What to do about wrinkled clothes from luggage?

[katenmegsmom]

Getting my packing list together now and just realized that irons are not allowed on the ship. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove wrinkles from packing? Do the travel-size steamers work well? Hot water from showers? Help! I don't want to look shabby in the nice cruise pictures!

 

Until "Paradise"

 

 

Monarch of the Seas 10/99

Imagination 3/98

Holiday 8/95

Dreamward 6/94

Majesty 8/89

[KruzinKiwi]

We save those flimsy plastic bags you get from the dry cleaners/laundry and pack our clothes in thos - that helps. We also take a travel-size steamer and it does a fair job on things which aren't too wrinkled. Never tried the shower trick.

 

For stuff that is badly wrinkled or that we really want crisp (like the shirt for my tux) we usually just give it to the cabin attendant the first evening and he/she brings it back all nicely pressed a few hours later. I usually give them a small tip.

 

--- Andrew

 

 

Until Navigator 5/1/04

[Nitemare]

Hang stuff on the back of the bathroom door and turn on the shower, it should steam out most of the wrinkles

[serene56]

I pack my clothes between layers of those small kitchen bags. Also, when unpacking the clother-before i hang them up I spritz them with downey wrinkle remover. (they will be dry before I wear them.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

 

 

[TrqoisWtrs]

Instead of buying that wrinkle releaser, just take a travel size empty spray bottle. When you get on the ship just fill it with water. It works the same as the wrinkle release - just spray and smooth out.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life is too short to drink cheap wine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Premier Royale 1985

CCL Holiday 09/89

CCL Tropicale 09/94

CCL Fantasy 02/98

RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 06/01

CCL Fascination 08/02

CCL Imagination 01/03

RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 07/03

 

[newbie2cruise]

they have an iron in the laundry rooms on the ships. please dont waste water letting the shower run just to get out a few wrinkles! its bad for the fishes

 

my first cruise

holiday family cruise

[sassycruiser]

I think that people were talking about hanging their clothes on the back of the bathroom door WHILE they shower. That doesn't waste any water and works pretty well.

 

I personally use Downy Wrinkle Release

[katenmegsmom]

Thanks for the ideas everyone

 

Until "Paradise"

 

 

Monarch of the Seas 10/99

Imagination 3/98

Holiday 8/95

Dreamward 6/94

Majesty 8/89

[Without Tessa]

katenmegsmom: make sure to check with your ship before assuming they have irons in self-serve laundry areas. The ship I am going on does not have a laundry room and you have to pay to have things pressed - surprising, but true.

 

"Without Tessa"

 

Sometimes a vacation without the dog's head on the pillow between you & your husband is a good thing!

 

HAL ms Zuiderdam 04/2004

HAL ms Zuiderdam 02/2003

[legalcruiser]

I second the downy wrinkle release. The stuff is great plus it leaves a nice fresh scent in the room and on your clothes.

 

Dawn 5/23/04

RCCL Enchantment 7/02

Carnival Glory 8/03

 

[mconthehighseas]

Downy Wrinkle Release doesn't work on all fabrics, for instance, silk. Check the labels on your clothes, and compare it to the label on the bottle.

 

Adventure of the Seas 9/21/03 - wish I was still there!!!

[caber]

I take a little plastic steamer, in the shape of an iron. You fill it with water and salt. Some things you cannot iron, like suits and special dresses. I always put in an ordinary couthanger to hook it up on something while I run the steamer over the clothes. It`s great and not heavy to carry. I got it in one of those leaflets you get with the Sunday papers.

[PennyAgain]

Some cruise lines are now banning the steamers. I don't want to risk mine so I use Downy Wrinkle Reducer.

[Texas_Diver]

Here's another vote for Downy Wrinkle Releaser. We use it and find that it really works.

 

D.

[margeecruiser]

I have used the laundry/dry cleaner on board and was pleasantly surprised. The cost of pressing my formal ball gown, my DH's tux and then having his white dinner jacket dry cleaned was less than having it done in my hometown in Texas. I now plan to not fret about the wrinkles during the day and use the press-only feature for our formal clothes. It seems that the day clothes wrinkles go away after 10 minutes. I sent my formal things out as soon as I was on-board and got them back the next day before 4 PM. They really worked very well for me.:)

[cb at sea]

Shorts and tees, we don't worry too much about. After 10 minutes in the humidity, everyones clothes will have creases and wrinkles!

I don't do "ball gowns"--I go slinky and sequined--those materials don't wrinkle at all! We pack hubby's tux in a dry-cleaning bag, so it can slide around a bit--no wrinkles!)

Just iron before you pack, and pack carefully---you won't need the pressing service onboard!

[vowsatsea]

Another vote for Downy Wrinkle Release...the stuff works great!

[San Diego Ellie]

Some cruiselines and ships have self service laundry rooms equipped with irons as well as machines, and some do not. In my experience, all Carnival and Princess ships have them. No Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ship has such a room or area, and Holland America Ships are mixed; some have them and some do not. I do not know anything about NCL.

 

When I sail on Celebrity or RCCL, I try to bring wrinkle resistant clothing, but I do also hang things in the bathroom while showering, and that does help.

[bar_20]

We used the cruise ship laundrey service and they did a fine job, it was HAL. I would wait a day, because it seemed like everyone sent their laundry out the first day and on the second day, the cruise line offered the service at 1/2 price.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

I roll my clothes (mostly knits) and lay my DH's formal stuff flat in the middle of the suitcase in a thin plastic bag. Of course, we fly in January out of the northeast - so the suitcases stay pretty cold on the plane. The only wrinkles

to worry about would be DH's dress shirts and as he is wearing a jacket over them - no one sees the wrinkles. I unpack almost immediately and do the "shower trick", if necessary.

[luvscruising2007]

I try to avoid wrinkles to begin with. I got a great tip on these boards before our first cruise. Go to the dry cleaner and layer dry cleaning bags in your luggage. They really helped with the wrinkles. For your formal wear the previous suggestion of sending to the ship's laundry for pressing is a good one. Everything comes back so nice and the cost is reasonable.

[Daveag]

My DW is a big user of the W. R. I did a little research and found a make your own receipe. In the empty spray bottle I put 2 teaspoons of a nice smelling fabric softener and then fill the bottle with distilled water. It works great! I have lost count how many bottles of W.R. I have made from one small bottle of fabric softener! The gallon size jugs of water are very cheap as well. It takes me about five minutes to make up 2 spray bottles of the stuff and my DW uses it on everything, it's like liquid ironing. :D :D :D

[Glassrobinson]

Thanks for the "recipe"!

[cruisemom42]

If you pack carefully, you will not have many wrinkles. In all the cruises I've been on, I only once sent something out to be pressed (a white linen dress that I just "had" to take on our Caribbean cruise).

 

Put shoes on the bottom and fill the shoes and spaces in between with items that can be stuffed or rolled (e.g., socks, underwear, bathing suits). Put a couple of layers of the dry cleaner bags on top of these to even things out. Then lay out items in the suitcase, keeping them as flat and wrinkle-free as you can. Fold sleeves inward carefully. Pack pants and shorts as they would hang on a hanger (e.g., fold once in the middle -- where the crease is or would be -- and pack flat). Use the whole width and length of your suitcase as much as possible, rather than folding things into smaller units.

 

Don't pack your dressy items or those prone to wrinkle until the last minute. Put dry cleaner bags between layers if you're really worried about a particular piece or two. Pack your suitcase full enough so that things don't move much when you transport it. And unpack right away when you get to your destination.

[Happy ks]

Since I'm not fond of the lingering smell of the Downey Wrinkle Release spray, I spend a little time and care with packing to avoid wrinkles. For the occasional crease, I use another type of wrinkle spray, it's aerosol so no worries about leakage and it's a 3 oz. can, you can pack it into a 3-1-1 bag if you wish.

 

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