WaPo Article on How Much Underwear to Pack

Thanks for sharing.

7 pairs is about right for me. I tried cutting it to 5 pairs on my last trip (five weeks), and wound up buying another 3-pack along the way. It doesn't take up much room, and I really don't like doing laundry every day. Kudos to the light packers who can get by with 2 pairs.

Good heavens, I don't even own that much underwear! One of the suggestions was one pair per day, and two extra "just in case." In case of what???

Don't answer that; I do have a vivid imagination.

Oh Nooo! Some of the guys are going to respond; “Take one pair for 4 days. Front, back, inside out front and back.” These questions/answers can get into the “too much” informal category.

When our daughter was packing for her study abroad semester in France, she packed 28 pairs of underwear. Granted, thongs don't take up much room, but still. She was afraid she wouldn't find laundry facilities;)

If a trip is 2 weeks or less, I take one per day, plus 2 extras in case we are delayed coming home. I rarely do laundry on a trip, and only once have done it in a sink.

Our trip this summer though has me really being careful of what I am packing. Thirteen nights of camping plus 4 nights of hotels at the end. There will be laundry facilities on occasion, so I am planning on taking 7 pairs. Now to figure out socks. I take less of those since I used sock liners for the hiking days.

Generally a 7-9 pair packer. That's enough luggage space for me, and over a week, I do laundry anyway.

Thanks for gifting the article. For me, it depends on length of trip and mode of travel. For road trips and those of 7 days or less, I usually pack one per day of the trip plus one. For overseas trips longer than that, I pack half of the # of trip days plus 2, and wash in the sink as needed. I always pack carry-on size only and strive to save as much space as possible.

Not to be too set in my ways, but I am. I always wear one pair and pack five since even in a multi week trip I like one late afternoon pause (after a full 3/4 day of touring) at a cafe every five days while doing laundry and editing photos, trip notes, making plans for the next few days/booking new accommodations on the fly, etc... Slows me down to enjoy a place better. Then dinner and back on the road/train/plane.

Well, obviously I’m not packing enough! 5 sets of undies. I sink wash every two to four days.
Even with that, I’m struggling to cut packing weight. Prescription and OTC drugs add the most weight. Fortunately that bulk declines along the journey.

Rebecca, Thanks for gifting a fun article for my morning read (Much better than reading about negative news). I hadn't realized that people were so "passionate" about underwear...right up there with other travel topics like carry-on or not, security belts, wheeled luggage, etc.

Jane: Too funny: "I don't own that much underwear!" Not to get personal, but are you one of those "one pair for 4 days?" No, please don't answer!

I am a guy. I guess I use the pack N + 2 formula (for underwear and socks), where N is the number of days between washes. I wear one and carry three, regardless of whether the trip is 3 nights or 3 weeks.. I sink wash every night, so there is only one set hanging to dry at any one time. Poly/spandex athletic boxers dry in few hours. Cotton socks are usually dry by the morning. If not, 30 seconds with a hairdryer will make them toasty. During really hot sweaty weather and if I expect to go swimming, I may pack one extra set. I want my pack and room to stay clean, fresh and dry. I wash my shirts every 1 to 2 days depending on weather and hang dry. I pack a few more shirts, more for the need for variety as opposed to freshness.

I have no say in what the wife and women in general can pack. They can carry whatever they want.

When our 2 kids were young and we took them on vacations, we packed about 7 sets. We stored dirty laundry in a plastic garbage bag. We hit a laundry at least once a week usually eating at a nearby restaurant while clothes washed and dried.

I sink wash socks & undies nightly, so 4 pairs of each has been perfect for me--why waste space bringing more? I have small plastic hanging clips so it's easy to hang them from the door frame or shower, though sometimes I've had to get creative.

I’m currently in England and have 4 total. However I’m trying to see if I can manage with 2. I actually did quite well with just one for about 2 weeks because almost all my hotels have had heated towel racks so they dry in short order. Last night I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on though so the pr washed last night still had damp-ish ( or cold) seams this AM so had to pull out pr #2.

I have no idea why I am trying to get by with one, it’s not like I would take less than 4!!

Taking one for every day sounds like wildland firefighters who will take 15 or 30 or however long their assignment is.

Glad everyone is enjoying it - seemed perfect for this forum ;). I am a 5-7 pair packer myself, for trips of 21 days at least. I am also a sink-washer, so wash stuff whenever we are in a hotel for more than one night. The heated towel racks are genius for this (especially if you are washing socks), but I also have an elastic clothesline (no need for pins) that we stretch across the shower or the balcony.

I have no idea why I am trying to get by with one, it’s not like I would take less than 4!!

Ok, Pam, this made me laugh out loud.

My normal is wear one and pack four even for my multi-month trips, and about the same for socks. In everyday life I am a lazy procrastinator, but on the road I'm really good about keeping up with my sink-washing duties. I could get by with slightly fewer undergarments, but five just feels right. I somehow headed out with a total of only four pairs of panties on my last trip, and for no real reason the discovery made me nervous.

The problem I've had is garment failure mid-way through a trip. I wouldn't have thought needing to buy socks in western Europe would be a problem, but my purchase from a French chain store was disastrous, so I have redoubled my efforts to examine all clothing going into my suitcase for any noticeable wear. Four months is long enough for a minor problem to become major. I don't enjoy mending at home and really resent having to spend time doing it when I'm traveling.

"He recommends washing in the sink if hotel laundry or nearby laundromats aren’t an option. (But please, do not use the hotel coffee maker.)"

The coffee maker ????

Carol, Lol, as Pam would say. No, I do not make a single pair last for four days, but I have no problem rinsing out undies every few days.

Joe32F, that did make me laugh.

Trying to cut back on underwear, I’m taking panty liners.

I packed 4 for this trip but I'm only wearing one because I made the mistake of buying new underwear from Gap (a 3-pack) and I hate them. They have no elastic in the legs, so they ride up constantly and drive me crazy! So I wear the 4th pair (an old pair that I love) every day and wash it out every night. At least I have the other 3 for emergencies.

Mardee! Ugh...hate riding up unders!

I am revising my statement above. Right after I bragged about getting by with 1 or 2 pr even though I had 4 we moved to a hotel that was kind of chilly. The first 2 nights neither the radiators or the towel heaters were on so my unders were not drying like they had been. Heaters came on the 3rd might and I was back in "bidniz" as we used to say in the South. HOWEVER...yes, I WILL take 4 pr every time, lol!!

BTW, I had changed from the expensive Ex Officio unders several years ago as it was like wrapping my nether regions in Saran Wrap. I've gone to the cheapo Fruit of the Loom undies, preferably ones that wick away sweat and are breathable. They dry quickly and are comfortable.

Pam, I will check those out. I did a lot of good packing things this trip but some stupid things as well, lol!

Glad your heaters are back on - that makes all the difference!!! I've found Scotland is great for that - not only do they have those radiator-type heaters that you can lay clothes on, they all have heated towel racks in the bathrooms (at least the places I've stayed in). It's like my own personal laundromat.

Mardee, I so agree and I'm not sure why these were not on. I did not change any settings so it's not that I didn't have them "on". The radiator was great for drying the towels out too! The rooms weren't too cold to sleep in for me but were too chilly for items to dry.

Exofficio travel underwear. One to wear, one to wash. Ditto for husband, shorts and T shirts. Never been a problem. Actually, you could get away with one--they're dry by morning.