No matter where you go, one thing stays the same, dirty laundry piles up. If you are on an extended trip, you may not have any choice but to do laundry at some point. Hotel laundromats and laundry service can get expensive quick but there is an easy way to do laundry while traveling without spending a fortune. Besides, no one wants to lose precious vacation time at a laundromat when you could be visiting instead. So might as well wash your clothes in your hotel room instead.
Washing clothes in a sink or bathtub
By far, the simplest method to wash clothes is in the sink or bathtub and it is the method that I use the most. Simply fill a sink or bathtub with water, add detergent, then let your clothes soak for a few minutes. Afterward, squeeze the clothing while it is in the water. This forces the water and detergent between the fibers. Once you are done, empty the soapy water, replace it with fresh water and squeeze until you have rinsed all of the soap out of the piece of clothing and hang to dry.
Cleaner clothes with a Washbag
If you don’t like the idea of washing your clothes in the sink, the Scrubba Wash Bag is a great alternative. It can wash up to two shirts, two pairs of socks and two pairs of underwear in the same load. With it’s wash-board like an inner scrub panel located inside the bag, you will get exceptionally clean clothes. Simply add water to the line on the bag, add a packet of detergent and mix. Then add your clothes, remove the air and seal the bag. Once that is done, scrub the clothes together inside the bag, then rinse and hang to dry. Best of all, it only weighs five ounces and folds to the size of a wallet. So it’s very easy to carry along with you, no matter where you go. As a bonus, the Scrubba Wash Bag is even safe to use in a river or lake.
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Essentials to wash your clothes on vacation
No matter which method you choose, a couple of things will stay the same; you will need soap to wash with and a way to hang your clothes up to dry once they are clean. Now you could go buy individual laundry packs at Target but these are intended for a full load in a laundry machine. If you wash in a sink, you will not need the entire packet. So you will end up with an open, half used packet lying around and an accident just waiting to happen. You are much better off getting a sink packet like the ones below because they are premeasured for sink sized loads. And you will not have any soap left over after you wash your items.
Best Travel Laundry Soap
Personally, Tide is my favorite brand of laundry detergent because it smells fresh and does a great job at getting the dirt out of my clothes. Also, they make a travel size so I never have to compromise on my brand. However, I don’t like using Tide on delicates. So if you are washing delicates, I recommend SinkSuds instead because it is very similar to Woolite and will not cause stretching, shrinking or fading. However don’t expect it to sud as much as Tide, because it won’t but it will still leave your clothes clean and smelling fresh. Since these packets are small and easy to carry, I usually carry a couple of packs of each brand so that I can wash any item of clothing that I take with me.
Don’t forget a Sink Stopper
Since not all hotel rooms have a sink stopper, make sure that you bring one with you. Honestly, there’s nothing worst then wanting to wash your clothes but not being able to cause the sink won’t hold water. Ideally, get a universal one so that it will fit any size sink or bathtub drain.
How to Dry your clothes while traveling
If you want your clothes to dry as quickly as possible, you will need to hang them on a clothesline. Because if you hang them on the back of a chair, one side will not dry as quickly as the other. When you need to depart, you will have clothes that are wet on one side but dry on the other. Eventually, this could create mold in your suitcase. So might as well get a clothesline for them to dry properly.
Travel Secrets
And Hacks
- If you want your clothes to dry faster, roll them in a towel before you hang them up to dry.
- Keep in mind that not all sinks have a stopper. So make sure that you bring one with you just in case.
- For easy drying, bring a travel clothesline with you. They can be attached in the shower, inside the room or on a balcony. Get one with clothespins so that you can easily hang your clothes.
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