Laundry on the road -- how do you dry it?
 

Anyone have a handy dandy on the road way to dry sink laundry? Clothesline? With or without suckers to hold it to the wall? Hangers? What works best?

Redacted

For me it's wring it out and roll it in a dry towel. Then it's shower rods, window sills and chair backs. I resist the temptation to use the hair dryer. I'm also interested to hear other hacks.

I take hangers with me and hang them, making sure to use a towel to squeeze out the excess water. The big trick is to do it before you "need" to because, especially in humid climates, it can take a while to dry. I'm not above using the hair dryer in an emergency.

I do the same. I like to pack 2 or 3 toddler sized hangers that have clips. They take up little room in my luggage. I use them mostly to dry "undies".

First, wring clothes as dry as you can get them.

Get pool towels, the bigger and fluffier the better. Lay the clothing flat on the towels, and roll them up. Then walk on the rolled up towels.

The clothes should be quite dry, and hopefully will completely dry hung on hangers.

This is also my method, except I take the rolled-up towels and wring the water out of the clothes by twisting them as hard as I can possibly twist them. Interestingly, this does not result in misshapen clothing.

I tried this with a pair of smartwool socks several years ago and managed to melt a hole into one. Use the hair dryer with caution! Looking back, I think held the hair dryer too close to the socks. A small wind tunnel or something with a pillow case or towel to diffuse the heat might be a better hairdryer desperation tactic.

Heated towel bars are useful. Air conditioner, fan, or air purifier for some air flow is also good. I haven't conquered air drying when it is humid, overcast, and no breeze. The towel burrito only helps so much. When I think I'm going somewhere humid without dryer access or need some extra cooling, I pack a small USB fan to get some air moving to dry smaller articles. Arctic Breeze makes a good one with plenty of airflow but is a little more fragile in transport than Xiaomi's "Mi Usb Fan".

I usually wear cotton "undies" but if I'm packing such that I know I'll need to wash them, I'll throw in some nylon ones which dry in a fraction of the time.

Has anyone found a clothesline that actually works? I've bought and thrown out half a dozen of them because the suction cups or retraction thing or some other component didn't work.

I try to pack only clothing that I know will dry quickly and doesn't wrinkle. And I use the roll in a towel, walk on it method to pre-dry. I never bring anything special to hang things up. Just use whatever is available in the room. Sometimes you have to be a little creative especially with those special hotel hangers with tiny hooks instead of the normal ones, but I've always been able to figure something out.

Fiber content and fabric thickness are key
 

The first step in making sure your clothes will air dry as fast as you need while on the road is carefully choosing those clothes by fiber content and fabric thickness while you shop and pack before your trip. When I have to travel to the desert for work, I find that lightweight linen, linen blends, and cotton/linen blends dry fastest. The great thing about linen is water evaporates very quickly from it. It makes wearing linen clothing the most comfortable option in hot weather, too. I think that would be even more true in hot, humid areas.

In general, woven fabric will dry faster than knits. Thin fabrics will dry faster than thick, as you know. Like the other commenters, I roll wet clothes between two towels, as though my clothing were the jelly in a jelly roll. Sometimes I do this with two fresh batches of towels. You can buy braided rubber clotheslines and use carabiner clips at the ends to hang them in a spot in your hotel room that's near the air conditioner or somewhere else with reasonable ventilation. You can also use yet more fresh, dry towels to hang the item on the provided hangers. You'll want to do this if the hangers are wood, to protect the hanger and clothing. Good luck, and let us know how you fare!

What soap do you use to wash your clothes?

I have a handwash gel in a tube I got in France - decanted into a smaller bottle (I also have a German version) No clue why we can't have handwash gel in tubes in the US, but it's something I buy when I travel.

If I don't have that, I'll use shampoo that comes in a hotel room (but I'm not always traveling in places with hotels and/or hotels with amenities:p) Dr. Bronners multipurpose cleaner is also a nice option, but I prefer a gel to a liquid.

I've gotten Woolite in individual packets. I figured that's safe for anything I might want to wash.

Count me among those who use the shampoo bottles provided by the hotel to do laundry on the road. They are usually just right -- leaving clothes clean and fresh, rinsing out completely, and a little goes a long way.

For drying, the towel warmer in the bathroom is quite useful.