Can I go 8 days without laundry?

[tara32]

Ack! I've never had to do laundry on a trip before, but we're going to Disney for 8 days. Family of 4- dh, me, ds6 and ds1.5. I'm thinkng we will have a serious baggage problem if I pack 8 days worth plus extras of clothes for everyone.. do most of you do laundry on your trip of a week or longer? (not the neat anal ones, LOL but the gals who are used to seeing a pile)

Any strategies for making it less a burden?
Thanks!

 

[bas71873]

I do laundry on our trips. I just can't stand all the dirty clothes and it does make for less packing.....especially with undies & socks (and less laundry once we get home). I bring a fold down hamper...the mesh ones from Walmart for around $5.00 and I do laundry while the fam swims in the pool (well, at Pop anyway since the laundry was right there. This summer at HRH I did laundry late at nite, which worked well too). I just like to be able to pack a little less so if I can wear a pair of shorts to 2 more than once, I'm game. Oh, I also get the tide packets (they come 3 in a pack for $1 at Target in the travel aisle). It says they are for sink washing, but 1 pack works great for a load of laundry. Then I just stick some dryer sheets in a baggie from home. It's really not that bad!

 

[disykat]

Ack! I've never had to do laundry on a trip before, but we're going to Disney for 8 days. Family of 4- dh, me, ds6 and ds1.5. I'm thinkng we will have a serious baggage problem if I pack 8 days worth plus extras of clothes for everyone.. do most of you do laundry on your trip of a week or longer? (not the neat anal ones, LOL but the gals who are used to seeing a pile)

Any strategies for making it less a burden?
Thanks!

IMO, with young kids, there is nothing better than having the "burden" of sitting by the pool with a good book waiting for the laundry to be done while dh takes FULL responsibility for the kids for a few hours!

To me, it's like that rice crispy treat commercial where the gal makes a big deal about what a sacrifice she's making with her hard work in the kitchen. Make sure you get a lot of mileage out of it!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

we just came back from 8 days with a 4 yr old and 2 yr old. i packed for 6 days worth of clothes- shirt wise atleast then coudl mix and match my shorts. with kids you know your doomed for an accident if you dont pack extras! i didnt use the facilities, but did take a bar of baby soap with me to hand wash what i needed for everyone to get them through the rest of the week. primarily socks! lol while iw as doing this dh was getting the kids off to bed. by morning most of the clothes were dry.

 

[ms_missy66]

Oddly, I've never done laundry while at WDW. We've always driven, though, so I never had to contend with luggage weight and quantity limits. Now that I just read a pp's depiction of burdening myself with the task while hubby takes care of the kids for a few hours, I may just have to start!

 

[ms_missy66]

Oh and how about I give you some actual helpful info... oops!

I tend to pack enough pants for each day and an extra few shirts, knowing if we have a major issue, I could do laundry. That's pretty easy to achieve in the summer since shorts take up way less room than jeans. Good luck!

 

[DentalDana]

I'm going for 8 days (7 nights) and I plan on having to do a load, maybe two. It will be me, DH, DS3 and DS>1. I bought a package of Purex laundry sheets that have detergent embedded into them and then they go into the dyrer as fabric softener. ODS manages to get food on himself at an amazing rate and YDS is spitter upper and often gets us in the fallout. We also plan on having a nap daily b/f returing to the parks and will mostly likely have a "wardrobe change." There's no way I'll be able to pack enough clothes without paying an arm and a leg for airline baggage fees!

 

[Beckypooh1972]

Usually when we go it is hot weather so we get hot and sweaty and we can't wear anything twice. I have been able to pack enough that I only do laundry 1 time during our trip (in the evening) but I usually take up 2 machines to wash and dry everything.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I am the opposite of everyone. I pack enough and still do laudry. We went for 10 days in Aug/Sept and I did wash on 3 nights. If I go away for more than 2 days, I do the wash. I also wash the night before (or two nights before) so that the majority of clothes coming home are clean. DH always helps and the kids swim. It's our down time. Plus I have met some really nice Mom's while doing the laundry.

My kids never have to worry about getting a favorite outfit dirty, they know it will be washed.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We always go for at least 7 nights and 8 days and I have NEVER done laundry on our trips. We even had a villa a few times with a washer and dryer right in them and still didn't.

My kids have more than enough clothes to pack. I pack 1 outfit for each day then usually about 3-4 extra.

I'd rather come home to a pile of laundry then spend even 5 minutes doing laundry on vacation. DH still watches the kids on pool days but instead of doing laundry, I sip Mai Tai's on my lounge chair.

 

[Goofy_Dad_24]

I can't imagine even thinking about doing laundry while I was on vacation, and I certainly would not want my wife to worry about it either. I am much happier carrying one extra bag with us.

 

[Sienna]

We will be going for 8 nights, and I will probably have to throw in a load or two at some point during the trip. It won't be my favorite thing to deal with while on vacation, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

I'm glad you brought that idea to my attention, I hadn't even thought about it! We normally go 5ish days so it hasn't been a big deal, but we'll be doing 8 days/7 nights with 2 little kids so I'll be bringing a pack or two of detergent and we'll see what happens. I think we should have enough clothes for all the days plus a few extra, but not by too much in order to pack it all and who knows how packing will go... I guess we'll see!

 

[cmaee]

On our last trip, we were there 8 days and I did laundry on day 4. We took the train down and I didn't want to have to struggle with a ton of luggage, so we limited everyone to 5 days worth of clothes and then I did laundry while DH took our kids to the pool. We were at Coronado Springs and while the laundry was doing its thing, I was sitting in a hammock on the beach reading a book. It was fantastic! It was EXPENSIVE though...so be prepared with a lot of quarters or enough dollars to put in the change machine!

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

My kids never have to worry about getting a favorite outfit dirty, they know it will be washed.

This is my problem, no matter how many days worth of clothes I take, there are always the favorites that get worn more than once and outfits that never get worn even though they got packed.

 

[scottish mum]

we always go for 14 days and i usually do laundry 3 or 4 times during my stay. Theres no way we could manage clothes for 14 days and still have room for everything that we buy in disney. Less clothes= more pressies

 

[sharibrat]

We always go for at least 7 nights and 8 days and I have NEVER done laundry on our trips. We even had a villa a few times with a washer and dryer right in them and still didn't.

My kids have more than enough clothes to pack. I pack 1 outfit for each day then usually about 3-4 extra.

I'd rather come home to a pile of laundry then spend even 5 minutes doing laundry on vacation. DH still watches the kids on pool days but instead of doing laundry, I sip Mai Tai's on my lounge chair.

DITTO. No laundry, ever, on vacation. It's mom's break! I take enough to wear something more than once, especially if I only wore it out a few hours to dinner in the evening. Run out at the end of the week? Great excuse to buy a t shirt souvenier!

I never even understood the people who don't want to return home to a pile of dirty laundry.......it's all wrinkled from the luggage, and I personally think Florida hotels for the most part are muggy and humid and the clothes feel damp anyway.......when I get home I wash everything, even if it wasn't worn.

 

[snookiedoodles]

I am going for ten days in Feb.

I am bringing about five days worth of clothes.

Last time we were there, I washed by hand the clothes and hung them up in the shower.

This time I am bringing some extra detergent and plan on doing at least one load on site.

We are staying at POP and the washer and dryer are next to the pool. We can swim and do laundry at the same time!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Call me crazy but I don't mind doing laundry on vacation. We do all our laundry twice. Once mid-week (we always take Wednesday as a pool/relax day, so it is planned) and once our last night. DH and I do it together and it goes really fast while the kids swim. We come home the beginning of December and when I get home I am in Christmas mode and have so much to do. I pack all our shorts, t-shirts etc in one suitcase and don't unpack it till January. All the stuff we need, (socks, panties, etc) are clean and ready to just put away quickly in a seperate suitcase.

Personally, it goes so fast I actually enjoy it and like the feeling of no dread coming home. Our washer/dryer at home is old and small and would take me 2days to catch up on a week of laundry, or I can do it all in about an hour and a half.

To each his own, but for me I can't imagine NOT doing laundry on vacation.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I don't mind doing laundry while on vacation to WDW. We do the parks every other day which gives us plenty of time to throw in a load in the washer.

Now if I'm vacationing to any other destination then I don't even think about laundry. Hmmm, Now I am going to have to think about that for awhile.