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Washing and drying tip Washing and drying tip
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TRAVEL Hints and Tips Post your TIPS to travellers - all the interesting little tidbits you learned on the road about packing, where to get stuff, and how to cope with problems. Please make sure the subject describes the tip clearly!
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 22 Oct 2010
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Washing and drying tip
When riding in hot weather I need to wash my base layers and socks every night and remembered this tip on how to speed up the drying process.

After you wash your clothing and have hand rung it out to remove the excess water, get a towel and lay it on a flat surface. Then lay out as many clothes as will fit on the towel, with no overlaps.
Then fold over the long edge of the towel and roll the clothes up into a long roll.
Take the tube and stand on one end of it, then twist it tightly and pull. This will squeeze out excess water much more strongly than you can do it directly and also without as much chance of tearing the clothes.

When you release the roll and open it, the clothes are as dry as possible and will then likely dry overnight ready for use the next day. Most hotels give you two towels so you have one for your body and another for you clothes.
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Old 22 Oct 2010
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Wet Towel?
Heard of this technique before and even used it a couple of times in hotels, however on the road it does have one major draw back, its turns a dry towel into a wet one.
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Last edited by Smokin' Lizard; 22 Oct 2010 at 07:41. Reason: Typo
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Old 23 Oct 2010
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Well, in that case you could take a towel, lay it on a flat surface...
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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by Smokin' Lizard View Post
Heard of this technique before and even used it a couple of times in hotels, however on the road it does have one major draw back, its turns a dry towel into a wet one.
Well that is rather the point of having a towel, it dries things. And since the towel comes from the hotel you just leave the wet one behind.
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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by ajaxer View Post
Well that is rather the point of having a towel, it dries things. And since the towel comes from the hotel you just leave the wet one behind.
Well yes, on those occasions when one stays in a hotel--specifically, the kind of hotel which gives one or more towels with your room--this technique works just fine. However, I believe the point made was that not everyone stays in hotels, much less the subset which provides towels. Or maybe that's just me....?

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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by markharf View Post
Well yes, on those occasions when one stays in a hotel--specifically, the kind of hotel which gives one or more towels with your room--this technique works just fine. However, I believe the point made was that not everyone stays in hotels, much less the subset which provides towels. Or maybe that's just me....?

Mark
Which is when you move to use travel tip #42, the one where you put your wet things in a mesh bag on the back so that the contents dry as you ride along
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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Thanks for the tip. I've never heard of this and will certainly give it a try.
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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Better a damp towel than damp 'nads...
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Old 24 Oct 2010
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Travel towels from camping shops dry out very quickly though and don't take up much room. Saying that, a lot of the places I went were so hot, clothes dried out in minutes anyway.

The other one I heard was to get a small dry bag, fill it with dirty laundry, warm water and washing powder, strap it to the bike and you've got your own mobile washing machine.
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Old 23 Dec 2010
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doing laundry
I take a small hair dryer, wash whatever and spend a little time blowing them dry !
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Old 23 Dec 2010
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I just smelt bad, travel light!
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Old 23 Dec 2010
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I just smelt bad, travel light!
No excuse for that, even on the road. Very antisocial. Take a solar shower.
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Old 25 Dec 2010
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I like to use a "Sham wow" or similar type fake chamois to dry my undersmalls n socks, similar method, except you don't want to wring it so hard, you don't need to.
Also... I use that instead of a towel to dry myself and sometimes even the bike chuck it in the laundry with the clothes to keep it smelling fresh.....
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Old 25 Dec 2010
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Well, in that case you could take a towel, lay it on a flat surface...
LOL now that is funny!
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Old 14 Jun 2011
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Im gonne try this!
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