Laundry (specifically, of undies)
 

I have a mental block of having the hotel laundry wash my undies, yet I detest hand-washing and I never feel they are sufficiently clean to wash wear them again. I do this ridiculous thing of hand washing them and then not wearing them again until they are machine-washed.

Consequently, I returned from one trip with 64 sets of undies. (Yes, truly - if you're wondering what I did with all these, I donated half of the bras to charity after bringing them home and washing them, as they were seeking donation of bras).

I am currently on a 9-week trip and I had two opportunities to do the laundry in the first 4 weeks, but the last 5 weeks are devoid of the opportunity to do so. So, I expect to return home with around 35 sets of undies yet again (I miscalculated the quantity required and had to buy some more during the trip).

As you might know, most European hotels do not offer self-service laundry facilities, and it is not always easy to get to such facilities without a car or having to spend an inordinate amount of time, so it is often not an option.

To those of you who end up on frequent long trips with similar set of difficulties, what do you do to deal with the situation?

I wash my own underwear in the sink and wear them.

If that is not an option for you, the alternatives seem to be continue on as you have with a damn lot of underwear, or find a local laundromat so you can do self-service laundry with a machine....Flyertalk forums are pretty good about providing laundromat options in a specific neighborhood when asked....

I'm not sure why you would be averse to having the hotel laundry do them, unless the issue is that you're outraged by the cost (which would be very understandable). However, you seem to be spending an equal or even greater amount buying and throwing/giving away underwear anyway. There is no way on this earth that I would own, much less bring on a trip, 64 pairs of underwear. I think I have about 25 and that seems like too many. I have no problem either washing them out in the sink (I have a scrubbing method that works pretty well) or sending them to the hotel laundry.

I agree
 

So I totally understand and agree with not feeling they are clean enough washing them by hand...but honestly don't understand buying that many vs. hotel laundry (or local laundromat). When I travel for long periods I try to make sure we frequently rent a place with a washer in unit or a self-service customer laundry.

Have you ever looked into something like this ? It looks interesting and has good reviews.

There's also the Scrubba.

(won't mention that I have 2 drawers full of panties ;))

I see an untapped market here, just waiting for Uber Laundry to emerge. Seriously, have Uber pick up laundry from hotel, drop at laundry, return it when it's done.

I use pantyliners, which do help. I also sink wash (with hotel shampoo). Check out Travel Fashion Girl's blog for how to sink wash perfectly every single time. Here's the secret to sink washing -- I bring my prettiest, frilliest undies when I travel. Those are the easiest to wash and the fastest to dry. Yes, I know -- TMI.

Bras stay clean as long as you rotate them during your trip. On a two month trip, you probably won't have to wash your bras more than once. Again, sink wash, hang dry.

When we travel for more than a week, we try to find an AirBNB with a washing machine for night. That gives us a chance to do all of our laundry.

Wait, how many bras are you packing that you only wash bras once over a month?? At home, I usually wear 2 bras per week (one black, one nude, rotating almost equally based on what I'm wearing). But in the summer, I do wear more (I live in NC; I sweat). And I air them well overnight, but still....I definitely need to wash weekly when traveling unless I'm packing 4 or more per week. Which I usually don't.

I guess part of the issue for me is I do get sweaty. (and also why I like to travel to places in cool/cold times of the year ;-) So I'm just used to doing laundry - for me, I do a couple things every night in the sink so it doesn't add up. Can only do that if in the same place, of course. For some trips, we're renting an apt and have a washer or we're on a cruise and have self-serve machines (I'm not sending my bras out to a commercial laundry to be washed on high heat & dried on high heat!)

I usually travel with four/five bras: one black, one nude, one pinky nude, one to go under certain knits, one white with pinky embroidery. In summer, there may be a brighter pink and a blue in there instead of the black and one that goes under the knits. They are all triangle bras, so they can be sink washed and dry by morning.

I do carry on only travel. We book airBnB's with washing machines and get the job done. Other times I have sent laundry out to be washed at full service laundry's.

I cannot imagine taking 64 pairs of undies on a trip, let alone carrying 64 pairs of worn undies around with my other clothes. I take 9 pairs of undies and plan to do laundry every 3 to 4 days. I take three bras and one sports bra, so I have clean every day.

Something else I will do is when I notice a bra is near the end of its life, I will tuck it aside and then take that on vacation with me. I wear it for vacation and then throw it out before packing to head home. It frees up some space in my luggage.