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So what are your tricks for hand washing in your cabin and getting your clothes dry?


Galleon1234
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I wouldn't cruise for a LONG cruise on a ship without a self-laundry. The sinks are tiny, and what a pain hand-washing is! But..if I HAVE to rinse something, get as much water out as possible and hang it on a hanger from the AC vent...the air blowing on the garment dries it fast. I don't like putting stuff on the balcony, because of the salt in the air...I don't like how it makes the clothes feel!

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Except when you can't find any way to attach it securely. I tried everything on Celebrity Solstice but with a bed-by-balcony cabin there was nowhere I could attach it where it wouldn't block access to the bathroom.

Yes, Solstice Class staterooms are a little harder as they don't have the retractable clotheslines in the shower. A couple ideas for you:

When you know you'll be out all day, like a port day, do the wash and string the clotheslines from the handhold bar or soap dish/basket in the shower to something in the sink area, ie the crossbars on the shelves, the faucet, or anything securely attached. The Nite Ize twist ties come in handy for such installations. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=nite+ize+twist+ties

You can also string one from the soap dish in the shower to the shower head bracket. Not ideal, but it works and doesn't restrict use of the facilities.

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Interesting thread. We have now spent far more then 1000 days on various cruises and can honestly say that we have never washed out any clothes in our sink (or cabin). We consider a cruise to be a vacation and the last thing that DW wants to do on a vacation is laundry :). Cruise ship laundries have served us well. We do know some light packers that are always washing-out their underwear and some clothes....but that is not our style. We simply bring along enough clothes so that we only need to send out laundry once or twice a week.

 

Hank

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The challenge is that when we are travelling for anywhere from 6-14 weeks it becomes impossible to pack and not do laundry. We decide to pack for a max of 6-7 days no matter what. It has worked for us so far.

 

We most often send it out. If we are on land we will also use a laudromat from time to time. We don't however sit there and watch. Last time it was speaking with the locals in Palermo. The owner spent 25 years in Boston in the fishery and moved back to Sicily to retire. Very interesting guy. Prior to that it was a laundromat in Riomaggiore. Bung the load in and then sit opposite in sidewalk cafe drinking beer and swapping stories with some well travelled Australians while the laundry went round and round. They were doing the same as us.

 

We originally got the idea to travel light from a couple that we met at a laundomat in Florence. They each had less luggage than either my son or me. He, a recently retired bank VP, and his wife were travelling through Europe by train with no particular itinerary. They were just about finished their second 30 day rail pass and we going to buy a third. One carry on bag each. For practice, they told us they took Amtrak from Seattle to LA. They quickly realized that they could not, and did not want to, handle so much luggage. So, they went native. They both seemed thrilled with the result. Very happy campers. We figured if they could do and be so happy about it so could we.

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Woolite (or generic delicate wash) makes fewer suds and is easy to rinse. Dump a capful into a zip-top bag with a folded washcloth to travel. That way, no leaks. Use the damp cloth to pre-treat stains, then either swish in the sink or toss in the washer with your laundry. Seems to make my luggage smell fresh, too.

Microfiber undies and unpadded bras dry faster, and won't get misshapen when rolled in a towel and squished.

Look in your local dollar store for curved close-pins (the cheap version of the Boca clips to keep your towel on your beach chair). They're perfect over the towel bars in the bathroom, and for keeping curtains closed.

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Woolworths/Coles various stores might carry these or just shop online for them.

 

Thanks, I'm hoping Bunnings might have some. Woollies and Coles don't have much in that line of stuff, just very basic things.

 

Our next Solstice cruise isn't until 2019 so plenty of time to find some. Actually we'll be in the US before that cruise so I might even get some from Walmart. :)

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  • 1 year later...

In addition to everything everyone has already mentioned, I pack wire hangers from the dry cleaner, clothespins, and cheap plastic shower curtain rings to use for hanging up wet clothes.

 

Wire hangers weigh nothing and can be easily bent to hang from all sorts of places.  Round plastic shower curtain rings (from the dollar store) can be attached to rails in the bathroom/shower, hangers, cabin coat hooks, and so on.  This is much like an S hook, but more secure and affordable.   Once the shower curtain rings are in place, you can place hangers inside them or drape wet clothing through them (e.g. tie bathing suit strings to the ring, hang tank tops to dry in the ring, and so on).

 

 

 

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I've discovered that inflatable clothes hangers are really great for drying tops on as the width of the hanger when inflated is enough to separate the front and back of the garment, allowing it to dry quicker. The hangers I've got have metal hooks which can be hung off the air con vents.

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On 5/20/2017 at 2:44 AM, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

We don't have Walmart in Australia. 😞

I was surprised to see a  KMart in a mall in Canberra. If they’re still around, they probably have magnetic hooks. 

If there’s a large hardware or camping supply store, check them. 

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1 minute ago, jagsfan said:

I was surprised to see a  KMart in a mall in Canberra. If they’re still around, they probably have magnetic hooks. 

If there’s a large hardware or camping supply store, check them. 

I ended up buying some online from Amazon. They worked well on Princess ships and will get their first test on Celebrity later this month.

 

Kmart has been in Australia and NZ for 30+ years, as has Target.

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26 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I ended up buying some online from Amazon. They worked well on Princess ships and will get their first test on Celebrity later this month.

 

Kmart has been in Australia and NZ for 30+ years, as has Target.

So who needs Walmart! 

I prefer Target anyway. 

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Apart from using towels to squeeze dry items, magnetic hooks and an elastic line. We also use blow up clothes hangers, it keeps the front and back of a garment away from each other so they dry quicker. Hanging the items in front of the A?C vent is good as well.

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We buy easy care, fast drying fabrics for travel.  Our experience is that you do not necessarily have to pay a high price for these at travel stores.  Two of my best easy care shirts came from Costco.  They have been on many two-three months trips and still look like new.  The fabric is the most important....not the brand or the retail outfit.  We only travel with carry on.....one week or ten weeks.  

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If you are on a ship with a laundry room, try my trick. I buy home dry cleaning kits. Woolite does not use a bag, Dryel does but it folds small. I throw my tops and dress pants in the dryer with the dry clean kit. Just remember to take them out and hang or fold as soon as done.  I do have to wash them occasionally  but I think my favorite things last a little longer this way. I dont want to use the laundry service as they use hot water. 

 

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Home made Downey Wrinkle Release: one teaspoon fabric softener and one cup water. Take an empty spray bottle and put some fabric softener in a small container.  Mix a little as needed. Shake well. Cheaper than buying a travel size, especially if you need more than one.

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Years ago through Magellan we bought a rubber shower plug, stretchable clothes line and laundry soap flakes.  (You can still get the laundry soap through Magellan and now Bed Bath and Beyond sells the shower plug). What we do is plug the shower drain, run a few inches of water in the cubical and add the laundry soap flakes. Stomp around in the shower till you get some nice suds, drop in the clothes, soak and agitate them manually.  Drain water, rinse clothing well and then, after manually wringing them out, roll in towels and stomp on towel.  Hang to dry. Have been doing this for years and can wash a good amount of clothing at one time very easily.  In fact, we once spent a month in Europe with only two carry on bags using this method

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On 3/15/2019 at 12:37 AM, iancal said:

We buy easy care, fast drying fabrics for travel.  Our experience is that you do not necessarily have to pay a high price for these at travel stores.  Two of my best easy care shirts came from Costco.  They have been on many two-three months trips and still look like new.  The fabric is the most important....not the brand or the retail outfit.  We only travel with carry on.....one week or ten weeks.  

 

I do the same in that I buy easy care, quick dry travel clothes. It’s hard to beat Costco. They currently have Eddie Bauer quick dry, no wrinkle pants. They are light and very comfortable. I bought 5 pairs for our upcoming trip that includes 2 weeks of cruising. 

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I mostly wash just underwear and maybe some workout wear, very seldom tops or bottoms, unless they are the easy wash and quick dry type.  

 

I either wash in sink with a little soap or shampoo, rinse well and roll in a towel, or sometimes just wash them while I am showering, then roll in a towel.  Then I hang them in the shower.

 

Things are almost always dry in the shower overnight and some things in just a few hours.  Most showers have extendable wash lines; I sometimes bring a wash line that is elastic with bungee ends on longer cruises.

 

 

 

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I may have posted this before, but if you’re in a small cabin or solo studio, and have one of those splashy shallow sinks (hello NCL), you can get an inexpensive dry sack like this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Marine-Dry-Bags/zgbs/sporting-goods/3414201

 

Theyre the same thing as the scrubbas, just cheaper. You can set one up in the shower and let clothes soak a bit. 

 

I roll my stuff in towels to dry and then hang up. 

 

That said, I like having clean clothes, and the lighter I pack the more time I spend hand washing clothes, which isn’t all that vacationy. So I started packing heavy again. No regrets. 

 

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Hello!  I am on vacation.  I am not cooking, making the bed, or doing laundry in my cabin or ship's launderette.

 

On lengthy (up to one month) voyages or land vacations, I have always used the ship's or resort's laundry service for everyday wear like sox, briefs, tees and shorts.  Note that I only bring one piece of 21" carry on luggage for 90% of our journeys.

 

The only exception was when we went on a 2 month vacation through Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands.  Several of our lodgings had a washer/dryer unit in the unit that we made use of.  We did this for convenience and because we usually had short stays of a few days in each location before moving on.  Not enough time to have the hotel laundry (if available) return our clothes before leaving to the next city.

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On 5/19/2017 at 11:16 AM, SilkySal said:

I have never needed to do laundry in our room but, since all of the walls in the cabins are magnetic.....................

We usually do use magnetic hooks, but were on the Rotterdam recently and the hooks did not work.  Can't say if this was true in the whole ship or not, but our Oceanview cabin 2557 did not have magnetic walls.

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