Going away for two weeks and cannot do laundry

[Dilbertian]

I'm going away for two weeks and will not be able to do any machine laundry. Most of my clothes are natural fibres so are not easy to hand wash and will not dry quickly.

Short of taking 14 shirts etc, any tips for packing or for reusing worn clothes?

We're staying in 3 different places, the last one being a youth hostel with a drying room, so if I have to do any hand washing I'll probably do it the day before we go to the YH and transport it wet.

Oh, and I'm a Sweaty Betty - I cannot re-wear a shirt without washing it.

Reading back ... are people really suggesting buying cheap clothing (manufactured by exploited people in the third world) and dumping it in landfill rather than finding a way to do some laundry on holiday? Not really??

I take enough for 2 weeks also. You can get cheap tops or vests and shorts in primark. I always do a primark holiday shop for DS.

There's travel washing tablets you can buy... tbh I still hand wash but I just use any soap! On hol.

The OP has explained why she can’t use the launderette and I’m assuming she can’t use a relatives washing machine etc for the same reasons also.

My rule of thumb? Going for two weeks, pack for one.

If you have allergies and can’t use laundrettes or relatives machines then your best bet it to just take extra clothes.

Hand washing is fine (if it’s ok for your allergies) but you need to find somewhere to hang them to dry.

You could find a laundrette, have wash them and then take them there just to dry.

Sorry that didn’t make sense - find a laundrette, hand wash them first and then take them to the laundrette to dry them.

Have a look at Lakeland website op. Or on Amazon. You need little camping clothes lines and little devices such as a circle of plastic pegs for smaller items - easily hung in bathroom - and you can wash clothes in bath and shower and hang up overnight to dry in bathroom or on balcony.

It’s one person on one holiday who asked us to problem solve. The only person I know who wore their pants for just one day was Prince and I bet he didn’t buy Primark. The only person I know who wore her dresses for one day was Catherine the Great, some took two years to make; I’ve seen some of them, they are beautiful.

One 2 week tourist isn’t going to ruin the world, people are throwing out clothes all the time all over the country. The Primark clothes are already made and in the shop, buying them now won’t change exploitation, that’s akin to my mum telling me to eat all my dinner because there are starving people in the world.

Nightwear - change to sleeveless nighties that are several times too big. They don't touch pits or crotch thus need less washing

It's about to be 22+c most days for the next fortnight across the UK.

Could you buy a travel washing "machine", hand wring it all out and hang it up in a bathroom or out a window? It'll dry in no time in this heat! All our washing goes on a dryer outside at the moment.

If you're moving every day, it might not be as easy but then hang it up in your car with the windows cracked open when it's parked and then bring the damp washing into your room on arrival?

This sort of thing:
Mini Washing Machine, DACHUANG 10L Foldable Laundry Tub Portable, Ultrasonic Turbine Washer by USB Powered, Compact Baby Clothes Washer for Home Travel Apartments Dorms Socks Underwear Bra, Green-10l amzn.eu/d/aDGBxxk

Or

Scrubba Wash Bag 2.0 – Portable Clothes Washer for Hotel and Travel Washing – Light and Small Eco-friendly Hiking and Camping Essential amzn.eu/d/dVZf9Hh

I lived without a washing machine for several years so am quite happy to hand wash anything!

Surely if you're driving just take enough clothes for two weeks. If you're a bit short on t-shirts pop into Tesco or similar and buy a few plain ones before you go, M&S do 100% cotton ones of needed, or seasalt have a huge sale on now and their stuff is nearly all cotton, their t shirts wash well.

Wear one, wash one, dry one. It's really not that hard. You don't need to take 14 tops!

The one you wash in the evening will be dry by the morning.

Buy more clothes. That is literally your only option. If you can, Primark some cheapy vest tops and tees etc that you can layer. I feel your pain - I’m away for ten days but barely own any tees I can be seen out the house in without embarrassment, so I’ve had to do the same 😩

How are you sleeping on random sheets that are washed in random washing power, if you're allergic even hints of washing powder in a launderette make you suffer?

No wonder we have a climate crisis 🙄

I have to take two antihistamines to be able to spend a night anywhere other than my own bed but it's so normal for me I don't think much of it. Allergies, especially to cleaning products, are normal.

It doesn't mean I'd cope with my clothes being washed in other liquids. I'm OK with mild residue from another machine, but I'd have to add my own liquid.

You are going to struggle to find, presumably, non-bio washing powder outside of the UK also because it isn’t a thing everywhere else. I’d just get on vinted/charity shop and buy more clothes.

I do lots of laundry on my travels.You only need 3 sets of clothing. One on,one in the wash,one ready to wear.

Take hangers ,string and bin bags. Heavy duty rubber gloves save your hands when wringing out washing. Washing up liquid is the easiest for hand washing because it rinses out so easily .

Open window, hang laundry up at window. Put bin bags down to catch drips.

If you have a car it's easy. Laundry will dry pretty fast in the car. Hang things off the backs of the front seats. Open windows. Car bonnets get nice and hot,so they can dry your socks pretty quickly when you stop off for coffee.

Microfibre cloths are great for spot removing.

Me too. For one thing, I can wear a T-shirt three times at least.

I have to take two antihistamines to be able to spend a night anywhere other than my own bed

Which 2 anti-histamines do you take, are they prescription ones? What dose is the pill size?

Strange questions - why do you ask?

You need a small bottle of this.
soak wash literally - fill sink , squirt of soak. Put clothes in …… overnight magic happens and hang to drop dry over the bath /in shower then over a chair back etc till properly dry.

no rubbing. No rinse ( I do a quick change of water but you don’t have to ) and sweaty stuff is clean.

"One 2 week tourist isn’t going to ruin the world, people are throwing out clothes all the time all over the country. The Primark clothes are already made and in the shop, buying them now won’t change exploitation, that’s akin to my mum telling me to eat all my dinner because there are starving people in the world."

Stupid comment. A garment should be worn until it wears out. Food doesn't last as long as clothing does. The issue of fabrics in landfill is enormous and if everyone thought "well one blah blah blah person throwing their clothes away after one wear isn't going to ruin the world" we'd be even more fucked than we already are.

Are you flying, or driving? You can get small portable washing machine things (I've just googled and there's one on the Aldi website, and tonnes on Amazon) - pop it in the shower, add your laundry bits and water, spin it to clean the clothes and there's a spin cycle to get a lot of water out to help drying time. That might work if you're not going on a plane!

Could you take a collapsible bucket and use that to clean clothes as necessary.
maybe bicarbonate of soda might work as a natural febreze if sprinkled on sweaty clothes at night?

abroadwithallergies.com/stress-free-travel-how-to-wash-clothes-while-traveling/
or a mini steamer to spot clean?