The Ins and Outs of Doing Laundry on Vacation
I pay careful attention to itinerary details and costs when planning and booking our travels. One of the last steps in the process is distributing a packing list to my family. Who wants to carry more than you need? The consideration of doing laundry is paramount and something I have put a lot of thought in to over the years.
Expensive hotel laundry services?
No, not in my budget! However, I have learned that hotel laundry services in developing countries are often quite inexpensive. We have used these services at nice riads in Morocco and quaint hotels in Belize and the Galapagos where it was just $5 a load. I have sent hotels many emails over the years asking about laundry services and costs. I even rearrange itineraries to have lodging with laundry services strategically placed.
Laundry in the sink?
Yes, guilty! But I now limit it to just a few items versus an entire load. Who wants aching hands after wringing out all of that laundry? For real, my hands ached for days after washing out a few loads in Panajachel, Nicaragua. Note, in the past couple years I have seen signs at hotels and airbnbs asking guests not to use the bathroom sink for laundry.
Laundromat?
We made a rookie mistake of using a laundromat in Quepos, Costa Rica for a few loads. Never again! After tag-teaming for over three hours so our laundry didn’t “disappear,” we learned this is not how we want to spend precious vacation time.
Tips:
Pack one or two kitchen garbage bags for your dirty clothes. I also send a couple bags with my kids when they go to camp — and they use them! We have used the hotel laundry service bags to collect our dirty clothes but they are small and flimsy.
- If you are moving around, alternate hotels with apartment rentals that have a washing machine.
- Use “More Filters” to select laundry machines under “Amenities” when searching for properties in airbnb, Vrbo, booking.com, etc.
- Rentals in other countries often do not have a dryer so do your laundry a little earlier so it has time to hang dry.
- Pack a couple laundry pods and a small plastic bottle with liquid laundry detergent. Consider packing a woolite single pack for those expensive yoga pants. Pack all of these items in a ziplock!
