Do Laundry While Traveling

If you're going to be away from home for more than a few days, washing clothes along the way will mean carrying far less. On an extended trip, washing clothes may be the only way to travel. It's not difficult or even time consuming to wash your own clothes while you are away.

Steps

  1. Plan ahead. Part of being able to do laundry on the road is packing accordingly. Pack lighter, wrinkle-resistant clothing that will dry quickly.

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    • If it will be cold at your destination, dress in layers. You can use lighter garments, and you may not need to wash the outer layers as frequently as the inner ones.
    • Pack fewer garments. Plan to wash a few items more often. You can travel with as few as two or three changes of clothing and not have to carry so much luggage.
    • Plan to wear some items more than once before they are washed. You should wear clean underwear daily, but you can wear pants and outer shirts a couple of times before washing, if they are not too dirty. However, make sure they pass the smell test: if the strong odor you notice is not detergent or fabric softener, wash it.
  2. Bring laundry supplies. It is generally easiest to find these items at home, where you know the area. See the list below in the Things You'll Need section. If you choose wisely, all the laundry supplies together can take up less space and require less weight than one change of clothes.

  3. Many US hotels have their own self-service laundries. Be sure to bring sufficient change in addition to travel-size detergent sealed in a baggie in case of accident. Dryer sheets such as fabric softener and color/stain removers travel well in baggies. Consider bringing a tube or two of spot remover for small soiling emergencies. (These are also great at work, in the car, or even in your home laundry.)
  4. Keep alternatives in mind. If you are more willing to spend money rather than time, you need not do all your laundry yourself.

    • Find out if there is a laundry service where you are staying. Many hotels and hostels offer laundry service, which can be a good option if your budget permits or your wardrobe requires it.
    • Look for a laundromat or laundry service near where you are staying. Most towns and cities have them. They are a good alternative to washing clothes by hand, especially if you have more clothes to wash at once.
    • Remember that you can mix approaches for laundry. You might pay to send clothes that need to look good for a business meeting but wash underwear and pajamas by hand in the sink to save time and money.
    • Check days and times. Depending on where you are, laundry service may not be available on Sundays. You may need to drop off your laundry before a certain hour to have it back the same day or the next day.
  5. Watch your timing. If you have a couple of days' outfits and you think ahead a bit, you can generally avoid having to cram damp clothing into a suitcase just before a long flight or bus trip.
  6. Shower first. While not strictly required, it will get you out of your dirty clothes (the ones you need to wash) and it will mean you shower with a dry towel if you're doing laundry by hand.

    • Consider showering in the evening, either before dinner if you need to freshen up, or before bed. You'll avoid taking the day's travels with you to bed, and your laundry and towel will have overnight to dry.
  7. Plan where you will hang the laundry before you get anything wet. Almost any hotel or hostel room will have some option for hanging laundry if you get creative, but it's far better to figure out where to hang stuff before you have a bunch of wet laundry.

  8. Place the sink stopper (plug) in the drain.

  9. Add laundry and soap, shampoo, or detergent, as you fill the sink with cool or warm water.

  10. Wash the clothes by moving them around in the soapy water. You can apply extra soap or detergent directly to any stains and any places you know are dirty: bottoms of socks, underarms, underwear, and so on.

  11. Rub the fabric against itself gently to help the soap do its job.

  12. Drain the soapy water out of the sink and squeeze the laundry gently to get most of the soap out.

  13. Refill the sink with clean water to rinse the laundry. Squeeze the water through the fabric a bit.

  14. Drain the sink again and let the laundry drip out for a few moments.
  15. Squeeze out excess water with your hands. Do not wring or twist the fabric. Just squeeze. The more water you get out this way, the less your towel will need to soak up.

  16. Lay the damp garments in a single layer on a bath towel.

  17. Roll the towel around them and squeeze to remove most of the excess water, or put the rolled towel on the floor and walk back and forth on it. At this point, most garments should dry reasonably quickly and you should be able to hang them without too much dripping.



  18. Hang the clothes to dry. Leave as much space around them as possible, and leave closet doors or windows open (climate and security permitting) to ensure air circulation.

    • Many hotel rooms include at least a few hangers in their closets.
  19. Hang the towel to dry also.
  20. Dry garments the rest of the way. If hanging overnight did the job, great. If not, try these options.

    • Use the hotel iron. Many hotel rooms include irons and ironing boards, and you can press the whole garment or just touch up cuffs, collars, pockets, etc. that didn't dry completely. Make sure the fabric can take the heat, and avoid ironing silkscreens on t-shirts.
    • Leave it hanging longer. If you're staying another day and one or two things in the closet won't be in the way of the hotel staff, leave it be.
    • If the room has forced-air heat or ventilation (like a blower, usually below the window), drape the garment so the airflow hits it. Either hang the garment on a chair in front of the blower or -- for faster drying, although it can make your garment kind of stiff -- drape it directly over the blower vent (reposition as needed).
    • Put it on, anyway. It may be a bit uncomfortable at first, but your body heat will help to dry stuff the last part of the way in a reasonable time. Don't do this if it's cold or if you already have a cold and are trying to stay warm.

Tips

  • Keep hotel and hostel housekeeping staff in mind. Don't hang laundry where it will drip onto surfaces that could be damaged, such as wood or carpet. Keep laundry out of the way of housekeeping activities such as cleaning the bathroom.
  • Try washing your clothes, and especially try washing them by hand, before leaving home. Leave behind anything that runs, anything that takes an unduly long time to dry, and any other potential problems.
  • Keep the humidity in mind. Lightweight garments will dry overnight in most climates, but articles will take longer to dry in jungles and rain forests than in deserts.
  • If just a small part of a garment is still wet, like the waist band of boxer shorts, you can use the hair dryer on just those spots for a few minutes.
  • Squeeze, don't wring. Wringing stretches the fabric.
  • Hair conditioner can be used as a fabric softener. They have the same basic chemical composition and effect on fibres. Fabric softener isn't always necessary, though.
  • Look for clothing and underwear made from fast drying materials such as polyester or Coolmax. These can dry in a few hours. You can travel for several weeks with only one change of clothing.
  • Choose your fabrics carefully. Cotton garments can take a long time to dry, while wicking fabrics dry quickly.
  • Socks and underwear can easily be washed when you shower before bed - put them on the shower floor (avoiding the plughole), and agitate them with your feet as you shower. Shampoo is a mild detergent that also works on washable fabrics, and you can rinse as you step out.
  • Hang clothes as close to the air conditioner fan as you can. Air conditioning dries out the air, which gives a faster drying to your clothes, and it helps add some moisture back into the air to aid a more natural sleep.
  • Keep on top of your laundry. Wash clothing every day or two, and don't accumulate dirty clothes. You can travel with just two or three changes of clothes if you want to, and if you're doing laundry by hand, it's far easier to find enough space to hang up one or two days' worth of clothing than a weeks' worth. It will also take less time.
  • Learning not to wash every item every day is also a big plus for the environment - most outer garments can go a few days being clean enough for everyday wear.
  • A small squeeze bottle of Woolite or travel packs make an excellent travel detergent for cold water washing. Or, carry a bar of laundry soap. It's designed for hand washing laundry, you can carry it through security, and if you allow it to dry out between uses, one small bar lasts and lasts.

Warnings

  • Avoid packing clothing that is still damp. It could get smelly or mildewed. Put it on if you can, or simply don't wash it if you know you're about to pack up and move.
  • Don't hang clothes from anything that needs to be accessible in case of emergency, such as escape handles, fire sprinkler heads, and such.
  • Don't drape wet fabric over finished wood. You could damage both the wood and the fabric.
  • Wet laundry can be heavy. If you're improvising hanging space using towel racks, shower rods, plumbing fixtures, doorknobs, or anything else, make sure that it can take the weight.

Things You'll Need

  • A universal sink stopper (plug). This is a flat disk of rubber that fits over any drain. In a pinch, a sheet of flexible plastic wrap (such as Saran® or Glad® brands) works too.
  • A travel clothesline. Look for one at a camping or sporting goods store.
  • Inflatable or folding hangers. Wire hangers from the dry cleaners are lightweight and bendable alternatives.
  • Laundry detergent, or the shampoo or bar soap that you're already carrying or getting from a hotel.
  • Stain treatment.
  • A towel. If you do not expect to find one where you are staying, carry one with you. Look for a quick-drying travel towel that can be wrung out and reused or packed.
  • A laundry bag, if you wish to isolate dirty laundry from clean laundry in your luggage.
  • Money or coins, if you will be using a laundry service or laundromat.

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