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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not wash all the clothes I took on holiday?

76 replies

Macaroni46 · 02/08/2021 07:06

This is a lighthearted thread.
Just returned from holiday with a friend. We were discussing washing (like you do!).
She said that she washes all the clothes she took on holiday regardless of whether they were worn or not, because they're dirty from being in the suitcase.
I was surprised and said I only wash the clothes that have been worn.
So who is being unreasonable here?
To my mind, washing everything seems excessive or maybe I'm just a bit of a skank!

OP posts:

starfishmummy · 02/08/2021 11:30

@ZenNudist

I mainly do my washing on holiday and try to bring back largely clean! I also pack in packing cubes.

Me too. Well not the cubes, but I take as much home clean as possible.

I'd prefer not to wash on holiday but a child with SN means I have to so if I'm washing his stuff then I may as well wash ours

youaresunshine · 02/08/2021 11:32

(Why do I feel like I've read this post word for word before?!)
I only wash what I wear!

aiwblam · 02/08/2021 11:33

I wash the lot, in case of bedbugs etc. We’ve been somewhere with them! We usually wear most of all of it anyway.

LaBellina · 02/08/2021 11:36

Depends on how I traveled.
If it’s by car, I don’t wash my clothes as I keep the dirty laundry separately in a drawstring bag, away from the clean stuff and I clean my suitcase after each use on the inside with alcohol spray. But if I went on holiday by plane, I wash everything. Customs might have opened my suitcase and touched my stuff with the same unwashed gloves they used to go trough another passenger’s dirty laundry. No thanks 🤢.

LaBellina · 02/08/2021 11:37

I mean I don’t wash ALL my clothes just the used ones.

Dreamstate · 02/08/2021 11:42

Thats why packing cubes are a godsend. Unworn clothes kept separately from worn ones and won't smell from suitcase.

Roomba · 02/08/2021 11:45

I don't bother washing stuff if I've not worn it and it smells fine. Maybe I'm a slacker, but I always pack dirty laundry in a separate sealed bag and wash/hand wash dirty underwear and socks if possible before the return journey anyway.

My mother washes absolutely everything on return. And she steam cleans her suitcase before putting it away! She also fully irons everything including underwear before flying away, the irons it again with a travel iron before wearing it on holiday. And I mean everything, including knickers and socks. She irons socks and towels at home anyway, then complains she spends her whole life washing & ironing

CoralFish · 02/08/2021 12:25

@Ivy48

I wash it all, even though I store it back in the suitcase until next years holiday. But mainly as I think of germs from being in the wardrobe or bed bugs etc

Not to scaremonger, but a normal wash won't get rid of bedbugs. You'd need to wash at 90 degrees (which isn't great for most clothes) to kill them all. A tumble dryer is a better option (which might be part of your normal washing routine anyway).

KenAdams · 02/08/2021 12:30

I once saw a millipede crawl out of my suitcase in a 5 star hotel in another country so since then I'll wash everything if I've been abroad so as not to unwittingly transport any unwanted friends into this country!

MuseumGardens · 02/08/2021 12:31

I just wash what I wore

LaBellina · 02/08/2021 12:35

If you want to kill bedbugs but can’t wash at 90 degrees you can also put your clothes in an air sealed plastic bag for 2 weeks. To avoid bringing in cockroaches or other unwanted guests I also left my suitcase to air outside for a few days until I brought it back in and desinfected the inside with alcohol spray before I put it back inside. A friend of mine swears by her steam cleaner for these kind of jobs.

Alwayswonderedwhy · 02/08/2021 12:37

So the clothes would've already been dirty before she's worn them? What's in her suitcase to make them get dirty? I put stuff I've worn in a plastic bag inside the case and would only wash stuff I've actually worn.

eightyfourandahalf · 02/08/2021 12:38

After seeing people putting shoes with their clothes in a suitcase, and how grim people are, I have no faith on how clean people are

I do have a washing machine, so the machine washes everything. Not really hard work.

Maria1982 · 02/08/2021 12:40

@burritofan I feel seen

Maria1982 · 02/08/2021 12:41

PS on bedbugs if you can’t wash at 90C put in a ziplock bag and freeze for a few days (can’t remember how many, I consulted Google after an ill fated trip when I wanted to learn this…)
Normal washing will not kill them!

KupoNutCoffee · 02/08/2021 12:48

I don't take lots of clothes with me on holiday. Tbh I don't have many to start with....so it mostly all gets worn on holiday in some form or other.

I might have an extra, nice outfit, have 10 pairs of knickers for 7 days "in case of an accident that has never happened in my adult life", a couple of spare tops.
But it gradually devolves from neatly sorted and folded to a heap during the week, so it all gets chucked in the washing machine. Not from any design that it smells weird. I'm just too lazy to extract the 3 unworn tops and 3 knickers out before it's all unceremoniously dumped on the utility room floor.

PattyPan · 02/08/2021 13:24

I only wash things that have been worn and I don’t unpack on holiday either. I do put dirty clothes into a designated plastic bag in my suitcase so they don’t get mixed up.

If it smells a bit fusty but hasn’t been worn you don’t need to wash it, you just need to air it.

Dreamstate · 02/08/2021 13:33

@eightyfourandahalf

After seeing people putting shoes with their clothes in a suitcase, and how grim people are, I have no faith on how clean people are

I do have a washing machine, so the machine washes everything. Not really hard work.

Lol thats why packing cubes are great, I've got one just for shoes

Dreamstate · 02/08/2021 13:34

I tend to take old stuff like socks and knickers on holiday and just chuck them out instead of bothering to bring them back.

TheCanyon · 02/08/2021 13:54

I tend to stay in apartments that have a washing wachine, so the only dirty clothes are the ones we wear home. A lot of my holiday stuff just stays in the case until the next holiday too.

Holothane · 02/08/2021 13:55

Washing is separated on holiday then washed when got home unworn stuff put away.

Manista · 02/08/2021 14:00

Those who wash all the clothes because of possible bed bugs. Do you clean and disinfect all your bags, shoes and outerwear as well?
I was everything because I'm slovenly packing to go home. Everything gets chucked in the case any old how, scrunched and shoved together. So washing it is probably the easiest way to start fresh with no creases.

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 02/08/2021 15:52

Surely if you've ended up bringing bed bugs home, a) you'd know before even opening your case and b) a hot ssh won't cut it, you'll need to fumigate your home?

As an aside, my wonderful pop up laundry basket has broke this afternoon after a battle of trying to get the fcker to fold away again gutted.

hellcatspangle · 02/08/2021 15:56

I don't, but I do keep the worn clothes in a separate compartment to the clean ones so they don't get stinky.

3scape · 02/08/2021 15:58

I like to wash everything before it goes back in the suitcase or take a separate laundry bag. Usually everything is in bags anyway inside the suitcase clean or dirty though.

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