Stay Clean While Traveling – 6 Tips
Perhaps the worst downside of traveling is having limited access to some cleaning items apart from your hand sanitizer, wet wipes and tissue roll. It becomes a bigger concern when you are accustomed to certain brands or variants of cleaning products that are not found in the hotel where you would be staying at. Now how else can you keep yourself clean even if you’re staying somewhere else.
1. Have access to vinegar.
Sometimes it is in packets and sometimes it is found in little bottles in Asian-themed restaurants found within the hotel’s vicinity. Asians have become identified with this liquid not only because of their food but because it is an effective cleaning agent too. But since you are at a hotel, having a packet and some tissue found in your hotel bathroom are all you need to help you keep your shoes clean. It is an effective alternative to a shoe cleaning kit when you are away from home.
2. Have a Ziploc bag for the toiletries
Bringing your own toiletries as opposed to using the items found in your hotel room is unavoidable especially if only certain brands work on your skin and you’re being specific with the kind of toothpaste that you use. But don’t put them in the pouch unless you’re ready for the spillage. Having them in a Ziploc bag instead will at least minimize the spillage within the plastic bag. No stain on your clothes, no pain for your washer.
3. Have the travel-size laundry detergent.
Laundry detergent manufacturers have sold in supermarkets their products in travel-size, and many apartment cleaning staff use such products and containers, as they’re often the size of your palm, making it the ideal size for travel. Just pour on a basin of water (or on the sink with the stopper), soak some clothes like lingerie for half an hour and it is ready to rinse.
4. Have a stain remover pen.
For some, it may sound a little obsessive-compulsive. But having a stain remover pen works when you have stained clothes and have little time in between packing and your next flight. So instead of letting the stain dry up on your shirt or dress, having it pre-treated with the stain remover pen avoids the stain from sinking deep enough into the cloth and make it hard for you to wash later at home. This also works if you don’t have time to soak clothes in the sink because you don’t have any travel-size detergent on hand.
5. Have alcohol wipes.
Alcohol wipes often come handy when you don’t have a hand sanitizer. Then again, some will opt to use this when there is not enough time to go to the plane’s washroom in the middle of the flight and you need to eat. Instantly wipe off the hands and enjoy lunch. A box of alcohol wipes also comes handy when dropping by your hotel room to wipe the remote control before using.
6. Have extra plastic bags in store for the used clothes.
There are hotels that provide you with a laundry bag whether you let them wash your clothes or not. Probably not if you chose to bring the detergent. On the other hand, for clothes that got treated with the stain remover pen and other clothes that got used, there should be an extra plastic bag to separate them from the rest of your unused clothes. You need to keep your suitcase at least compartmentalized especially when you don’t want to mistake one shirt as “unused”.
As you may have noticed, most of the tips focused on what is safe to take with you without worrying about extra baggage and what can be found in your hotel. Also, some of these tips are almost second nature to apartment cleaning techniques that you may have done upon coming home. So having some of those cleaning habits taken to your home away from home helps a lot in keeping you clean even if you are someplace else.