Lessons from traveling abroad: doing laundry

One year ago I was a few days into my trip and -- being a savvy traveler -- I had packed a limited number of clothes because "You can always do laundry!"  True.  Very true.  While traveling you usually have two options.

1. Pay to use a washing machine.  This is generally outrageous.  In Wales it cost £3 to wash my clothes.  That's roughly $5.  And that was only for the washing machine.  And since everywhere else was more like £5 or $8.50, I took it.  And it was marvelous.  Machine washed clothes.  Glory be.  Such a little luxury after ten weeks of option number two:

2. Wash those clothes in the sink!  It is cheap cheap cheap, and with my tricks it is not so bad.

Regardless of the option you choose, you'll probably have to line-dry your clothes.

First you'll need a sink, which will be hard to come by in the morning or evening when everyone is getting ready to either go out or go to bed.  I usually did laundry the day I arrived because it was a wasted day anyway and I would get there in the afternoon when it was still slow and quiet and there were no boys gawking at my underwear.

Then you need a plug.  A lot of sinks don't have plugs at all, and others leak.  Plugs are cheap.  Get one.  Amazon sells the Lewis N. Clark Laundry Kit which has a great size plug.  It will fit virtually any sink or tub, unlike the tiny black plugs I saw some people try and fight with.  The kit also comes with Woolite packs, which is helpful because of course next you need….

Soap.  Obviously.  I didn't actually like any of the detergents I tried.  The Woolite was only sudsy for a minute and then I wasn't sure my clothes were getting clean.  I also tried Sea To Summit Trek & Travel Pocket Laundry Wash which boasts 50 leaves or about 25 washes, but they also lacked the suds that gave me confidence.  I quickly resorted to hand soap or shampoo (sometimes I just took my clothes in the shower with me if I wanted privacy.)

Next comes a bit of trickery.  You should have a travel towel for showers.  (Mine is from REI but Sea to Summit also has their DryLite Towel which comes in a variety of colors and sizes.)  Travel towels absorb an enormous amount of water, can be wrung out, and dry quickly.  This is helpful because you can lay each article of wet clothing on the towel, roll it up inside the towel and then wring the towel around the wet clothing.  

Try to transfer as much water from the clothes to the towel this way.  For heavier pieces like jeans or multiple articles of clothing, you will probably have to stop multiple times to wring the towel out over the sink before continuing.  This is the most time consuming part of the process but really helps speed drying times and also prevents your clothes from dripping while drying and making a mess.

Europe is very concerned with electricity usage, so clothes dryers are not very plentiful, and where they exist, they are expensive to use.  Get used to the clothesline.  No Downy softness for you.

 This is going to sound silly but I love my Lewis N. Clark Latex Clothesline.  I still use it at home on a weekly basis.  The velcro loops are the important part because you can attach them to almost anything, unlike suction cups.  My favorite place to hang my clothesline was the underside of the bunk above me, so my clothes hung in my bunk space.  I felt like they weren't in anyone's way that way, but it also became imperative that they didn't drip and get my bedding wet (see my last tip).  This clothesline is also really great because there is no need for clothes pins: you just slide a pinch of fabric between the braids of latex.  For heavier objects you just use bigger pinches of cloth, or more pinches, or hang it in half over the line.