Dirty clothes

Not really a cruise question since on a cruise everyone unpacks and packs once. But, on an extended land trip, when you are in a different hotel every few nights and traveling by public transportation. I'm looking for ideas on how to handle dirty laundry. I currently put dirty clothes in plastic bags to separate them from clean clothes until laundry day.

I do this on any trip including cruises - I use an extra large size "space bag". Not the kind you need to do with a vacuum but the kind that you "roll" the air out of. It compacts the clothes when they go back into the suitcase until we either get home or get to a laundry and also no odor is released when the back is ziplocked. On a cruise, each day the laundry gets put into the bag and then I just zip it up and roll it to take it home.

My cruises are always part of extended land trips, I have a mesh drawstring laundry bag that goes everywhere with me, but honestly, when I leave the hotel, or the cruise ship, everything is clean, I send laundry out every day, & bring a certain number of older undies for both of us, so the undies from the last night of sleep in the hotel or ship get thrown away when we shower that morning.

I have a little rubbermaid container with our travel things where I set aside any under-things that are looking faded or stretched.

Quite often I take a couple of tee shirts for throw aways too, especially for DH, when we travel his base layer is always a fitted, black v neck shirt. We usually pack 5 brand new ones, & 3 to throw away on travel days. They're great because you can wear them casual with a light fleese or throw a blazer on at night for more dressy.

I try to find hotels with laundries!! Not everywhere will have that option, but when I can find it, that's what I book....I don't mind throwing a load of clothes in a machine....then I don't have to have "dirty" clothes!!!

If I can't do laundry, then by the end of the trip almost everything is dirty, so I don't worry about "separating" things....it will all go in the wash! We generally have 2 suitcases, so one is for clean, the other for dirty, after a couple days!

I try to find hotels with laundries!! Not everywhere will have that option, but when I can find it, that's what I book....I don't mind throwing a load of clothes in a machine....then I don't have to have "dirty" clothes!!!

 

If I can't do laundry, then by the end of the trip almost everything is dirty, so I don't worry about "separating" things....it will all go in the wash! We generally have 2 suitcases, so one is for clean, the other for dirty, after a couple days!

You won't find hotels with self laundry in Europe, for that matter, finding a laundry mat isn't easy. I consider the fee for sending out my laundry well worth the price to be able to pack light & not ask for help getting my suitcase on a train... plus, traveling with dirty clothes... not my idea of fun.

I should add, we don't do warm weather travel, it's always either cool or really cold when we go, so that does make a difference in clothing staying clean, we're not dealing with sweaty clothing.

You won't find hotels with self laundry in Europe, for that matter, finding a laundry mat isn't easy. I consider the fee for sending out my laundry well worth the price to be able to pack light & not ask for help getting my suitcase on a train... plus, traveling with dirty clothes... not my idea of fun.

 

 

 

I should add, we don't do warm weather travel, it's always either cool or really cold when we go, so that does make a difference in clothing staying clean, we're not dealing with sweaty clothing.

Hadn't thought that a laundromat would be hard to find in Europe. Hmmmm...we will be on land for about 3 months and had planned to do laundry about once a week. Any suggestions for finding laudromats?

Hadn't thought that a laundromat would be hard to find in Europe. Hmmmm...we will be on land for about 3 months and had planned to do laundry about once a week. Any suggestions for finding laudromats?

I would ask on Trip Advisor, the ones that I have personally seen have been drop off type, not self serve. I've seen actual self serve laundry mats in the more dodgy areas... think lower income apartment areas.

I'd really recommend planning on budgeting for sending some clothes out... & bringing things that are drip dry, & washing some in your sink.

Another good bet is to ask at your hotel for the location of the nearest laundry mat. Hope you have a great trip.

Hi, I just wanted to add: if you're staying in hostels they often have self serve laundry facilities, that might work for you on such a long trip, there are some really nice hostels with private rooms nowadays. :)

Wayfairers,

I am thinking of one town in Germany where I lived. It has two Laundromats that I know of, both have attendants and I had to drop off my laundry. None of them are in areas frequented by visitors despite the fact that the town has two universities and is very touristy. Best bet is to ask in your hotel.

I keep the dirty laundry in plastic bags. When we both have a suitcase, one gets dedicated to clean only. We also schedule a few two or three night hotels, a time frame which allows to wash and dry smaller items. I roll them in towels to get more water out. I have plastic hangers with clothes-pins attached and take them into the room over night. Things don't dry well in the bathrooms.

Some of the light travel websites have info about washing on a trip

Check out ladylighttravel.com and Rick Steves' website.

Be mindful of time of year. In Rome many B&B's are in apartment buildings. The heat is only required to be on 15 November - 15 March. Radiators dry clothes quickly. ;)

There is a self serve laundry in the tourist section of Travestere and a drop off up the hill in MonteVerde Vecchio. Neither are easy for the casual tourist to find.

I carry a plastic laundry bag (or two) that I grab from my hotel before I leave for a trip. I'll put what I need to clean in there.

I've never had a problem finding a laundromat or laundry when I've traveled and needed one. They are mostly in the residential sections of towns, not the tourist section. Just ask your hotelier for the location of the closest one, or even ask someone at the local market. I've had great experiences at local laundromats - good sociological study :p I can have time to relax, read, catch up on journalling, email, postcards...

That said, I try to travel with clothes that I can hand wash and dry myself. When I can't do that, I have no issue with the local laundry!

I carry a small roll of Glad tall garbage bags with frebreeze. Use the plastic bag for laundry and the deodorant does a great job of keeping the smell away -- especially on a cruise in a very small inside cabin. Trouble with cabins is space is a premium and you can't get away from the clothing smells. I like the garbage bags because then each suitcase's assigned clothes can go right back in that suitcase and don't have to worry about the weight on flight back. I also find it useful to take a lightweight nylon zipper duffle bag and dirty laundry can just be shipped back in that bag at end of trip (if no fee:) ).

Some of my neatest travel adventures have been in pursuit of clean clothing. In Germany, I had suds running all over the floor and out the door because I did not realize the soap was dispensed from a wall coin slot directly to machine (well I don't read directions let alone German directions). The little Irish lady who did the laundry with "enjoy your vacation and don't worry dear" and the nuns at tourist house above the Vatican (they also baby sat the girls) and in Turkey the hike down the road with the maid -- her mother did my laundry and fixed a torn skirt) and Fiji where the lady sternly told my hubby that he should recognize his wife's underwear when all mine went missing!:p. I even laugh at myself when I think of a river cruise where I did laundry in the bathtub by doing a grape stomp agitation ala I Love Lucy. And that does not include the hundreds of wonderful conversations in the laundry room or laundermats of the world with fellow travelers in search of clean clothes. I look forward to more laundry stories as we spend 30 days in Indonesia and Japan in Feb.

We do mostly cruises, but some land travel. I always stick a very large garbage bag in the bottom of my suitcase and an assortment of other zip-lock size bags, especially the very large ones, to put dirty clothes in.

On a cruise I also bring one of those fold-up laundry hampers-works great. i do hand wash of undies or exercise clothes as needed. On a longer cruise I might use the ship laundromat (or one on land, if I can find one) if needed.

I don't want to pack dirty clothes bag in my bag without having them separated in plastic--that's when the garbage bags and zip locks come into play.

Once in a while I will send things out, but not usually.

Not really a cruise question since on a cruise everyone unpacks and packs once. But, on an extended land trip, when you are in a different hotel every few nights and traveling by public transportation. I'm looking for ideas on how to handle dirty laundry. I currently put dirty clothes in plastic bags to separate them from clean clothes until laundry day.

If you are taking enough clothes that you won't need to do laundry and are only asking how to store your dirty clothes until you get home, then you are doing the right thing already. But if you are asking about how to keep your clothes clean while traveling...that's another question altogether. In that case I couldn't help you because I've never done extended traveling except to visit family. In the U.S. it would be easy to find local laundromats but in Europe not so much. My suggestion would be to travel with clothing that could easily be washed by hand at night and that would dry overnight. Other than that, I guess you would have to use the services available for laundry at the hotels you stay at or send your laundry out.

I used to take a spare duffel bag and we would put all our dirty laundry into it and just check it on the way back home. I would dump it on top of our washing machine until I had time to take care of it. Now that extra luggage costs so much I don't do this anymore.

I too use a pop-up hamper in our cabin when we cruise as it's more convenient then having to pull the suitcases out from under the bed everyday.

Whatever path you take, I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

We are doing a 4 month trip. 18 day cruise Boston-Amsterdam, 28 day cruise Venice-Orlando and the time in between those cruises will be land travel in Europe.

I bring an extra large backpack laundry bag I think mines by FloridaBrands, but it also may of come from Bed Bath and Beyond. I put dirty laundry into it, then it will either go inside my case or travel as is. I have in fact filled my suitcases with souvenirs and used it as checked luggage on a few occasions with no issues. Then straight into the laundry room when we get home and no sorting through suitcases.

I do many of the things already listed - use a hotel plastic bag for dirty laundry if availale, pack a nylon (le Sportsac) duffel to bring home dirty laundry (and I'll store dirty laundry in it if I haven't been in a hotel with plastic laundry bags, and I can wash it with the rest of the laundry when I get home.) These days I mostly wash clothing in our bathroom, but when we do land trips we often book an apartment instead of a hotel (I LOVE to grocery shop in foreign markets!!) and so far they've all come with washing machines (I pack a few laundry packs, and for handwash, I have tubes of laundry gel from France & Germany)

I echo comments about laundromats - it really does depend on where you are traveling but there will be some option for locals. It just might not be at all convenient for you. One idea - check near Universities if possible;)

The best thing we do is make smart(er) packing choices - LOTS of wicking/quick dry layers that dry fast! (we too prefer cool/cold weather clothing to warm weather clothing, but our wicking fabrics dry quickly so it's not a problem if we do have sweaty clothing)

Have fun! Sounds like quite the trip!!

You won't find hotels with self laundry in Europe, for that matter, finding a laundry mat isn't easy. I consider the fee for sending out my laundry well worth the price to be able to pack light & not ask for help getting my suitcase on a train... plus, traveling with dirty clothes... not my idea of fun.

 

I should add, we don't do warm weather travel, it's always either cool or really cold when we go, so that does make a difference in clothing staying clean, we're not dealing with sweaty clothing.

We stayed at a Courtyard (Marriott brand) in Munich that had access to the self serve laundry facilities at the Residence Inn attached to it, it was a few Euros per load, very reasonable. In Rome we were able to find several places to do laundry thanks to the front desk staff at our hotel. I'd suggest contacting them ahead of time via email to find out if they can point you in the right direction.

If you can find a "fluff and fold" type place you can drop off your load and pick it up a day or two later all nicely folded and for MUCH less than what a hotel will typically charge for laundry services if they dont have self serve machines.