Washing and drying

[AnnieH61]

I'm ridiculously obsessed with getting my pack as right as I can this time (Pamplona to Burgos in March/April 13). I've decided to go down the bar of soap road (half for me, half for clothes) and after googling for far too many hours have come up with a home made 'solution' which will hopefully work. I had a small piece of travel towel left over (cut mine in half) and made a soap holder, which I will use to wash myself ( ribbon round wrist) and then cut down, reinforced and added a hanging ribbon to a 99p laundry bag so I can hang it on my backpack if it isn't dry in the morning. Tiny things but they pleased me!

 

[Olivares]

A plastic Ziploc is lighter and waterproof...???

 

[AnnieH61]

But it wouldn't dry.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I envision a gloppy mess on the outside of your pack. You may want the plastic bag when the soap sack does not dry overnight.

 

[LTfit]

I complement you on the lovely job but soap usually dries overnight. A ziplock bag works fine and weighs nothing. I swear by these bags to organize everything. Clothes are rolled compact, are organized and remain dry in pack. Everything else too.

 

[Anniesantiago]

It's lovely, but I agree with the other pilgrims, it most likely will NOT dry in March/April.

 

[Tia Valeria]

I take a mesh laundry bag and a strip of towel. Useful for drying liner socks. I think I would put the soap in the mesh bag and hang the towelling one up overnight to dry. Washing in the morning is more a splash of water than a good soap down, that is for the afternoon/evening.

 

[lettinggo]

Hola

Bring safety pins to attach damp cloth or towel on the back of your backpack.
Lets it swing around and get dry easier.
+ soap in ziplock.

Buen Camino
Lettinggo

 

[AnnieH61]

Ok, I'm convinced, ziploc and pins. Thanks for feedback.
Annie

 

[Magwood]

Here's an example of how useful safety pins can be - my daughter, the walking clothes line!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Even though there are windmills on a thousand hills, electricity is very expensive in Spain, the government taxes it enormously. That is why clothes dryers are rare and costly and not always very effective. (they are often condensing dryers. Before you put your euro in the slot, poke around the panels and see if a drawer slides out. If it is full of water, dump it out and put the drawer back, and it will work like a charm. Otherwise, you will just have wet clothes that are warm.)

Do not be upset if the hospitelero tells you there´s a washer but no dryer. Most Spanish homes do not have clothes dryers.
And if there is a dryer and you are told it doesn´t work, please do not try to make it work anyway, unless you are a repairman.

 

[t2andreo]

I envision a gloppy mess on the outside of your pack. You may want the plastic bag when the soap sack does not dry overnight.

I second Falcon's assessment. I use a lightweight plastic soap box that I keep closed with a rubber band. For washing scrubbing, I have a hand-sized terry "mitt" I "liberated" some years ago from a hotel in France. It has a hang loop sewn in. Once rinsed, the mitt clips easily to the outside of the rucksack to dry during the day. This way it does not get "funky."

Your repurposing / downsizing idea is brilliant! But, as Falcon correctly points out, the detail is in the drying out bit.

The total difference in weight between using a plastic soap dish is 22 gm or about 0.8 ounce - I just weighed mine empty with the rubber band around it.

Might I suggest you either use the soap box or perhaps a small "snack sized" ziploc bag for the soap? Rinse the mitt (wonderful idea!) and clip or safety pin it to your rucksack to dry during the day.

The small ziploc is virtually weightless. In fact, I just weighed one for you. It weighs only 2 grams and less than 0.1 ounce.

I hope this helps.