Laundry on holiday

[Shockwave]

Something just hit me when I was sorting out what clothes to take to Florida. I don't fancy the idea of carrying around 2 week of dirty washing when the time comes to leave. How can I avoid this?

 

So for those of you you have done fortnight plus trips in the past, do you use hotels for washing your clothes, go to a laundromat, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Meteornotes]

Most hotels have laundry facilities, so I'd take advantage of those. I'd only use the Laundromat as a last resort, but that might just be me as I find them totally creepy and depressing.

 

We brought three week's worth of clothes to Europe last year, and did all our laundry when we got home. There's usually not enough time on a trip to do the wash...

 

dt

[SharkTums]

I would just bring all your clean clothes over, then bring 2 weeks of dirty ones back! If the hotel has it's own little laundry mat that can be okay, but if you have to 'send your clothes out' that can be expensive. I'm sure there are some scary laundry mats in Orlando you can do a Photo TR of!

[Carnage]

Or just limit what you bring and reuse.

 

You can use the sniff/dryness test to check what clothes are eligible for reuse at the start of the next cycle.

 

That is assuming you don't mind slumming it a bit.

[Shockwave]

Haha! Well a clean pair of underwear every day is essential for me, so I certainly won't be skipping on that.

 

Thinking about it, I don't tend to overpack so much that I'm right on the weight limit. I'll be getting a new suitcase to pack all my stuff as well, so hopefully the laundry won't take up too much space.

[Wes]

Febreze.

[Shockwave]

I like the look of that Allergen reducer one, could probably do me a world of good.

[dougr]

Almost every motel 6 has a laundromat, I'm sure most good hotels will have one somewhere. We usually bring about 3 days worth of clothes, and wash them about every 4 days!

[robbalvey]

Personally I would just bring two weeks worth of clothes. That's usually what we do. Hell, we even did two weeks worth of clothes when we went to Japan and did it in carry on bags!

 

The problem with using a hotel landry facility is that they usually take a decent amount of time. To properly wash and dry clothes in those coin operated ones, you're look at least an hour, maybe more. And most hotels only have one or two of them, and there's always a good chance someone else might be using them. Then you have to wait.

 

My advice would be to pack more "appropriately" and not bring stuff you know you're not going to need.

 

For example, being March in Florida the chances are pretty good that it's not going to be very cold. So plan on bringing more shorts and T-Shirts and only one, MAYBE two pairs of long pants just in case and very few "long sleeve" shirts.

 

The other thing I reccomend is bringing "throw away" clothes. Socks are a good example. Two weeks worth of socks can take up a decent amount of space in your bag. Not sure how it is in the UK, but here you can buy a 12-pack of socks for about $5. For me they become "disposable."

 

I also either bring with me a plastic "trash" bag or use a hotel "laundry" bag and start to seperate the clean from dirty clothes while I'm on a trip. That's an easy way to keep things organized.

 

Anyway, I hope that helps. Like I said, my personal advice would be to avoid having to do laundry on a trip.

 

--Robb

[Nrthwnd]

Depending on cost, you can also treat underwear the same way as socks, I.E. 'disposable' or throw away as-you-use, etc.

 

Leaves you more space for souvenirs, hmmm?