How to wash when traveling

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We will tell you how to save on laundries and always be neat on vacation. Washing, drying and other life hacks in this article.

Whether you are climbing mountain peaks with a backpack on your shoulders or lounging on the deck, wherever and how you rest, you still accumulate dirty laundry.

How to wash when traveling? There are several options.

Laundry at the hotel. I gave away the dirty clothes and went, for example, on an excursion, and when I returned, I received everything clean and ironed. Convenient, isn't it? This service is provided by many hotels and even hostels. But usually it is paid (even with the All inclusive system). But it is convenient and saves time.
City laundry. Most large towns and cities have public laundries. In the West, they work on the principle of self-service: you put your own laundry, dry, iron, and so on. It takes time. In the post-Soviet space, you simply dry-clean your clothes and pick them up at the appointed time. The service is paid, but often cheaper than the "hotel wash". The problem is that there are no such establishments in non-tourist places.
Handwash. In the bathroom, sink, basin, rubberized bag - wherever travelers wash their things. Without spending money, but very energy consuming.

To make the latter less troublesome, we will give you some tips on how to properly wash on vacation.

What to take with you

If you plan on doing your own laundry, put the following in your bag when you go on vacation:

Sink stopper. It is better to take a universal silicone plug: it fits all drains. Alternatively, you can use a plastic bag.
Detergents and cleaners. Liquid soap capsules, powder, gel - all can be purchased locally. But for a hike, you need to take care of this in advance. (Take the small bottles!) There are even travel laundry products. They are less soapy, easy to rinse out, but deal well with dirt.
Inflatable or foldable hangers. These hangers take up little space in your luggage, but they don't wrinkle your clothes.

Ropes with carabiners and clothespins. These ropes can be found at sporting goods stores. Carabiners allow you to pull the rope almost anywhere: on a balcony, between trees, and so on. You will need clothespins if you have silk items or in case of windy weather

A sealed plastic bag may also come in handy. If you don’t have time or don’t want to wash some of the things, you can put them in this bag so as not to mix with clean clothes. If available, you can also take a handheld steamer with you. In case there is no iron in the room, and you need to be brand new.

Washing rules

If you plan to do your own laundry while traveling, think carefully about your wardrobe. Take your everyday clothes in pairs: while one T-shirt is drying, you can walk in the other.

Give preference to materials that are easy to wash and dry quickly. For example, natural cotton fabrics. Take a close look at the labels on your clothes. Do not take items that require washing at high temperatures.

Soak or wash (laundry soap works well for this) the dirtiest areas. Usually these are the heels of socks, armpits of T-shirts, underwear. Wash colors, whites and blacks separately in different waters.

Bag wash

Many housewives use polyester bags for a more delicate machine wash. But the bag, however rubber or plastic, can be useful for hand washing.

Ashley Newland is an avid traveler and inventor. He invented the Scrubba Wash Bag, a portable travel “washing machine”. It is a tight-fitting rubberized bag with bumps inside. A tourist acts as a "motor". In such a "machine" you can wash a couple of T-shirts, shorts, socks and other essentials. In this case, very little water is needed (the volume of the bag is from two to four liters), and instead of powder, you can use ordinary shampoo. Plus, you can fold and carry things into it.

A more budget option is to wash in a gripper bag or a regular plastic bag. Perhaps not very convenient, but accessible wherever you are.

Wash in the sink

It is more convenient in a basin, but where can you get it in a hotel or - even more so - in nature? The sink will perfectly cope with its "functions". After plugging the drain, draw in the required amount of hot water. Wash your clothes and then rinse them under running water. See how simple it is.

How easy it is to wring out the laundry

It is very difficult to wring out clothes to a semi-dry state, as a washing machine does, by hand. And if you hang things completely damp, then water will drip from them - you have to substitute something or constantly wipe the puddles. But there is a simple solution.

Take a highly absorbent towel (for example, microfiber), spread the items on it and roll it all into a roll. Press firmly on the resulting roller (you can even walk with your feet), and then unwind. The laundry will no longer be damp, but damp and dry much faster.

But even well-wrung clothes can be heavy while wet. Always check the reliability of ropes, towel holders and other drying "equipment". Also, do not hang laundry on "wooden" furniture: it can swell from moisture.

Drying rules

Try to schedule your wash so that the items have time to dry. Do not pack wet clothes in a suitcase! If you have a long way to go, it will become moldy and smell bad. Not sure if everything can dry before you leave? Better not to wash.

Consider the humidity in the air. In regions with a dry climate, clothes dry in literally minutes, in the subtropics and tropics it will take much longer.

Linen dries well in a draft. Try to place it so that it is blown by an air conditioner or fan.

Finally, don't dry things on yourself. Even if it's hot outside, it's easy to catch a cold in wet clothes.

Now you know how to wash while traveling. We hope you find our tips helpful. Are there any additions? Welcome to comments.