As I was writing last week’s post, I found myself going down a bit of a rabbit hole on a related topic: doing laundry while traveling. Our ability to pack for long trips depends on being able to do laundry regularly, basically once a week. Doing so rests on several factors, including clothing colors and fabrics.
Clothing color is obvious, I hope. White and other light-colored fabrics generally show dirt long before you might want to wash them. That doesn’t mean your wardrobe needs to be all black or gloomy clothes, however. A scarf or accessory in a light color can do a lot to brighten an outfit; even darker clothes with a bright pattern can take advantage of the lighter color without getting caught in a cycle of having to frequently do laundry.
The fabric makes a difference, particularly if it has a “nap,” like suede. Rough surfaces pick up dirt and require cleaning more often than smoother materials. But it’s the composition of the fabric that will make the biggest difference in how often, and how much time you spend doing laundry while traveling.
Quick-drying fabric allows you to hand wash your item and it’ll be ready to wear the next day. Made of nylon, polyester, merino wool, or a blend of those threads, they may also be called “moisture wicking.” While wearing them you will likely not sweat as much because the moisture is moved away from your skin; they are also good for preventing blisters as you don’t get as much skin-fabric friction. Brands like Patagonia and Athleta carry good-looking, long-lasting quick-drying clothing. (Real-world knowledge: wash these items regularly, and especially if they get stinky. Once the smell has “set” into the fabric you cannot clean it out.)
There are a few ways to tackle laundry while traveling:
- hotel service
- pay someone else
- laundromat
- washer in your lodging
- do it in the sink/ tub
Each option will cost you something, either money (hotel service/ pay someone else) or time (all the other options). In the US and Europe, the hotel service will probably be very expensive, although they may know of a local service that will do it for you at a more reasonable rate. (I’m told that in Asia this service is quite affordable.) In some places, the only option is the hotel service.
A laundromat is usually inexpensive, if only in terms of money. So of course, the universe being a harsh mistress sometimes, there can be plenty of tradeoffs. Doing laundry in a public place takes time away from your travel. Maybe that’s not such a big deal if you’ve got a good pile of vacation time, but most people have limited time to spend traveling. And let’s not forget that finding a convenient laundromat isn’t all that easy. Similar to a hotel service, some laundromats offer an option where you drop off your laundry and a staff member will wash, dry, and fold your laundry for you. You just need to pick it back up.
Although, not always. On our honeymoon in 2012 we stayed at a shmancy hotel-cum-estate called Cameron House. Stories about this stay will wait for another time; what’s relevant here is that when we sought out laundry services we were directed to a lovely family who did pick-up and delivery services. Yes, they charged for it, but it still was much cheaper than using on-site hotel laundry. I can’t swear that this is incredibly common, but it’s at least worth looking out for.
The easiest option — in every way — is to make sure you book a place with a washer in your unit. No money and you can run a load whenever it’s convenient for you. In our experience, the thing you need to pay attention to is how you will dry your laundry after you wash it. If there is a dryer, no worries. If it’s a rack, you’ll need to pay attention to the time it’ll take to dry. (Real-world advice, if there isn’t a picture of an electric dryer, then no matter if one is listed it’s not an electric dryer, but a rack. If this turns out not to be true, bonus! But don’t count on it.) Your final option is to hand wash items. I think this option is pretty much always ideal for small items like socks and underwear. For your larger pieces of clothing, it’s more complicated. Your decision matrix is something like: time in room / estimated drying time / fabric composition / level of dirt to clean / reasonable place to hang or lay out clothes to dry.
Drying time. As a comparison of drying times:
| Inside | Outside | |
| Cotton | 2-4 hours | 1 hour, except jeans |
| Polyester | 2-4 hours | Less than an hour |
| Nylon | 4-6 hours | 1-2 hours |
| Merino Wool | 2-4 hours | Less than an hour |
| Silk | 1 hour | 30 mins (avoid direct sunlight) |
| Linen | 2-4 hours | 1 hour (avoid direct sunlight unless you are trying to bleach it) |
Unsurprisingly, jeans will take significantly longer. Expect a full day inside and 4-6 hours outside on a dry, sunny day. Note that you almost always want to avoid direct sunlight as it can bleach your clothes. If you can’t avoid the sunlight, at least turn your clothes inside out; this won’t magically prevent any and all sun damage, but it helps a little. After all, who cares if the inside of your favorite t-shirt is a little faded?
Soil level. Handwashing very dirty clothes is an exercise in frustration. No matter how easy it is, if your clothes end up being smelly despite the wash, it’s just waste all around.
Fabric composition. As I’ve already discussed, this has an impact on the time your clothes will take to dry.
For easy-to-carry laundry detergent, I really REALLY like the laundry strips from TruEarth. They come in pieces of two, and 1/2 of a piece (or, one-quarter of the entire piece) is sufficient to do a full load of laundry. “Tru” story (ha ha :p): we have a Ziploc bag stuffed with these here in Portugal, as we’d heard that finding unscented cleaning products could be painfully difficult. That’s turned out to be (mostly) true and we’re so glad to have our stash of laundry detergent. If you’ll mostly be doing handwashing, you can use a smaller piece of the strips, depending on the size of the sink (or tub!).
Tips for handwashing while traveling:
- Use less detergent than you think you’ll need; it’ll be easier to rinse your clothes.
- Wet the clothes before adding them to the soapy water, then knead them to get them clean. Washing is always a mechanical process, not a chemical one.
- Wash the “cleanest” items first, working your way up to the dirtiest. Change the water if it gets noticeably dirty.
- Rinse until there are absolutely no more suds.
- Wring the items as free of water as possible before hanging up to dry. Heavy items, like jeans or sweaters, can be rolled in a towel to extract maximum water.
- Hang everything up.
- If your sink stopper is missing or doesn’t work well, place the shower cap, or another piece of plastic, over the hole, then fill with coins to keep it in place. (If you handwash a lot, a simple sink stopper might be a good addition to your luggage.)
One final comment, if you are someone who sweats a lot you will want to change your top daily. One thing that will help is to invest in “clinical” deodorant to keep your sweat from being smelly (I use Lanvilian which is aluminum- and scent-free and lasts up to 72 hours; Secret Clinical Strength is also very good). The other investment is in tops (any clothing, really) made of quick-drying fabric.
