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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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Tithe glop in the shower doubles was detergent. Wrap wet items in bath towels to squeeze out water. Bring magnetic hooks to hang from the ceiling with hangers ( there should be a line in the bathroom for small items).

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I have never needed to do laundry in our room but, since all of the walls in the cabins are magnetic, I would think you might be able to rig some sort of a small clothes line with magnets on each end to attach to the corners of the walls maybe.:rolleyes: You are not allowed to hang anything from the ceiling (excluding the towel monkey that may show up!)!!:o

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I'm glad you asked this question. I was thinking of doing this for my 9 night cruise in September. Is there a type of detergent or soap you use when hand washing? (I don't ever hand wash at home). Also, any tricks on how not to let the clothes become really wrinkled? (I sort of imagine wringing them out and see a lot of wrinkles).

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I bring a tiny bottle of detergent. 2 oz maybe. It goes a long way. Wash and rinse in the sink (yes, small!). I do the roll in the towel too to get the extra wetness out. Use the balcony while in port to dry the clothes. I bring hangers with clips and hang on the bar on the back of the balcony chairs or throw over the chair. On a sunny day clothes dry quickly. Even my jeans dried!

 

Give the clothes a good hard shake before hanging. A lot of the wrinkles go away. Or steam in the bathroom after a spritz with Downy Wrinkle-Free (from the travel-sized goods section in Target or other store).

I send the bare minimum to ship's laundry--on any cruiseline. Any clothing I care about I hand wash if needed. :cool:

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I'm glad you asked this question. I was thinking of doing this for my 9 night cruise in September. Is there a type of detergent or soap you use when hand washing? (I don't ever hand wash at home). Also, any tricks on how not to let the clothes become really wrinkled? (I sort of imagine wringing them out and see a lot of wrinkles).

I brought a small bottle of dish det, also great for treating stains.

Neatly wring out water then lay clothing flat on towel, Many items will fit on towel on floor. Roll towel with clothes and step on it with bare feet to remove excess water.

Smooth out with hands and hang to dry. Pack some wrinkle release to lightly spray items.

The next day most of your items should be dry

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I'm glad you asked this question. I was thinking of doing this for my 9 night cruise in September. Is there a type of detergent or soap you use when hand washing? (I don't ever hand wash at home). Also, any tricks on how not to let the clothes become really wrinkled? (I sort of imagine wringing them out and see a lot of wrinkles).

Downy Wrinkle Releaser.

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I also wash items in the sink with a little liquid detergent, roll them in towels to get out excess moisture and -- I bring a couple of INFLATABLE HANGERS (available on Amazon). These help make the clothes dry quicker because they keep the two sides of a garment separated.

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I use the hand held dryer on low setting for my socks. I bring my nylon socks that dry faster. Cotton socks take longer to dry. I fit the sock over the end of the dryer and it is like blowing up a balloon. I drape small items over the lamp shade with the light on. Even the CFL bulbs generate some heat to speed drying. To help minimize wrinkles I hang clothing in the shower with the hot shower creating a steam bath. Then I use the blow dryer and smooth out remaining wrinkles by hand. Not perfect but good enough. Our cruise clothes we buy now we try to stick with wrinkle free. Terry

 

 

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Ditto a lot of the previous posts. Also, we both use Exofficio brand clothing that dries overnight, and we have some foldable hangers which I got on Amazon. I like these hangers better than the inflatable ones. If clothes are too wrinkled, we have the laundry service press them. We've found less damage to clothes when pressed than when laundered.

 

 

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Do you have any Latin American ports of call? Whenever I'm in Ecuador (land trips) I buy a couple bars of Ales detergent to bring home, but I bet you could find the same thing in any Latin American supermarket. It looks just like a medium-large bar of soap, basically the same kind of laundry soap our grandparents used, but mass-manufactured instead of home made. It is stocked on the shelf next to the liquid and powdered laundry detergents.

 

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We tie a clothing net to a rope, stuff the pockets with the shower soap and just dunk it over the side and let the bag drag for an hour and then reel it in :cool:

You don't have to do that anymore! Just wash your clothes in the Flo Rider then dry in the I-FLY. They are open each day between 8 and 9 for this very purpose. Don't you read your Compass?:evilsmile::evilsmile:

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We will be on a very long cruise and would love your advice and tip and tricks:)!

 

Best to consider using the ships laundry and or dry cleaning service. We were on a ship with a "gentleman" who appeared neat and clean- but his clothing had a horrible smell. So it is important to clean your clothes after a day of wearing them. I understand you might not want to bring a lot of luggage, so it is important to consider laundry services. We do hand wash swim suits- and hang in bathroom- enjoy your cruise- allocate some cash for laundry. It is your vacation surely you deserve it!

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If on a cruise with no self serve laundry room we take wash & wear clothes

I use soap sheets to hand wash small items

roll in a towel & hang in bathroom overnight dry by morning

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We do a lot of hand wash on transatlantics. We intentionally pack synthetic fabrics that dry really fast. No cotton if we can help it. Since we've always had a balcony we take cheap plastic woodworking clamps (like clothespins on steroids) to clamp items tightly to the balcony chairs. Mid ocean nobody cares - especially now that smoking is not allowed on balconies on most (if not all) lines. The breeze outside usually dries things pretty quickly.

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Having clothes that lend themselves to a quick wash and quick hang dry is the important first step. I have shirts from The North Face, Prana, Athleta, Ex-Officio that fit that bill to a T for me. My pants are from the same stores. I use the detergent leaves (you can find them at REI, on online - look for "laundry detergent leaves." Socks and undies dry quickly, too (I have Ex-Officio undies - comfy, cool, and dry fast).

I just do a little laundry each day as part of my evening bathroom ritual. Takes just a couple of minutes. I also do the "roll up in a towel to get rid of excess" trick. Depending on my location, I'll hang on the curtain rod, on the shower head, or I have my handy travel clothesline - holds with suction cups. You can find these at REI, Magellan's, Travelsmith, etc.

I did a month-long business trip this way, packing only for a week. I always looked neat and I did not stink ;)

 

I never send laundry out on a ship. It's only hot water wash, hot water rinse. If you have anything natural fiber, it will shrink.

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