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How to Wash Your Clothes While Traveling

Doing your laundry is a loathsome ordeal but running out of clean clothes while traveling is even scarier. Sometimes doing laundry while on a trip is unavoidable because it’s frankly unrealistic to pack fresh outfits for a month-long voyage. Even if your trip isn’t that long, if you know how to properly wash your clothes while traveling, you wouldn’t have to pack so many extra items. By following our tips you may even save some money because you’ll be able to fit everything into a carry-on baggage.

 

  1. Make use of your hotel’s services


If you’re staying in a hotel, chances are that you don’t have to be the one to physically wash your own clothes. Hurray! Ask at the front desk if your hotel offers laundry services. If it does you will get the full treatment - your clothes will be washed, dried, ironed and neatly folded. However, these services may sometimes be quite expensive depending on where you’re staying.
  1. Research dry cleaning options


Sometimes you’ll find yourself packing clothes which will have to be dry cleaned if you get them dirty. There’s no need to freak out about it since dry cleaning services can be found in most of the cities in the world. In some places this has been made even easier, for example dry cleaning in Chicago is like a walk in the park. Through a service called DriveCleaning, your freshly cleaned garments can be delivered to your doorstep. This way you may spend your time on sightseeing and doing other touristy things while someone else is taking care of your clothes.
  1. Use a sink or a bathtub


Hand washing clothes may be tiring but if you need some fresh undies or to take care of a small stain using a hotel sink or a bathtub will do the trick. The best way to do this would be to first plug the drain and fill your sink up with lukewarm tap water. Add some laundry detergent to the water and soak your clothes for some time in it. If after an hour of soaking there are still some stubborn stains, you should try scrubbing them out. After rinsing and squeezing out the excess water you can find a spare clothes hanger in your hotel room and hang your clothes to air dry in the shower.
  1. Find a laundromat


If you’re visiting a bigger city in the United States you are bound to stumble upon a laundromat service. These facilities store a large amount of washing machines and dryers which can be used by anyone for a dollar or a bit more. Laundromats are great if you’re on a longer trip and you need to wash a lot of clothes, since the machines in there tend to be quite large in size. Keep in mind that in most of these places you’ll have to bring your own laundry soap and softener. Also, laundromats are quite uncommon in most European cities and smaller towns in the United States, so ask around before you take off to town with a bag full of dirty clothes.
  1. Outdoor wash


If you’re more of an outdoorsy type and you like to go camping most of our previous advice is unusable for you. However, don’t fret! There is a way to hand wash your clothes while being in nature too - most of our ancestors had to make do without washing machines anyway. If you have to wash your clothes in a river or a lake make sure to use eco-friendly soap since the waste will be going straight into that body of water. Add some soap directly to the stain, scrub and rinse. You can hang your clothes to dry on your tent but make sure to clean the sides of your tent first so you don’t wash your clothes in vain.

 

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