laundry

Hoppy, I've taken several RS tours and that type of info is not normally covered in the pre-trip materials. Your tour guide can help point you in the direction of laundry facilities once you get there. In Germany and Switzerland some hotels were able to do laundry overnight for a fee. In most cases, there's not a lot of time to use a self-service laundromat. I usually do hand laundry in the sink. I just bought some soap "sheets" which look like they may be a good alternative to Woolite (and they don't have to go in your 3-1-1 bag). PS - you're on the right track with packing light, you won't regret it!

We are about to take our 10th RS tour (Italy) in September. Long ago we learned to pack light meaning only 3 pairs of underwear which are ExOfficio - expensive at first but very quick dry and long lasting - 3 shirts and 3 pants - we sink wash every third night. On almost every tour we have fellow tour mates who have brought along way too many sets of clothes and wear them sparingly and are in desperate need of a laundry-mat as soon as one is available - time consuming and sometimes expensive. On one tour we had two folks who did not read all of RS tour fine print and each brought two big suitcases so that they could wear a different outfit every day and change again for dinner. To each his own.
If RS can go to Europe every year with only one of his carry-on sized suitcases for three month (or so he claims) I strive for the same.

I'm headed on my fourth RS tour in May. The tour materials do not cover laundry facilities. However, the locations of some are often mentioned in the guidebooks under the various towns he covers. The reason they emphasize packing light is because on a RS tour you manage all of your own baggage to and from your transport - and if that includes something besides a bus (like a train or boat), you are responsible for hauling all of your own gear. Trust me, you don't want a giant suitcase and several extra bags. The people I've seen on my tours that chose the "pack heavy" option were very, very tired of it by the end of the trip. As others have said, focus on travel clothing that is easy to wash in the sink. There have been many questions about this recently on the board, so give a look at the advice given under those questions. I had laundry done once, on my first tour, and after that very expensive experience, I have improved my travel wardrobe to avoid needing to do this at all.

I've been on several RS tours and was usually able to find a laundromat. In your free time, do laundry and talk to whoever else is in the laundromat. It's a cultural experience. I was just in Venice and found a laundromat around the corner from my hotel. Some items of clothing don't dry quickly in the cooler months. Packing light is important, because you will be hauling your stuff up to your room and back down again--a few times for most trips.

We did a two week Rick Steves tour, there was a laundry facilities at one hotel we stayed at. That is the only time I bothered to use it since it was a small country hotel where you could put your stuff in the machine and not worry it was going to go missing and so go sightseeing while its in the dryer. There was some time in other places to find and use a city laundry if you wanted to waste your free time( guess you can see what I think of that, one day in Venice free and you want to spend it at a laundramat!) We sink washed socks etc and managed fine with what we had. Packing light really does make the trip a lot more pleasant. In fact in Venice we actually combined the things we would need into one of our bags( I was with my 11 yr old daughter) and left the other bag in the bus , since the bus is parked on mainland and you take your luggage onto the boat and then through windy narrow streets to get to hotel. And all those cute arched bridges you see,, ha, most of them are stepped, not ramped)

Hoppy, I've found the easiest way to wash undies, etc, is in a 1-gallon zip lock bag using a tiny amount of the liquid, concentrated, antibacterial dishwashing soap. I just bring it in a 1-ounce squeeze bottle. Fill bag with hot water, squeeze the air out, seal it, agitate, soak for a while, and rinse. I bring along a few of these bags, reuse a numer of times, and then discard.

I had real good luck with the Purex Laundry Sheets. I took several of them in a small ziploc bag and cut off a piece appropriate for the number of things being washed.
http://www.purex.com/products/detergents/purex-complete-3-in-1

"Forever New" is powdered laundry soap sold in lingerie deparments ,, for washing undies,, its great, low sudsing( so no huge overflow of bubbles) concentrated a little goes a long way, rinces out completely, and it comes in a great little plastic bottle thats easy to pack in carryon!

On our last trip, we did a combination of things everyone has mentioned so far: - used laundry facilities mentioned in Rick's books. - used hotel sinks and/or ziplock bags to wash small items. - Tried to wash a few things every night so we never ran out of clean socks or underwear. - Wore shirts/pants more than once between washing (unless we got dirty or sweaty).
- After hand washing, used a synthetic chamois to get the extra moisture out. This made a big difference! Enjoy your trip. Can't wait to take our next one!

On one trip my husband and I took a few years back he packed only 3 pairs of heavy cotton underpants, 3 cotton shirts, shorts, and a pair of jeans for himself. He sweat heavily the first day and changed clothes. The second day he announced that we needed to find a laundromat because he was out of shirts and underwear. Going to a laundromat every other day was not MY idea of vacation. He now owns lightweight travel underpants (ex officio brand) and nylon pants and shirts. He also knows how to wash them by hand and hang them up to dry by himself! I always pack 6 pairs of underwear. They are small and don't take up much space. Sometimes if you are sweat during the day and want to freshen up but not change clothes before going out for dinner, just changing into fresh undies will do the trick. Also, some nights you may not be able to do laundry, so don't count on doing it every night.

Hoppy, Which RS tour are you planning to take? As the others have mentioned, it's not likely you'll receive any information on laundry with the tour information. I've taken five RS tours (signed up for a sixth tour this fall), and don't recall ever seeing that. There is occasionally information in some of the Guidebooks. My travel methods are similar to what the others have described. I usually try to operate for five days without visiting a laundromat, and wash items in the sink when possible. I tend to use travel-friendly Tilley clothing rather than Ex-Officio. I had a look at Ex-Officio, but they seem to have an aversion to shipping items to Canada for some reason? I requested a catalogue about a year ago, and I'm still waiting. Happy travels!

When you get your guidebook look for laundry information for each town you visit. Your tour guide will also tell you which towns have laundry facilities. I have discovered Charlie's Soap, which I use for my every day washing here at home. I took some on my last trip, in a zip lock bag. It was the best laundry soap I have used for any of my travel. It comes in both liquid and powder and only take a tiny scoop to wash an entire load. It is even for HE washers. By the way, I don't work for the company that makes this soap :). One other thing, I take a cheap, bought at General Dollar Store, microfiber towel to squeeze out excess water. It removes a lot of water and dries quickly and remains soft.

Great idea to take a microfiber towel!

"Forever New" cold water soap, which Pat recommended, is absolutely wonderful for all laundry overseas. We have used it on trips to Canada, Australia and four trips to Europe. We use it in all the hotels where we have more than a one night stay. Otherwise the clothes wouldn't dry. You can buy it at Macy's or they have the equivalent at Nordstrom's, in the langerie dept. at both stores. A little of the powder in the hotel bath tub goes a long way.

Something I swear by when washing clothes in my room is inflatable hangers. They weigh nothing and don't take up room in your luggage. When needed just inflate them. They help clothes dry faster by holding the two sides of the clothing item apart. I also bring a couple of plastic hangers that have clips on them (I keep the pants hangers when I buy clothing) to hang pants to dry. They are also good to hang underwear from. I usually leave those behind when I come home.

I do the things everyone else does.... wash frequently, have special travel clothes, wear shirts-pants more than once etc. I would give a holler to REI's Dr. Bronners Organic Liquid Soap. I've never used a whole bottle, even on a month long trip. You can also use it for a shower or shampoo.... I've hear a couple of die hard backpackers say you "can" use it as toothpaste..... hmmm.... glad I use the peppermint. I'll also add, that if you take a microfiber towel, don't take a "standard" microfiber...... get's wet after one dry. Use the viscose variety. It is typically not as soft as regular micro-fiber towels, but rings out over 90% dry so you can do multiple loads. I have never had mine fail to dry overnight.