OBOW Light Travel Forum > Sink-laundry virgin
The laundry stomp might work if you need to do more than one day's laundry at a time. I'd want to know that the shower or tub is clean but I assume it would work as well as a sink which (what I usually use). The key to sink laundry is carry about three or four days' worth of underclothing so you don't absolutely have to wash every night. Clothing (besides underwear) can usually be worn at least twice - sometimes more depending on the fabric and weather - without being washed. Just hanging stuff up at night so that it can air out is very helpful, also helps with wrinkles. You can hang maybe one l/s shirt and a couple each undershirts and boxers on a line. They sag in the the middle so you can't load them too heavily. I like to pack one or two plastic hangers since hotel hangers often won't hang on the shower rod. See my special, homemade, odor-fighting sink laundry formula. It keeps synthetic underclothing from getting so smelly.
Oh - and the most important laundry tip - aside from choosing quick-dry clothing - is to ask for extra bath towels so you can roll your newly-laundered clothing in them to absorb water. This can cut drying time in half.
Frank@OBOW
Stomping on the towel-roll of wet clothing really helps, too. I've taken to carrying no more than two outfits (unless I'm doing something weird that needs significantly different clothes) and washing is really easy. I take the dirty outfit into the shower with me, give it a wash, and I leave a towel next to the shower on the toilet seat lid to put the wet clothing onto while I'm finishing up in the shower.
Another good thing is all the new 'clinical strength' deodorant out there - it really keeps my BF fresh as a daisy.
Kit
I recently read a post on a TripAdvisor forum where a lady said she took her day's dirty laundry with her into the shower, tossed it on the shower floor and stomped around on it a bit while she shampooed, lathered and rinsed. The post itself wasn't really about doing laundry in the hotel, but it got me thinking. This idea really appeals to my "efficient guy who likes to kill two birds with one stone" side. I'm making my first one-bag vacation trip in a few days for two weeks in England and this will also be my first time doing laundry in a hotel room. I haven't found much information on the mechanics of this process and was wondering how others with experience did this. Also, I have one of those clotheslines made of surgical tubing, but I wonder how much weight it can hold. Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike