Need tips on air-drying clothes

Another great source for travel clothing is Tilley's. Their stuff is expensive, but everything they make is no-wrinkle, no-iron, wash in the sink & dry overnight. They even make underwear and socks. I've found their quality to be top-notch. Tilley's recommends wringing out their clothes within an absorbent towel after washing, to make them air-dry faster. www.tilley.com

NO TRAVEL IRON. It is a function of having the correct type of fabrics. All cotton is slow drying and will be stiff. We avoid taking anything that is 100% cotton. Also 100% nylon can present problems but the new synthetic blends are terrific. Europe used a lot of high speed water extractors to more water than the typical washing machine. Almost dry when you take them out of the extractor. PS Just checked our labels on our travel clothes. All are polyester blends (commonly called microfibers), some with a little nylon, or small amount of cotton, and some with several synthetic fibers. Work fine for light packing and easy maintenance.

The only clothes that I take that I would worry about getting wrinkled are my shirts. I take polyester/cotton blend golf style shirts and dry them over inflatable hangers. The width of the inflatable hangers allows the sides of the shirts to hang flat.

Also ask if they have places to hang your clothes outside. If they have a way for you to wash your clothes, there's probably something in place for you to dry them, too.

If you travel a lot, you should invest in good winkle resistant travel clothing. My very favorite travel blouses are EBTEK which is Eddie Bauer. I also have some Columbia Titanuim which are also very winkle resistant. When I wash those in hotel rooms I do not squeeze...just shake real hard and hang to dry. I always carry plastic clothes hangers.

I hang up ALL of my cotton shirts and many of my T shirts straight from the washer...nothing is stiff or wrinkled. If you have already tried this at home and it is not satisfactory, you will need to take different clothing. NO travel iron. It sounds like you will be staying in apartments, so there will be plenty of places to hang your clothes.

I just dealt with this very issue a couple of weeks ago in a Paris apartment. First, they will probably have some sort of drying rack (our apartment did) that will help quite a bit. The main thing is to roll up the wet garment in a towel to absorb moisture, then hang it on either a rack or a clothes hanger. For something that needs a bit more shape to it such as a knit top you can lay it out flat on a towel. We generally don't buy travel specific clothing but we made an effort to bring lightweight and relatively quick drying fabrics and no denim. You do have to be strategic about when you do your laundry so that it has time to dry overnight. No doing your laundry the night before you leave.

I agree with Lynne and would add that I use a travel towel to help dry my clothes. I roll the garment in the towel and put pressure on the roll to extract the water. I then use inflatable hangers to help more with the drying. Good luck. It isn't a hard thing at all.

In going to Europe every summer, we have gone to using ExOfficio clothing products exclusive. We only take 3 sets of underwear and socks, 2 or 3 shirts, and 3 pants for one month travel. We wash stuff in the sink every third night and hang it up on RS rubber clothes lines and it is all dry in the morning. We also use a bath towel to wring out the excessive moisture after washing. This stuff is not cheap but it sure saves lots of space in the suitcase from when we use to carry many, many more sets of clothing. I am always looking for sales on these products, either at their store here in downtown Seattle, at the SeaTac airport, or online.

Since you have a washing machine, I may be assuming too much - I'd think it would spin the moisture out of the clothes, like American ones that I'm familiar with. I've heard that European ones are real whizzes at this function, which is why so many Europeans can actually handle air-drying their clothes (all of this according to Real Live Europeans...). If you take your clothes out of the washer as soon as they are finished, they shouldn't get stiff and wrinkled. Unless there's a problem with the amount of detergent used or something. Give them a good shake, if necessary, then simply hang them up. Or, again bring different clothes if you don't want to iron.

Mary's correct, at least in my experience. I rented a house in France with a washer and no dryer. There was a line provided to hang your clother. But the washing machine spun the clothes so dry, they barely needed to be hung on the line. Also, there is spray that Downey makes, in travel size, that is supposed to remove wringles. Have never used it, but I would give that a try before I would pack an iron...

Thanks to all the great suggestions and help. I do LOVE Downey wrinkle reducer, I use it all the time at home. I NEVER iron! Yes, I am staying in self catering apartments/homes, so there are terraces snd balconies. @Linda: I was born and raised in Santa Rosa. Live up in Lake County now. I guess I am stressing to much on the little things. But I want our trip to be perfect!

Hi Brigette, You could just wait and see it you really need one. Have you checked with the places you're staying to see if they have an iron? Otherwise, if you are going to have to buy one anyway, you could just buy an inexpensive one in Italy. You could probably pick one up for under 20 euros. Have a great time!

After reading this post I decided to conduct an experiment last night. So many people advise not to take denim, as it takes too long to dry. But then, how do all those denim wearing Europeans without dryers manage? So...I washed 3 pairs of jeans (all different brands/weights) in my washing machine, and hung them in my bathroom to dry. I hung them up at approximately 9:30 p.m. When I got up this morning at about 5:45 I checked them. All of them were dry. I dried them inside out so the pockets were exposed. What did this teach me? That I will be taking a pair of jeans on my trip!

Andrea, Welcome to the We'veBeenTakingJeansForever Club. There are a lot of us around, but we've been too afraid to mention it for fear of being ridiculed and stoned by the rabid polyester mob. Your membership card is in the mail.

Andrea, don't ignore the fact that your washing machine did the hard work for you! The denim I've worn for years can be wrung out just fine because it's very thin, but it could take 2+ days to dry in a HUMID location. And I ALWAYS bring several of my own PackTowls Just For Drying Laundry! BUT lots of heavy denim could be trouble...After washing jeans in a sink, it's gonna take boatloads of towels to get the water out of your jeans (ever been caught in the rain wearing jeans?!? Ick.). And this assumes that you're STANDING on your towel-rolled jeans. My most important suggestion, that nobody asked for (!,) is to only wash a few things at a time - it's incredible how humid you can make your hotel room by hanging wash all over it. Then nothing is going to dry... :-( Yes, you can wash and dry denim, just know the limitations and be prepared - My husband's had to wear extremely damp Dockers more than once because he insists on washing everything he's brought all at once...Probably no A/C, nor room fan, either. Things most of us take for granted when hanging clothes to dry. AND ANUTHERN, my biggest shock when I moved to Sacramento Co. was just how the low humidity affected things - the cats' water bowl would be completely empty and dry in the morning (oops!) while in Dallas - with the always-running A/C - that bowl of water would have lasted 3 days...I NEVER air-dried clothes in Dallas, even though it FELT dry in the house...It's muggy in Normandy, drier in the hills above Florence...Just because those socks dried within 12 hours in Siena doesn't mean they won't take up to 2 days in Bruges.

Wow! Some great comments. Andrea: I too am going to bring jeans. That was never the issus with me. There is no way I can go three weeks without my trusty jeans!! I do understand the whole issue of hand washing them though. It would take A LOT longer to dry then if they were washed in a washer. However, my places do have washers, so no problem. I was just worried about wrinkled up stiff clothes. I just found out from the owner of the Villa we are staying at in Tuscany for a big bulk of our time they have TWO irons!! So no problem. So for the record I will be bringing one pair of jeans, one pair of black pants and one pair of capris (don't hassle me with that one!) hehe! And a trial size of Downey Wrinkle Reducer. NO IRON. Now after reading some of these posts, I am even more happy that we are in self-catering apartments/homes/Villas. The thought of washing my clothes in the sink is not very appealing. So what am I complaining about??? Thanks to you all!! Ciao!! :)

I agree with you on the jeans. They really aren't a problem in spite of the reputation they have here. It doesn't surprise me as the demographic here isn't the "jeans & tennis shoe" crowd (and there is nothing wrong with that preference). I have traveled with them and found the same as you - they will dry overnight if you do a good job wringing them out. If you can live with them being a little stiff they are a non-issue. Pack what you are comfortable in and what you enjoy wearing.

I have brought jeans on 2 of my 3 trips I've taken so far, but one trip I had a washer/dryer and one trip was only for one week, so no laundry done on that one! I LOVE my jeans, so I will take them. I know that at least 2 of the places we are staying has a washer. That will get most of the water out of them. I know humidity will be a factor, but I probably won't be wearing the jeans in the hot weather. I'll have other clothes for that. I'm more worried about the last part of my trip where I expect it to be cooler.

we spent two weeks in a paris apartment with a washer and no dryer and began to wonder why we even own a dryer. the spin cycle does take all of the moisture out. after washing, we just hung everything on hangers from the shower curtain rod (for our underpants, we used a pull out dryer rack that was attached to the bathroom wall, but a towel bar or the back of a chair would have worked just as well). we were never wrinkly, but then we don't own clothing that wrinkles (i don't even own a regular iron, so a travel one would be silly!) have a great trip!

I never say anything about the jeans for fear of everyone jumping on me. We don't have a dryer and so for over 20 years, we have dried our clothes on a drying rack. (no outside area to hang clothes either.) All of my stuff dries with-in a day. The waistbands of the jeans might be a tad damp, but if it is warm outside, they will be completely dry...... Humidity has never affected how fast the clothes dry, and believe me, it does get humid in Germany in the summer. In the winter is when it takes a bit longer, but if I have something heavy, I can always throw it on the heater to speed things up. So, if you want to wear jeans, go ahead and bring them. Plus, you don't have to wash them each and every time you wear them..... For shirts, I like the thin cotton blouses and shirts, they dry in a jiffy. The sort of peasant or India gauze kind. Some t-shirts take longer than others, depending on the thickness. I have also been known to use my hair dryer in emergencies for things like socks or sleeves, just to help out a bit.

I don't know how the no-jeans advice became a rule of packing, but it probably has as much to do with fitting everything in a carryon bag as with washing and drying. I simply ignore the advice/rule and wear one pair of jeans on the plane and pack another along with two or three pairs of dark, no-iron pants, never khakis, and three or four shirts, plus the clothes I wear on the plane. I also pack extra, old underwear and socks and toss some of them along the way to make room for souvenirs. My wife adheres to the no-jeans rule but she prefers light-weight, dark-colored pants and dark blouse; that is good because she has to pack more than I do. I agree with the other jeans-rule breakers, jeans are not that much trouble to wash. But, to play it safe as far as drying is concerned, any place you are staying for two nights should give your clothes including jeans enough time to dry.

We traveled to Italy with our 2 daughters and had lots of laundry to do. Our Lucca apartment had a washer and drying rack, whi ch worked just fine. The few cotton things that were"stiff" went back in the washer on "spin" with a big dry towel for a minute or two. That took care of the stiffness (sort of like a fast tumble-dry!) I've found that jeans (or other pants) with a bit of Lycra dry much faster than 100% cotton.

I haven't gone to Europe yet without at least 1 pair of jeans, although I admit I like to use the laundromat and get everything all over with as quickly as possible (and see if I can figure out all the different machines in different languages). I was, then half-dry the clothes and take them back to the hotel to finish drying. In locations where I had to sink-wash and hang dry in humidity, I just made sure we would be at that hotel for at least 2 days just in case.

Hang drying also creates a problem with stretching. The shrinkage you expect your cotton clothes to get from the dryer won't happen. Your nice fitting jeans are likely to end up baggy in the seat, waist and knees. It's not just jeans, any cotton clothes can be a problem. Your very lightweight cotton shirts may end up stretched out of shape. I once packed an expensive pair of Columbia cotton cargo pants and a very cheap pair of Walmart microfiber cargo pants. I ended up wearing the Walmart pants almost the whole time because the Columbia pants stretched on the first wash/hang dry and stretched more the second time to the point where they didn't come close to fitting. I also brought a Tommy Hilfiger cotton t-shirt and the same thing happened, after a couple of washes it went from large to XXXL. I suggest travel fabrics or blends and no ironing unless it's a special occasion.

Just to take another kick at this laundry pile...Brad reminded me of how easy it is to stretch clothing all out of whack with hand-washing and wringing - IF they have some/or all cotton in them. Just be careful - wet clothes are very heavy, even T-shirts, and they can get stretched out of shape :-( My husband isn't the most patient about really getting those cotton Dockers as dry as possible before hanging them up...they, uh, DO stretch! And easy on the wringing! And Lola hit on the second thing - I have jeans with a little Lycra in them - 1)no stretching out like Brad warns about, and 2)they do dry faster...I think because the actual fabric isn't that really heavy "Levi's" style (from the olden days, anyway) of denim - it has to be a lighter denim in order to give with the Lycra. I'm all for 'giving', too LOL! Plane rides, HUGE breakfast buffets (if I don't eat all I possibly can, it's a great offense. It's a European thing...) And FWIW, my nylon travel pants have 4% - alot - of Lycra in them = soooo much more comfy than 100% nylon (Royal Robbins 'Cardiff' travelers pants). And I may have already alluded to what Lauren mentioned - most dryers in laundromats are hot enough to cook pizzas; I'd partially dry my clothes, then take them 'home' to finish hang-drying. Hey, maybe Brad should go 'cook' that XXXL T-shirt at the laundromat ;-) As far as 'stiff, crunchy' clothing goes, after you've had it on for 10 minutes, it's probably not very stiff anymore...

I take a small amount of Downy wrinkle release in a spray travel bottle, when the close are 90% dry I spray the item with the Downy and with the use of a hair dryer I pull out the wrinkles. Works like a charm.

Maybe I should use Brad's method to get my clothes to fit me better as the trip goes on. My clothes just tend to get tighter.... ;-)

Brad's method, AND........Lycra, Baby, Lycra...!!!

Ha! I was thinking the same thing...........just might need the 'streched' out clothes towards end of trip!! And yes..Lycra!!!!!!

Most place that have a washer, but no dryer, have a room where clothes can be hang dried, since in the winter time they cannot be hung on a line outside. This room often has a squirrel cage type blower to circulate the air and remove the moisture, very efficient at overnight drying. If this fails, I like the hang the shirt on the mirror of the motorcycle trick. Usually dry in a few kilometers, but not recommended for light colors as the bug splats show too much.

See later posts re. Downey Wrinkle Releaser in Europe. You can bring whatever you like and use the methods in the posts.

I wear jeans almost exclusively whether at home or while traveling, and I never considered it a problem washing them out in the sink and hanging them out on the balcony to dry. I use the towel compression method, and plan on having another clean pair to wear while the first pair dries, usually in a day at the most.The same with my T-shirts. I like the kind of T-shirts that are designed for active wear, with a bit of Lycra in them, that seem to wear better and don't wrinkle as easily. I also take a mini-spray bottle, which I fill with water and spritz my clothes after hanging them in the bathroom. Whatever wrinkles there are fall out easily. I also take a nice jacket that goes with everthing so if my clothes are less then clean and wrinkle free, the jacket looks good, and covers them. A light versatile jacket would not be out of place in October.