Tips for Washing Laundry By Hand While Traveling

Even a trip overseas doesn’t preclude you from the dreaded task of doing laundry on a regular basis. It’s an unfortunate side effect of wearing clothes, and unless you want to risk jail time and let your naked rear run free, you’re going to have to wash a few things by hand at some point during your travels.

Wash Often

Though it might sound counterintuitive, it often helps to wash at least three times a week. That’s because waiting until you have a large load can easily suck up half a day of traveling when washing by hand. Instead, spread it out throughout the week so you can hand wash in short sessions and never run out of clean underwear.

Use Dish Soap

If you don’t have laundry detergent available, dish soap is easy to find and works in a pinch. It’s gentle on your hands and won’t dry them out. Avoid the scented brands, though, as they tend to not work as well as most. Dawn is a miracle worker.

Pack Light Clothes

Trying to hand wash a thick, wool sweater will likely make you want to punch a wall. Avoid heavy clothing and only pack thin, light garments that can dry quickly to help save time. Otherwise you’ll be waiting a couple of days before you can wear anything again.

Bring a Blow Dryer

Sometimes you don’t have time to wait around for the sun to do its job, so bring along a portable blow dryer to help speed the process up. It works great on lightweight clothes and even some of the thicker ones. Don’t expect to sit there and use it to dry your clothes completely, but it can reduce hanging time drastically.