SARAH: Having left the emotional “stuff” to Mark my brief for this trip has been to focus on the more practical elements… As Mark has been writing his blogs, my role has been to ensure the security and well-being of all our worldly possessions, which essentially entails packing, unpacking and washing… So, I thought it worth sharing the all-important issue of how to wash clothes whilst you are constantly travelling on the road.
In fairness, there is not a lot to wash. In my “wardrobe” I have, six pairs of knickers, three bras, five t shirts, three shirts, two pairs of trousers, two sweat shirts, three pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans (a very good last minute decision) and two dresses. I managed to wear my newly purchased Montane trousers for seven days in a row and nobody seemed to notice, because here in India nobody seems to care what you wear or what you look like. At least we have clothes to wear!
My theory is that if you keep your body clean, then clothes tend to stay “fresh” that much longer. With temperatures ranging from 30-40C in the first week, that wasn’t easy as one does tend to perspire a little more…
By the time we reached Amritsar, we decided to wash some smalls and some t shirts in the basin and hang them to dry on a washing line we brought with us, which when stretched, is about 3m in length. At both ends are two hooks and two suction pads which work fine if there is not too much weight. Improvisation is the order of the day as the photos show. After about a day, the clothes are dry – job done.
Amritsar bedroom becomes Chinese laundry
The bras hit the fan – great drier, but only on slow spin speed!
Mark meanwhile thought he would use the Hotel Hong Kong Inn’s (Amritsar) laundry service for his trousers, a bargain at just 30 Indian Rupees (30 pence). They came back cleanish, not my quality clean, but good enough.
At Shimla, the former home of the British Raj in the 1920s, more washing and for the first time in 27 years of married life Mark actually did some hand washing. Not a pretty sight I have to say. Mr B in the shower sporting a pair of black pants, scrubbing away in a bucket, bras, knickers, T shirts and socks. Sadly a photo I took was censored by the Blog Police.
Got to say he ain’t a great washer my husband. When dry some of the clothes failed the “smell test” and Mark now realises what standards are required if he is not forced not to do it all again…
Must say I have not been at all impressed with Cotswold’s bio degradeable washing flakes, which cost a rather expensive £2.50 for just 50 flakes. So today rushed out and invested 20 Rupees on a massive soap bar which has washed the trousers much better I’ve found and the soap bar will probably last us until we get to Malaysia in three months’ time.
Gets the job done – the Tide has turned as Mr B found out…
I am going to explore the possibilities of full laundry “outsourcing” when we get to Goa in a weeks time as rumour has it the whole lot can be done for a couple of quid which sounds a bargain. After all, I think I deserve a bit of sun and relaxation after all this travelling.
Any laundry top tips welcomed.
"MASTERS" 
Oh Yes. Remember all those laundry problems and solutions so well. When hand washing try to wring out wet laundry in your travel towel. This transfer moisture between both fabrics and hopefully both will be dry by the morning.. And the hair drier always works. And when you get to a nice hotel get them to do the lot. It’s worth it. Fortunately we never had any problem with missing laundry.
Happy travels
Richard and Danuta
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LOL xxx Bras on the fan! 😀 😀 Hilarious! xxx
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Hi both
I have been enjoying your postings enormously but this was just laugh out loud funny! The ‘drying rack’ was inspired. Hope the underwear is up to the constant washing and wearing!
Elaine Xxx
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Thanks Elaine….. glad you liked the blog – Love Sarah x
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Having traveled to India over number of years….
My tips for Indian laundry are,:
a) Check out these laundry guys are reliable, – otherwise you will never see your cloths again,
b) Count out number of articles you have to laundry in front of the person collecting your laundry and make a note of these. as you may have to count these back in…..(This means even open the nice brown paper bag or plastic with your cleaned/ pressed laundry)
c) if you have expensive cloths or branded, I would suggest wash them your self… otherwise, in my case I never got back my favorite pair of jeans back , also with branded cloths you may find upon return of your laundry your brand labels are missing. – There is a good trade for branded cloths in the local markets.
e) If you are getting anything ironed – then check there are no burn marks. As can be expensive to fix. As Indian Iron tend to be old fashion with coal as fuel.. But, you will get super result on creases.
f) If you have colored cloths, give special instructions to laundry service how you want then washes… As you might find all your other whites come back colored.
g) If all fails then you can get super new Indian dresses custom made and very cheap.
Best Regards,
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Hi Pat – Sarah here. Many thanks for your very helpful tips. As a result I will only got T shirts and non branded items washed. Also, I will make a note of all clothes and WILL check the returned brown package whilst the Laundry People are still here. Thanks so much for taking the trouble to comment…. this is a huge learning curve for me. S
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I can’t tell you how glad I was to get this post. Have been so worried about the laundry but am so impressed with your solutions. Glad that’s sorted. Love M&S.
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Now that’s entertainment!
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PS if any hair dryers to be had, these also act as clothes driers.
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Thanks Mary!! I have today for the first time used a hair dryer to dry some clothes – it works! Enjoy Greece. Sx
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Now I know what those ceiling fans are for! Perfect use I’d say. Seem to think we used hotel laundry service in Goa so probably a good idea.
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Sarah – laundry tip
Clothes tend to dry really well in a constant stream of hot air…given I’m not there…not sure where might you find that! 🙂
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I wonder where….?
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Love the Bras hit the fan!
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