Pouch (for all my electronic accessories, charging cables and wires, as I’ve detailed at my Peak Design Tech Pouch review), I feel like I’m traveling in style when I use it. I also have it in two colors: Black, and the new Coyote gold.

Here’s a photo of the Black Peak Design Tech Pouch next to the Peak Design Wash Pouch. Can you tell the difference?

Spoiler: The Wash Pouch is on the right and is a little bigger in length.

Review of the highlights

A few must-have elements of the Wash Pouch that I want to share with you are:

Uprightness & hanging ability

When I’m neatening up my hotel room, I can get the entire Wash Pouch to sit up on its own, and if I want to hang it on a towel bar, I use the stow-able hook.

Weatherproof materials

By weatherproof, I mean “water repellent,” and it’s exactly what I want in the fabrics of a toiletries bag. The strong material build of this pouch is on par with my Peak Design tech bag and backpacks (wow). (If you want to see in-depth at Peak Design’s best-in-class materials, head to a gear review like my Peak Design Everyday Backpack review.)

Helpful and functional pockets

In the past, I’ve used toiletry bags that have no organization; in comparison, the Peak Design Wash Pouch has mesh pockets and holders, a dedicated toothbrush pocket and an inside zipper pocket (for dry things like ear plugs and tabs of pills or medicines).

Grab handle

This feature is just a bonus, as it’s a useful way to grab the entire pouch froma hotel bathroom counter. If I have my hands full while I’m packing up my hotel room for checkout, I can hold it by the handle and carry a few other things simultaneously.

Critique and room for improvement

There are some places where the Peak Design Wash Pouch could improve, and I base that on my use of another leading toiletry bag.

Toothbrush slot

In trying out my toothbrush in the toothbrush pocket with the magnetic closure, it did not quite fit. I wondered why, as my toothbrush is a standard size. It was a bit disappointing.

To correct this, I found that my toothbrush fits perfectly, and with some extra space, in the exterior zip pocket. I’m fine with this. I also usually use a toothbrush cover anyway. The exterior zip pocket turns out to be a handy spot with some forgiving room to fit both a toothbrush and a tube of travel-sized toothpaste.

See how everything works out in these photos.

No plastic-lined waterproof section

You’ll see in all of the Peak Design description about this product that the entire Wash Pouch is wipe-able, and all the materials are waterproof.

There’s something to say, though, about the fact that my Bagsmart Toiletry Bag has a dedicated zippered side pocket that’s lined with wipe-able plastic. I like that a lot, and I make sure to put my wet stuff from the shower in there if I have to take a shower, check out of a hotel room and then fly home or onward from somewhere.

The inside of the entire PD Wash Pouch is water-repellent and the inside pockets can be pulled out to wipe clean. I don’t know—there’s just something that feels much more “waterproof” to me about a clear plastic-lined pocket where my wet stuff can go.

If you keep scrolling, you’ll see where I compare them below.

Clip for towel bar

I’ve read some other criticisms about the hook for a towel bar, and how that works in real life. I haven’t had issues with it. I could see, though, that if you have a lot of volume in your wash pouch, that maybe the entire wash pouch would hang awkwardly.

Comparison to other toiletry bags

Toiletry bags for travel are very creative these days, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t compare the Peak Design Wash Pouch to the travel toiletry bag that Becca and I have been sharing for all our trips recently.

It’s the Bagsmart Toiletry Bag, and it has three compartments, each with dedicated zippers from the outside. The middle section that has elastic organizers and holders on each side opens with a double zipper. Each side pocket has a different function, with one side having an interior mesh zipper pocket and the other one being lined with wipe-able plastic for wet things.

The difference is that our Bagsmart Toiletry Bag stands upright on its own, whereas the Peak Design Wash Pouch still “sits upright,” but opens in a more accordion-style way. And I have to mention that the Bagsmart one, with all its trimmings, is bigger and fatter, weighing 9.9oz, whereas the Peak Design Pouch is 8.7. You can feel the difference.

Lastly, it’s a quarter of the price of the Peak Design one, which is competitive, but the quality and materials are not nearly the same (although in all honesty, they’re holding up well).

I will say that where the Peak Design Wash Pouch wins is in its weatherproofed elevated zippers. Those just can’t be beat, because after all, this is a Peak Design product and it’s built with all the technical features that make me enjoy using my PD Travel Backpack, Everyday Backpack, Tech Pouch, Field Pouch, Packing Cubes and Shoe Pouch.

(In this photo, you can see the Peak Design specialty zippers, compared to the regular Bagsmarat zippers in the toiletry bag behind it.)

Worth it?

If you’re leaning toward having all your packing accessories match, I suggest going with an all-Peak-Design setup. The Wash Pouch adds a minimal, slim and strong touch to my packing accessories, and I can be nearly sure that with those weatherproofed zippers I talk about above, there will be no leaks from liquids on my valuables or clothes.

As you’ve seen from my other Peak Design reviews, Peak Design’s Lifetime Guarantee really means that their products are the best, and if they stop performing at any point in their lifespan, they will replace the item for free.

What else should you know before buying a Peak Design product? Head to my Peak Design brand review to find out, and it also might be helpful to see my Peak Design Shoe Pouch review for completing your packing setup.

Where to get yours

You can get a Peak Design Wash Pouch on the Peak Design website, of course. And just like I recommend in my Peak Design packing cubes review, if you want to hunt down a lightly-used one in the Peak Design Preowned Store, you may find a deal.

Keep in mind that by ordering your PD products through Peak Design directly, you get that Lifetime Guarantee that’ll protect your Peak Design item through the years.

Other Peak Design packing accessories?

I was one of the first to try out Peak Design’s Packing Cubes for travel when they first came out, and you can see more about them in my Peak Design Packing Cube review.

To complete the picture with your packing products, try the Peak Design Shoe Pouch as well, as I had a lot of luck using it for my trips this year.

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