It probably won’t be the most memorable part of your trip, but doing laundry during vacation has its good points. Sure, you could just pack everything you own and avoid laundry, but devoting time to laundry means you’ll be able to pack lighter. This is important because many airlines are cracking down on overweight bags (plus lighter bags are just easier to handle!). If your kids are young they may go through several outfits per day on vacation due to spilled ice cream, soggy shorts, and sunscreen stains. Our family’s personal rule is that if we are gone for a week or more we need to make a plan for laundry. Here are a few laundry tips to keep in mind.

Pack Right. Bring clothes in dark or neutral colors, they’ll hide stains and match well together. Choose fabrics that don’t wrinkle as much (cotton blends rather than all cotton, for example). Bring enough clothes to last everyone at least four days; you don’t want to have to do laundry right away.

Search out Laundromats. Look in the local yellow pages or research ahead of time using a website like laundromatfinder.com. If you’re going the Laundromat route, pack trash bags or lightweight mesh bags to tote your clothes around. Also pack dryer sheets in a re-sealable bag, lots of quarters, and detergent. Store liquid detergent in a pop top squeeze bottle and powdered detergent in a heavy duty re-sealable bag. If you’re concerned about detergent spilling in your luggage, buy it when you get there. In popular vacation locales, you can often buy small containers with just enough detergent for 4-5 loads of laundry. Hit the Laundromat early in the morning to avoid waiting for machines.

Wash it on your own. The easiest way to do laundry on vacation is to rent a house or apartment with its own washer and dryer. You’ll still need to provide your own detergent, but you’ll be able to wash whenever you need to without taking time away from your vacation.

Washing by Hand. If you don’t have access to a washing machine, plan on hand washing some items as you go. Pack a travel clothesline and clothespins, a plug for the sink (not all hotels have them), and a hand washing detergent such as Woolite. You’ll only need a tiny amount of soap for hand washing. Squeeze excess water out of clothes with a large towel, and drape them over the shower rod or radiator for quicker drying.

Whichever laundry method you choose, bring along travel stain removers. I like “Tide 2 Go” which is basically a laundry pen you can use to get rid of stains quickly. It’s worth bringing several along.