Bringing washing home from holiday- please tell me I am not the only one

[Melzbelz]

I am on my third load of washing after having been away for 5 days. I am
still no nearer to seeing the bottom of my washing basket😂. What is worse is that we went self catering so there was a washing machine in the flat and I was washing while we were away. How does this happen? It must be some kind of trickery as I didn’t think I packed that many clothes. As a sanity saver does this also happen to others 😀?

With the price of electricity these days i would be doing as much washing as i could there and if i was driving home i would have done a load before i left and hung it out to dry when i got home.

Hotel holiday - unless it's an emergency I don't use the laundry service, the prices are extraordinary.

Self-catering - I may put washing on if it is somewhere hot and it means, I don't have to take as many tops, they dry so fast. Or towels after being at the beach.
In England or similar countries - no, I don't want to see washing drying indoors if the weather is not good enough to dry outside very fast. We do wash very muddy or wet trousers.

I don't mind washing at home, most of the clothes are not what we wear to work or school so it's not that I run out of things to wear.

I only go places with washing machines, or use a local launderette. Yet I always do about 5 x loads when I get home.
There's the cats' blankets
Bedding (I can't wash all 4 beds before we leave)
The clothes we travelled in
Towels
etc

We do self catering and have a dog who is often sick on long journeys, so I end up washing the old towels there. I may also do a wash half way through, there’s 3 of us. Also when I get home adult DS who doesn’t come with us, will probably have a load or 2 to do. One 3 week holiday to Florida when dc were small, I only packed 3 tee shirts for DH, he didn’t know. These days I can’t remember what clothes are clean or have been worn when I get home, so most get hung up again.

Yes, this ^^

We, up to 6 people don't pack enough clothes ++ to make up 3 loads. We also wear things a few times (until they stink or look bad +) before washing. So it wouldn't happen to us. I don't mind what OP does for herself.

++ technically adult DD does pack that much ,all by herself, and only wears things a few hours, but she wouldn't want to bring anything home dirty, she'd insist on washing (I pretend to wash quite a bit)

• Except big teen DS who is such a minger his clothes declare civil rights campaigns before he's nagged into changing

I'm away for 3 weeks in the summer and I'm booking service washes for when I get back. It's ruins the holiday if you're stressed out about the washing coming back!

I love a holiday with a washer ( if it has one ) , but if not I find it depressing unpacking and then it's piles of washing everywhere.
Takes the shine off any break.
Hotel prices are not cheap either, but it is tempting! I Just can't justify it

It's not always just the holiday clothes though is it? It's the washing you didn't have time to do prior to the holiday as you were working full time and running round like a blue arsed fly.

There's 5 of us, I never do washing away unless accidents. We always put all dirty washing in one suitcase, in light/colour/dark sections then all clean stuff in the other. That way when we get home, clean suitcase goes straight upstairs, dirty one in the kitchen with load on straight away as it already ready

Oh I also make sure there's barely any washing to come back to (obviously) so literally just the clothes/pj's from night before we went away

1. If I can't wash on holidays I shove everthing in one of those massive Ikea bags and take it to the launderette for a service wash when we return. Costs about £30 but I think of it as part of the cost of the holiday
2. If I can wash on holiday I do. Would rather spend 1 minute loading it, 5 minutes hanging and 3 minutes distributing back to people every other day than have to deal with it (launderette or no) when I get back. Also means we can take less with us.

I know how you feel.

We have a disabled dc. Washing happens on holidays. He gets through a lot of clothing plus the car is filled with his equipment so there's not room for 2 weeks worth of clothes for everyone. (This is UK holidays so we are not taking about spending the whole day in swimsuits). We always book places that include bedding and towels.

In theory I should arrive home with just the clothes we wore for travel, minimal night things and one days worth of clothes to wash plus one (or at most 2) beach towels. And yet there is always more.

I personally never mind washing on holiday, in a hot location the clothes are light and usually dry within an hour. It’s also a bit of a novelty for me hanging things to dry, I shove everything in a tumble dryer all year round when I’m at home!!
Plus, we all pack pretty light so there’s never tonnes to manage.

I used to take all of our washing to the launderette when we returned, 3 loads in the big machines, whites, darks & coloureds - then all in the huge tumble driers.I'd just sit and read magazines and eating chocolate while it was all going on - this was pre mobile phone days! I actually enjoyed it!

I always took holidays where bed linen, towels and beach towels were provided, so I only had to wash clothes when we got back. Two kids and I only produced one suitcase of clothes - they were mostly in swimsuits or shorts and t shirts all day, with one smart dress or top for formal dinner if required.
There was usually less laundry after a holiday, as no bedding!

I wash stuff whilst away when we go out for the day. Far rather do that than wade through oceans of stuff when home. However I would never book somewhere I had to take bedding and make beds when I arrived.

Equally you’ve only two beds worth of bedding washing and towels. That’s only a wash load.

I once went on a cruise and bought a 'laundry package', I think it cost $7 a day for unlimited laundry, you just put your stuff in a paper bag, it was collected by the room steward during their twice daily cleans and returned next day. We came home with suitcases full of clean, folded clothes ready to be put straight away. It was great!

I would never do washing on holiday, & really don’t mind doing it when we get back.

I unpack the cases onto floor in a room not used much, sort it into piles & work my way through it. Chances are there’ll be washing from before the holiday too, so that does bulk it up somewhat.

We always have loads, but I just crack on with it & weather depending will have it done in a couple of days. The ironing of course takes a bit longer!

Yes it's just you. You are taking too many clothes on holiday!

Meant to say, there is always LOADS of washing.
four of us, each with our own full 20kg suitcase.
we do try & sort the clothes that didn’t get worn into their own case when coming home, but that rarely fills more than half a case.
so, no you’re not alone.

Me too. There's three of us, 5 nights at a farm stay every 6 weeks or so (respite). I wash daily, but tend to bung nearly everything in the 6 load monster washing machine at the laundrette as soon as we get home. Then into the jumbo dryer. It takes 90 minutes, costs me $23, and is worth every penny.

I never use a washing machine on holiday, I might hand wash a few items if I am away for a longer trip somewhere hot and sweaty but I wouldn't ever do a proper load.

How many of you are there? For less than a week I don't understand how you could have three loads unless there are five or six of you or maybe you are doing some muddy wet outdoors activities and need three sets of clothes a day.

Yes, there are only two of us but we are going away in the caravan for 8 days so there will be loads, towels, tea towels, bedding, clothes. Dirty stuff all gets chucked under the bed in large Ikea bags and I retrieve it when we get home.