DIY camp sink with JÄLL laundry bag

DIY camp sink with IKEA JÄLL laundry bag

IKEA items used:
JÄLL Laundry bag with stand

I had been sourcing parts to make a DIY camp sink. I found most of the parts I needed from marine supply stores, however, the missing component for me was the basin. Lo and behold, I realized the JÄLL set would make a perfect basin, plus it’s got a built-in stand to boot!

While the EVA plastic shell is already waterproof, the seams are not. I went through the extra trouble of sealing the seams, but this proved pointless, as the sealant I used (aquarium sealant) did not adhere very well to the EVA. If I were to do this again I’d probably try tent seam sealer. In any case, this is meant to be used outdoors, so a little bit of seam leakage is not going to hurt anyone.

Laundry bag shortened and fastened with grommets

I shortened the laundry bag to sink depth by simply folding over the bag and grommeting it together. If I had a bit more time, I would have cut it to length and sewn it back together.

The spout was sourced from a marine supply store. It comes with a fastening nut that holds it in place within a hole drilled into a board. The board is fastened to the JÄLL frame using the clip from a bike reflector.

DIY camp sink spout sourced from a marine supply store

Drainage

Top view of the drain, again, sourced from a marine supply store (plastic thru-hull drain). I used a generous amount of sealant around the edges of the drain.

DIY camp sink drainage

Bottom view of the drain. You can see how the drain is threaded into place, with a simple PVC pipe feeding it into the gray water container. Next to it, I have the clean source water container. The PVC pipes tended to be a bit stiff. In the future, I may have to bring a torch to mold them into shape. As it was, the drain pipe tended to stretch the basin out at weird angles. (You can see it twisting the basin in the previous photo)

DIY camp sink powered by foot pump

This is what powers the water flow: a marine foot pump. Water is fed into one side from the source container. The pump pushes the water out the other side to the faucet.

That’s it! All in all, it worked fairly well on our first outing. The JÄLL’s stated weight limit is 17 lbs of laundry, so you might not want to stack too many dishes in there. Happy camping!

~ by Kirby Szeto