Marsh

In November I am going to Egypt and am considering whether or not to take a travel iron. I have never taken one on previous trips, because I usually travel with clothes that don't wrinkle. But if I take cotton & linen clothes to Egypt, I may need an iron in order not to look rumpled. Opinions?
Thanks!

sandi

I only travel with natural fabrics - cotton, linen & silk and haven't taken a travel iron in years.

Today's naturals are made so that they don't wrinkle all that much and also depends on how you pack them. Try using plastic bags from dry cleaners when you fold garments before going into suitcase - it works for me.

But everyone is going to be wrinkled. Do you realize that at one time anyone in wrinkled linen, silk or cotton was considered wealthy as they were the only people who could afford natural fibres.

If you're on a tour, everyone will be just as wrinkled as you, if wrinkled at all. You don't have much humidity in Egypt (though it does feel damp at nite on a Nile Cruise - temps can drop 30 degrees from afternoon highs - have a jacket) - and if not humid, you don't sweat, no sweat, no wrinkles. Besides, most mornings you're up real early for tours especially the Valley of Kings/Queens before it gets real hot (5:00am for a 6am departure) - when are you going to iron?

Don't knock yourself out, dragging an iron. If you're at a 4* or 4* hotel, you can call housekeeping for an iron and ironboard.

kewilliam

Marsh..

Maybe you should pack an anvil in your suitcase too. Or maybe just some large rocks.

traci_local_in_sa

I do the linen/cotton thing if travelling to warm areas BECAUSE it doesn't matter if these fabrics are rumpled!

Marsh

Thanks for the replies that I have received so far. I got a good laugh from some of the ideas. Maybe I know now why I never took an iron before. Besides, I lost the adapter plug that I would need in Egypt!

PerthGirl

TAKE ONE!!! And an adapter... spent 21 days in Egypt last Sept/Oct and we used it!! Be well prepared if you use the hotels' various washing services to get clothes back in a clean but worn condition - I think they scrub with brushes!! Handwash anything you can is my advice ... start collecting sachets of washing powder and use your bath or sink... Take HEAPS of water puriying tablets as the only ones you can purchase there are for baby's bottels and vegetrables and not drinking. Bottled water is various quality...

Kkimkim

1. Hang your clothes in the bathroom as you shower - providing there is one - an the steam should do the trick to some degree.
2. There also is that stuff - Downy Wrinkle Releaser - something like that that you can spray on your clothes.
3. If you are having a fancy outing, the hotel can press things for you.
4. Lay out the clothes under the mattress the night before and "press them" while you sleep!

Besides, ten years from now, you'll be raving about the pyramids, not your wrinkled clothes. Don't worry about it! Have fun!
Kim

sandi

If I were away for more than 2 months, but otherwise would I even think to wash anything more than "wares".

Met a couple in Egypt who had been on a 3-month trip from barging in France to Ethiopia where she was a volunteer with Medecines san Frontiers and then onto Egypt. Amazingly, while she admitted washing out some cloths, she looked crisp and clean every day. She wore khaki and tan shorts or pants, white t-shirts, during day; evenings black pants or skirts with black or tan top and great scarves and looked fresh and spunky and quite beautiful.

When I asked she mentioned she had 5-pcs of each and disposable panties, only her bras were washed. She did not have an iron nor did she send out her cloths at hotels, certainly not in Ethiopia.

If I send out my laundry to be done by someone else while I'm at home, why in the world would I do laundry on vacation. "Wares" or "smalls" are all I would do on my own - and I never looked as if I slept in my clothing.

Leave the iron home.