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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 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

 

 

When i hand wash underwear, I use t he provided shampoo. That is all I hand wash. I send everything else out to be washed, dry cleaned or pressed.

 

All HAL ship s have pull out clothese lines in shower/g tub.

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Have found the lightweight wicking fabric is perfect for traveling - wash, rinse, smooth onto towel and do the stomp dance. Hang on hangers and they are quickly dry. I also travel with linen in hot climates - washes well, dries looking fine to wear if smoothed before hanging to dry and linen is fine slightly wrinkled. I do carry a powder form lingerie soap as others soaps may cause fading of clothes. We do send out cotton underclothes and pajamas on "wash and fold" day and dress slacks/dinner shirts to the laundry.

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Whatever the length of the cruise (e.g., 3-5 weeks plus pre/post land days), we basically pack for a 10 day trip and generally do 2-3 self-serve laundry days at $2/load wash or dry. Oceania also provides irons/ocean friendly detergent. There's also the option of ship's laundry (which we may do for certain things) during discount days of 20 items for $25.

One funny related story (reported here on CC): Riviera once ran out of the $2 laundry machine tokens. Apparently, someone on a long cruise bought them out (supposedly) so that they could do laundry whenever they wanted.

 

 

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One of the reasons we like Princess and Cunard ships is the availability of the self-serve laundry rooms which also have irons and ironing boards.

While it is true that we are on vacation and away from household chores,we find that doing a few loads of laundry on a cruise, allows us to pack lighter.

On another note, while clothes can dry quickly on a balcony, most cruise lines dissuade passengers from doing so because loose clothing can cause a problem for the ship if the items blow overboard.

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We have sent laundry out to be washed and AWAYS have everything returned on hangers! Then most doesn't need ironing.

And we have done our own laundry in the passenger laundry for $3.00 to wash & $3.00 to dry.

My nylon undies are the only thing to wash in the bathroom sink!

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For any cruise over a week I generally do some washing--in my room or in a laundry room, if the ship has self-service laundry. Once in a while we will do the bag of laundry for $?. But lately that has gotten more expensive.

 

I don't hand wash anything that is heavy or hard to dry; mostly underwear and workout clothes, with an occasional top. I use bar soap or shampoo; works fine. Rinse very well, roll in towels and squeeze out all the extra moisture. Easy care fabrics work best.

 

I find things dry very well on the clothesline in the shower, usually overnight. Sometimes I hand clothes from the back of the balcony chairs, very well secured.

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A large zip lock bag makes a great travel "washing machine". Put the clothes in, add warm water (just enough so the the clothes are floating in it but don't overfill) and add some travel detergent. Seal and shake it all about for a while. Rinse clothes and squeeze, then roll in a towel to remove excess moisture.

 

Finding somewhere to finish drying them can be a challenge on some ships though. I always take a no-pegs stretchy line with hooks and suction caps but couldn't get it to stick anywhere useful on Celebrity Solstice. I must see if I can find some extra-strong magnetic hooks here in Australia.

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I found from Walmart heavy hooks that stick to the metal walls of my cabin for hanging things on such as my backpack. A hanger would easily hang from the hooks, too.

 

We don't have Walmart in Australia. :(

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Although I carry a small amount of Dawn dish detergent for removing stains, Camp Suds (available @REI) is my favorite travel detergent because it easily rinses out of clothing.

 

For quickest drying, choose your fabrics wisely -- no heavy denim jeans! Rolling items in a towel twice removes most of the moisture. If an iron is available in a laundry area, you can dry items quickly and completely with the heat. Hair dryers are slower, but are a readily-available option.

 

When traveling by land or water, I always carry several plastic hangers with clips. Hang your items to dry upside down for a few hours, then reverse. This prevents having items dry except for a damp bottom hem.

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I fill small bottles(100ml) with the concentrated laundry detergent meant for front loading washers. It is very low suds and little goes a long way, and is approved for use when sailing, and rinses out easily even in small sinks. I think it gets clothes cleaner than shampoo, and rinses out more thoroughly. https://www.seventhgeneration.com/high-efficiency-detergent?v=726

 

A backpacker's microfiber towel doesn't take up nearly as much room as a regular cotton terry towel and also dries much faster, so its a great towel to use to wring out your laundry. There are lots of brands - I like this one https://www.amazon.com/Sunland-Microfiber-Compact-Sports-Towels/dp/B00MGGYZVG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495310646&sr=8-4&keywords=backpacking+towel

 

One thing that has helped me decide what to pack is try washing at home in your sink and see how well it dries overnight. Things that wrinkle a lot or don't dry in 24 hours are left at home.

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

I have found that a Scrubba wash bag works well (once you get the hang of it) and you won't have pruned hands. Available from Amazon.

 

demo video of it in use.

 

I like the braided rubber clothes lines with the velcro loops on the ends.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-Clothesline-Size/dp/B003MU9JZC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495314684&sr=8-4&keywords=travel+clothesline

I've had no luck getting the suction cup models to actually stay attached to any surface when clothes are on the line. YMMV I've also found Nite Ize reusable twist ties to be helpful in securing the clothes line to tie off points.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_7_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=nite+ize+gear+tie&sprefix=nite+%2Caps%2C157&crid=YCETIOULBW63

 

 

For soap I use packets of Woolite, also available on Amazon.

 

 

Put the clothes in the Scrubba, fill to the line with water, put in some Woolite (I don't use much soap), and use the bag as directed. I usually put it on the floor and agitate it with my foot for a few minutes. The Woolite is gentle and rinses out well. I usually rinse each load twice. I used to hand wash in the sink, but I got tired of pruned hands.

 

 

For drying I squeeze the water out of the clothes, sandwich them between two pool towels, roll them up, step on the roll a few times, unroll, and hang the clothes using the braided clothesline. I've always been able to find some tie off points in the bathroom that still allows us to use the facilities. For non cruise travel where an abundance of towels aren't available, I take a couple microfiber towels to use.

 

We wear travel clothing (Patagonia, Ex Officio, etc) which washes easily and dries overnight. I usually do a couple loads while I watch the news. I've also found that putting a shirt "on" the back of a balcony chair and buttoning the cuffs of a shirt around the arms of a chair secures it well and allows the breeze to dry the shirt quickly.

 

 

As an added bonus, the Scrubba bag does double duty as a waterproof drybag for excursions.

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

 

We wring them in a towel and hang them on the line that is provided in the shower. If they are not dry enough in the morning I use the hair dryer on them.

 

That is for the few items that we do not send to the ship's laundry, using bag special.

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We wring them in a towel and hang them on the line that is provided in the shower. If they are not dry enough in the morning I use the hair dryer on them.

 

That is for the few items that we do not send to the ship's laundry, using bag special.

 

Unfortunately some cruise ships, like Celebrity Solstice, don't have lines in the shower so it can be a challenge finding somewhere to dry things.

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Unfortunately some cruise ships, like Celebrity Solstice, don't have lines in the shower so it can be a challenge finding somewhere to dry things.

 

That is where having your own travel clothesline comes in handy. It's a cheap, easy fix.

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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:

 

Great minds here in CC! Love this!

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I use the shampoo provided by the ship, use towel to wrap and squeeze out water, then onto plastic hangers with laundry clips. Mine are from Germany and Hong Kong, but they should be available in North America as well. There is always some place to hang them in the cabin over night. Drying is faster in the cabin than in the bathroom.

I have cotton t-shirts, but I only take the ones that dry relatively fast and put them on blow-up hangers to separate the front and back.

Whatever can't be washed by hand, must be sturdy and colorfast enough to go to laundry service. So far, everything came out fine. Our cruises tend to be 4 weeks, no chance to bring enough clothes for that long.

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To make your own Wrinkle Release spray use one teaspoon fabric softener in 1 cup water. Put in spray bottle and shake. I take an empty spray bottle and a couple of ounces of fabric softener in a separate disposable container and mix as needed. Works great.

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That is where having your own travel clothesline comes in handy. It's a cheap, easy fix.

 

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.

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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.

 

You can use magnetic hooks on the metal walls of your cabin. Then stretch your travel clothesline (lots of options when you google it) wherever you want in your cabin. Granted there is not a lot of room, but it is definitely possible.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L2TL60A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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We travel with carry on only, 20 inch roller each. We do this for a one week trip or a two-three month trip. Since retirement fours years ago when we decided to go for six months. It has been a bit of a learning curve.

 

We now buy clothing with a view to travel. Heavy cotton items stay home. Easy dry, light, no wrinkle fabrics are the rule. We dress in layers and all of the clothes in our bag are complementary colors. We often do not know specifically that we are taking a cruise. We sometimes shop for last minute cruise offers while we are doing independent land travel.

 

We don't bring any hooks, detergent, fabric softener, whatever. We just use what is available...hand soap, shampoo, etc. We do the laundry bag thing on ships but if we wash something out we will dry it/them on the balcony...in the sun. For shirts and blouses two hours or less does it on a sunny day. On land trips we do the same, use laundrys or laundry mats. The latter it great since we invariably meet up with other travellers (often Ozzies) and get travel tips.

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