How To Make Laundry Easier While On Vacation

No matter where you do it, whether you’re at home or on vacation, laundry will always prove to be a tiresome task. Besides, who wants to pack laundry detergent when you’re travelling anyway? No one. However, wait until you run out of clean clothes to wear. At EUCA, we believe better cleaning doesn’t have to stop when you go on vacation. You can still have your quality laundry even while you’re away. Follow these helpful tips to make your laundry easier while on vacation:

Pack Smartly

We’ve all heard of packing lightly. However, packing smartly is the concept of doing laundry in an efficient way during vacation. Think carefully of what clothes you are going to bring with you and how easy or difficult it will be to wash. Clothes that are delicate in quality and require extra care during washing might not be your go-to-wardrobe for your trip. Rather, choose clothes that have simple washing instructions yet are also comfortable and suitable for the weather of your destination.

Bring a Compact Travel Laundry Bag

It is always ideal to have a separate bag for your soiled clothes. Look for a laundry bag that’s large enough to carry most of your clothes but doesn’t take up much space in your traveling bag. This helps your luggage look more organised and comes in handy when you decide to take them to the nearest laundry service. Preparation is key. Some hotels allow guest to use their bathroom as a wash area, whereas other hotels don’t. Whereby, they strongly discourage guests doing their laundry in sinks and hanging them inside the rooms making a huge wet mess. Which creates extra work for the housekeeping staff. It also may be against hotel policies, meaning that guests should strictly adhere to that rule. In addition, other reasons could be that the hotels want to save water, avoid damage to property because of the extra humidity inside the room (wall and furniture damage), hygiene and health reasons and to avoid lint stuck in the drains. Some hotels have their own laundry services and encourage guests to use them instead. So before travelling, know which hotel you are staying and what policies are allowed.

For hotels that allow guests to wash their own clothes:

Use Sink/Bathtub as Laundry Basin

Anything is possible when you run out of clothes to wear – use the sink or bathtub as your laundry basin for instance. Fill the sink with water, adding laundry soap such as Euca laundry powder, and hand washing your dirty clothes. Make sure to clean it thoroughly to remove traces of dirt that may mess up with your clothes. You can hang your washed clothes over the bathtub, shower area or any available railings to let them dry. Small items like socks, underwear, tank tops are easily washed this way however hand washing larger items such as pants and jean type clothes are much harder and takes a long time to dry.  This method also works best with clothes that are made with quick-dry fabrics and are able to dry overnight. Items hung in humid environments, especially in tropical countries will take longer to dry. We recommend packing clothing made of quick-dry fabrics such as polyester, nylon, and other synthetic fabrics that typically dry faster than natural fibres.

Bring a Portable Clothesline

A drying rack may be hard to find when you’re on vacation. Therefore, to dry your clothes conveniently, bring a portable clothesline with you. Some portable clothesline are lightweight and easily attach to any surface, making drying your clothes a breeze. Place your clothes on them and hang it somewhere with ventilation, like near the window or in a patio.

Throw a Travel Size Laundry Detergent into Your Bag

Instead of having to buy laundry soap and leaving most of it behind, why not bring your own travel-size laundry detergent? It’s economical, lightweight and is perfect for a large pile of laundry in a sink. Try our EUCA Premium Laundry Powder Concentrate Detergent in a travel size of 50g. Sold by 10 travel packs each box, it comes in three variants of Eucalyptus, Lemon Myrtle and Lavender. It’s exceptionally concentrated, 100% soluble, ecologically friendly, and contains no nasties so it’s safe even for those with sensitive skin and allergy sufferers. It is your perfect on-the-go, eco-friendly laundry solutions whenever you’re on vacations.

For hotels that don’t allow guests to wash their own clothes in the room:

Find a Laundromat

Laundromats are facilities where people can wash their laundry on their own or with little professional help. These are typically coin-operated washing machines. They offer self-serving washing and clothes drying options. Some Laundromats have laundry servers where someone else washes, dries and folds your clothes for an extra charge. Do your research first if an area you are staying at has a Laundromat before venturing out. Laundromats are relatively common in cities and larger towns, but you will unlikely to find them in small towns or rural areas. The pros of doing laundry in Laundromats is that you can talk to the locals and meet other tourists that are also doing their laundry. The cons, however, is that it will take time off your vacation.

Local Laundry services

If the area you are going to don’t have a Laundromat and you don’t want to pay extra fees for hotel laundry services, you can always opt for local laundry cleaning services. It is a laundry service that does the laundry washing and drying for you. You can just drop off your laundry and pick it up or have it delivered to you. In some countries, this is more common than hotel laundry services and Laundromats. It may be owned by locals (family business) or a single woman that does the laundry from their shop or home. If you don’t speak the language, this might be difficult for you to find. Ask assistance from the hotel staff or ask the locals. The costs vary from place to place but it is relatively inexpensive in a certain part of the world. In some countries, they may be attached to dry cleaners or tailors. These can be difficult to find, especially if you don’t speak the local language, so you may need to ask around at your lodging and speak to the locals. Generally, local people know someone nearby who is willing to do laundry for a small fee. Costs will still vary greatly by the country for such services but can be very inexpensive in certain parts of the world. Laundry can take the excitement away from your vacation. However, with these simple tips, looking spotless and camera-ready with freshly cleaned clothes is possible, no matter how far you are away from home. Remember to choose your wardrobe smartly, separate soiled and clean clothes using a laundry bag, use the sink or bathtub as your basin and most of all pack a travel size laundry detergent and a portable clothesline with you. Choose EUCA as your travel companion and bring ‘better clean’ with you wherever you go. For more eco-friendly cleaning solutions, shop at www.eucaonline.com