Doing Your Laundry When Staying In A Hotel

Posted on by Darren Alff
09
May

If you have the opportunity to stay in a hotel on your bike tour, you’re going to want to take advantage of the resources that are available to you. One of those resources is running water and the ability to wash your stinky clothes!

Many hotels have washers and dryers available to their guests, so if you have the money, use the machines you have access to.

But if you’re hotel doesn’t offer these services… or you simply want to wash your clothes and not have to pay anything extra, washing your clothes in the hotel sink (or bathtub) is your next best option.

All you need to do is start running the water in your sink (I usually use very hot water). Once you’ve got the water to the right temperature, grab a single article of clothing and dunk it in the sink. Push the clothes into the sink and press out as much dirt, sweat, and grime as you can. You’ll usually see the water change colors (turn brown) when your first put your clothes in the water.

Keep pressing the clothes down into the sink and into the hot water. Mix in some soap of you’ve got it.

As soon as the water starts to clear up, it’s okay to remove the item from the sink and hang it up to dry.

Once you’ve done this for all of the clothes you want to wash, the next step is to dry the clothes off as soon as you can. Because you are likely only going to be in the hotel for a couple hours and you’ll probably need the clothes you just washed to continue riding tomorrow, it’s very important that you dry the clothes out fast!

Here are three easy ways to dry your clothes when staying in a hotel:

  • Put the clothes on hangers and place them near the air condition or heater.
  • Place the clothes on hangers and put them outside to dry in the sun.
  • Place the clothes on hangers and then hang the hangers from the arms of a ceiling fan. Set the fan to spin on slow.

Do one of these three things and you’re clothes will be dry and ready to use in no time.

When staying in a hotel, you want to take advantage of all of the resources that are available to you. With a little creativity, you’ll be able to wash your clothes and get them dry in less than 6 hours.

Save

Darren Alff

My goal as the "Bicycle Touring Pro" is to give you the confidence and inspiration you need to travel by bicycle anywhere in the world. I'm here to help you plan, prepare for, and execute your first bike tour and remove all the guesswork, wasted time and frustration that plagues so many first-time bicycle travelers.

0 thoughts on “Doing Your Laundry When Staying In A Hotel”

  1. thepig says:

    Washing clothes in the sink is always a good plan. It is a great feeling to set off the next day with a pannier full of fresh clothes. Although I always seem to have something strapped to the top of a pannier drying in the sun.

  2. Laisha says:

    I do this while camping as well (unless stealth camping without a water source). Campsuds are great to have along whether washing clothes under a spigot, in a sink or even the shower. Properly arranged on the bike with turning at intervals, your clothes will dry pretty quickly. Just make sure you’ve got them strapped down so you don’t lose an important piece somewhere five miles back!

Send this to a friend