Guitar great Eric Clapton relaxes between gigs whenever he is on tour in America by hitting the local laundromat.

The rocker stunned fans in 2011 when a Wenn paparazzo caught him taking care of his own washing, but Clapton reveals he has been checking out spin cycles for years.

He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I'm very fussy about how my clothes are washed. (Hotels) destroy stuff, and I don't like that they put starch in there. I like tumble-dry. And it's a good reality check.

"The first thing I do when I get to any American town when we're on the road is find a laundromat."

The Layla hitmaker has even found a way of dealing with fans who recognise him in the laundromat: "If someone's going to freak out, you look them in the eye, and it sort of calms them down. When we're waiting for our stuff to finish in the wash, we're on the same level. It's very human. I like it."