Time Stopper 3.0 (Portable)
Giselda Sasao
I'll be going on the RS Best of England tour and plan on doing laundry nightly in my hotel sink. Rick's "Doing Laundry in Europe" post advises bringing a universal sink stopper for this. Can anyone who's been on the Best of England tour tell me whether those hotels are likely to have sink stoppers? I'd rather not bring one if I don't have to.
Actually I think it works better to bring a 2 gal ziplock bag. Put that in the sink add clothes, water soap/shampoo/body wash then let them soak a bit. You can transfer the bag to the shower or tub for a soak.
Can't speak specifically to English sinks, lol, but I brought one of those flat sink stoppers on our recent trip to Italy and was glad I did. Several sinks had stoppers that did not work very well. I also bought the little laundry sheets (Travelon), and personally think hotel/personal shampoo does a better job. Although the sheets would be good to have if you are using a laundromat, I suppose.
This sink stopper works on most sinks for hand laundry. A few hotels I stayed in have RV size sinks. In those I use a 2-gal ziplock bag.
For hand wash and delicates at home, I use Forever New. A little goes a long way, so to cut weight, I put a couple ounces in a smaller container. I like it because it washes out easily leaving no soap residue.
Well that's a tradeoff of space, weight and time. A stronger person might prefer to pack more clothes. Socks take up space, so I'd rather not bring lots of those. And if you go back to the hotel, the clothes can be soaking for a few minutes while you freshen up for dinner, so not much extra time.
Too often I couldn't get a seal with the flat universal plug...always seemed too big for the small sinks.
But the 3 pack linked above means you can leave one large and cut down to a medium and small size....following the circles on the top.
I read about taking a Universal Stopper when travelling on this board, sounded like a good idea. Doesn't take up room or weight.
So I looked for one I was sure I had somewhere in my house.
Nope. Must have gotten brittle and thrown out.
So I started looking for them when I was shopping. You know you see them ALL the time at the grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target.
But nothing.
I finally asked a clerk at the grocery store one day. "Sure, they're right over here."
Nope. Just regular drain stoppers that fit in the drain.
Finally found them at the Hardware store up the street when I was in there looking for something else. So I bought 3. One in my toiletries kit, one in a zip-loc bag of "laundry supplies" and one in the bathroom drawer still in the original container for "later when these are an antique" ;).
Had the same experience with a deck of cards.
You see them at the check-out, on racks sticking out of the shelves, with the school supplies at the grocery store, drugstore, Wal-Mart, Target, . . .
Until I wanted to buy a couple of decks to use for a training session at work. Nowhere to be found. Finally found some at a dollar store. Had to ask the clerk for them though. They weren't in an "obvious" place.
Thanks, everyone! I actually didn't know there was such a thing as 2-gallon ziploc bags. I think I'll get a few of those and see what it's like to do laundry in them. Sounds easier than having to scrub out the sink after brushing my teeth to make it clean enough for soaking clothes.
TexasTravelmom, I do love baths! I was recently on a quick weekend trip and was looking forward to going back to the hostel for a bath. But unfortunately, there was no stopper in the tub, and I didn't bring one. So no bath, although I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it much since the water did not get that hot. :(
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