it can be cheap and it can be expensive depends where u are
the problem for me is always time
time to wasb and time to dry it…many places wont let u hang stuff out so u gotta be sneaky !

if u go in the colder season.u can dry it in ur room quite well cos they have heaters
but i travel in spring and summer so i have to rely on room temperature
i have difficulty all the time
nothing is ever really dry so if ur staying only a coyple of nights u end up trying to dry socks half hanging from ur pack on the bus ( discreetly of course but its such a pain!)
so
i suggest u pack stuff thats easy to dry..and dont take a towel.use a sarong instead which dries in no time
choose thin socks unless of course u intend to hike then ur stuck

i have bought travel detergnet but without the agitation of a washing machine i wont expect my jeans to be clean …they kinda just get a soaking in a bath tub and the stains just get a little swirled around…traditionally i get a stain the minute i get on the plane…im the one who gets the coffee spilt on ..the juice that drips etc lol
so unless ur intending to go pound ur clothes with a rock down at the park pond dont expect stains to go away ..i pack dark colours and just accessorise with scarfs etc
i always pack a bar of really good laundry soap or a couple of sample sachets of washing powder and a tube of travel detergent

Say I have to spend 7-10 Euros a week to do laundry at a laundromat. It’s very worth it to me. For one or two Euros per day, you can have clean, comfortable clothes all the time. But I’m not a fan of handwashing in most cases, and I don’t think it gets clothes as clean as machine washing and drying. That said, you have to be flexible, of course, and I put off laundry day sometimes by handwashing a piece or two.

I’m with Traveler here. I rely mostly on laundromats to wash my clothes since when I’m on the road I think my time is worth more than the money it costs to clean them, but I do bring a line and hand wash some clothes to stretch out those intervals. Adjusting your notions of clean just a bit can help as well, since a shirt you’d consider dirty at home may be pretty damn clean when your traveling.

quote:Adjusting your notions of clean just a bit can help as well, since a shirt you’d consider dirty at home may be pretty damn clean when your traveling.

This is the biggest issue. Wear it once and wash it works at home. It doesn’t work — other than for underwear — when traveling.

Doing laundry in the sink is the cheapest option. Bring soap if you’re going this route. Something like Dr. Bronner’s works for clothes and body.

Some laundromats charge what would seem like a lot of money at home, and they say it’s because of the soap, but some places won’t let you use your soap.

7 euros is not that big a deal for me since I spend more than that on beer for one night, 7 euros for clean, fresh smelling and not so wrinkled clothes once a week are totally worth it for me. And taking into account that a ripped bag of soap can be quite messy on a bad day, I’d personally ditch it. Of course, that’s just me.

quote: wondering if it’s worth it to bring luandry soap and a clothes line.

If you bring soap, be sure to bring low-sudsing detergent designed for front-load washers. Otherwise you’ll spend an extra hour cleaning the laundry floor, plus pay for another cycle on the machine to get out the extra suds.

Target sell Wisk HE and Tide HE for this, but it is liquid and would be quite heavy to travel around with. Better option is to buy a small bag of powder detergent from a local shop in Europe just before doing your first load of laundry. Bring a big ziploc freezer bag to carry it for rest of your trip.

I also pack some dryer sheets in a ziploc bag, and some Shout wipes (in the individual packets like hand wipes). The dryer sheets save me the extra expense of fabric softener, and one at the bottom of my pack can help freshen it up (funkmasker?!).

Most hostels have washing machines and dryers. If they are not coin-operated, then check with reception for access. They might require you to buy their detergent (usually way overpriced), but show them your detergent to see if they’ll let you use it instead.

Clothes line is a good idea.

I brought 10 pairs of underwear (thongs are great- because they don’t take up much room). That way I only had to hand wash a shirt or two every couple days (I hung them up in my hostel room- never had a problem with this- didn’t bring a clothes line- just hung them over the railing). This meant that I only had to visit a laundry center once every 10 days (when I ran out of clean underwear).

As for the soap: I measured out enough dry soap to do laundry for the time was there (a couple cups- I think). Dry soap is not very heavy, takes up very little room, and it gets lighter as you travel. I just used regular old Tide (like you would normaly use at home). I had no problem at any of the laundry places using my own soap (although there are some places where they will do your laundry for you- for pretty cheap- especially in Rome- and of course they use their own soap).

Veggiegrl has the right idea. Pack lots of underwear and then layer the rest so you can switch things around. If you have a couple of thin little tees to wear under everything, you can wash those in the sink really easily. I like liquid soap so I would take a little bottle of stuff, or buy it at the store there.

I am also going to offer a suggestion from my friend, who does this… personally I just can’t do it psychologically, but they do sell &quotaper underwear" that you can wear for a day and then throw out. You can carry tons of it with you without a problem.

I just think it’s weird.

Paper underwear sounds terribly uncomfortable haha!! Might as well wear adult diapers instead…it would save you a euro or 2 when in places that charge for use of restroom…or like lets say you’re on a train…and are too lazy to put your shoes on…unbuckle…secure your valuables…step over the person next to you…navigate around the food trolley….the adult diaper makes all that unneccessary…for you have a portable bathroom w/ you at all times.