Once on a business trip which started in Galway and ended in Nice my luggage was lost during a 5-hour layover in Heathrow. Air France's emergency pack included a cotton tee-shirt and paper underwear, which might have fit a Barbie doll!

We're leaving soon for four weeks, packing for a week and taking old socks, nightgown and undies to jettison along the way, to be replaced by UK or US "stuff" which fits this old bod better than the sweet little French nothings available here, apart from the undies in the markets, some of which look like they were made for Queen Victoria.

Nope--I have never used disposible underwear. We have done the "pack old stuff and toss", but since our goal is never to check luggage, we have to consider all weight and volume on the outbound trip.

Therefore, we take a collection of quick dry undies and use our laundry kit: stretchy twist clothesline, blow-up hangers. No clothespins needed.

Husband bought his stuff years ago from Travel Smith and only uses them on trips. My regular undies dry quickly, and I found bras that I use just for trips.

Sort of along the lines of the "toss" thing, though: I often take CLEAN "mate-less" white athletic socks to use as washclothes for European hotels that do not provide washclothes. You know which socks I mean--those ones that languish in the laundry basket waiting for the mate to show up.

Once I'm convinced their mates will never be found, I wash them again and store with my travel stuff. If you use the terry cloth side out, they are PERFECT as washcloths. No problem tossing those things!

It appears to me we have 2 schools of thought here which can be divided roughly into "short trip", maybe under a month, and "long trip". I never go for less than 6 weeks and up to 6 months as our backpacking friend above. I've read the suggestion on forums before but I cannot imagine hauling over-the-hill underwear or anything and throwing them away as I go. I like to wear nice things on a trip, even underwear, no offense intended. Nor can I imagine using the throw-aways. Well fitting underwear seems important to one's basic well-being. But if it's a short trip and they fit you well I can see how the disposables might be fine. But in general, I think the short trippers could take a page from the long trippers, travel lighter altogether and do a bit of sink washing every so often. And on a trip as short as a week or 2 it would only be the underwear so, I wonder, what's the big deal?

And why wouldn't one take a washcloth rather than a sock?

Short answer: nope. If I can't fit a few pair of undies in my case, I'm already waaay overpacked.

Long answer: I did try the "take the old underwear and just throw away" trick, only, they actually took up such little room I didn't have to throw them away AND I ended up needing something soft to wrap around fragile souvenirs I'd bought. (drum roll) Ta-Da! Instance recycling.

MmePerdu:

Good question.

I never have a clue if we'll be in a hotel with washcloths or not, especially on cycling trips. If I stay in 5 hotels for the trip, I might have to pack/toss five washcloths. More specifically, if we take a shower or merely wash faces in the morning and then check out, the washcloths can be full of mildew rather fast, especially if we don't get to our next hotel before nightfall. There are usually four of us traveling; 4 x 5: 20 washcloths. Lot of waste.

My solution is to take baby washcloths (less packing room) AND/OR take the super clean mate-less short athletic socks(which work really well as bath mitts). I feel less guilty tossing something I was going to have to toss anyway.

I failed to add that my husband does the same thing not only with his whitie-tighties but also with his undershirts. The thinner the better for intial packing and drying after a quick wash in the sink. Undershirts can take up a great deal of precious carry-on luggage space, so thin is in. Also, as you dispose of said-undies, much appreciated room is created in the suitcase for bringing home newly bought treasures!

The corner of your hotel towel makes a very satisfactory washcloth. No carrying socks OR piles of mildewed whatevers.

<i>Haven't you ever heard if you get hit by a bus, your underwear will be an embarressment when you die</i>

A Frenchman told me about 20 years ago that emergency room statistics showed that the French were a very dirty people.

MmePerdu--The corner of the towel does NOT work well within a shower stall :)

We could keep this going for a bit more, I suppose.

Or not.

I say go COmmando!

Have you seen Hanky panky's? They roll up to itty bitty rolls and take up no room at all.

Unless they are large granny panties how can they take up much room? Really?

I went out running early one morning, wearing the tackiest underwear I owned. It was really past its useful life, in very bad shape. Of course, as I was running in an undeveloped area, I fell, breaking my leg and tearing the ligaments from my leg. Plus, I was covered with filthy mud. I had to crawl to a nearby house and ask for an ambulance.

Some lucky nurse ended up cutting off my filthy, mud-caked sweats and underwear. At the time I sure didn't care, but now I always throw away my underwear before it gets too ragged.

When I travel, I just wash out my underwear and socks (using those little travel packets of Tide from Safeway) and hang them in the bathroom--or wherever. I wait until I'm staying put for a couple of days so they'll have enough time to dry thoroughly. I can't imagine throwing my soiled underwear in a wastebasket for someone else to dispose of.

I also bring along pantiliners so that if I want to wear underwear for an extra day, I still feel clean.

I always bring a couple of plastic bags large enough to hold soiled clothing, one of them being a sealable freezer bag for underwear and socks.

I bring a colored washcloth and rinse it out thoroughly after each use, then hang it to dry if I'm staying longer or store it in a sealable plastic bag. It's colored s0 it won't accidentally end up in the hotels wash. I've never had a problem with mildew.

A-Zoe's generous invitation to desist aside, Cathay Pacific used to have tiny little cloth towels in their business class restrooms and I could never resist the urge to pinch a couple. These made great washcloths, one to use & one to wash. They were thin so dried fast. I still have a couple somewhere, if I could only remember where.

some of you guys are really funny. go commando LOL... i'm taking some advice on here and grabbing a week's worth of old boxers that will meet their demise in a trash can. Also ordered a small pack of disposable boxers that i can trash when i'm done as well. They weren't that expensive

How big is your underwear that you can't carry a few pieces of it and wash it out in a sink?

I just have to say that this has been one of the most enlightening threads I've ever read on Fodor's.

I've travelled a fair bit in my life, long and short trips, from camping to luxury and it has never once occurred to me (or even entered my sphere of consideration) to buy disposable underwear or plan to throw away any items I've brought with me.

I can vaguely understand it if you're on some sort of huge cycling tour or similar, but other than that, for me it just makes no sense whatsoever. Of course it's entirely up to each individual how they want to do things, but I can't imagine going on holiday anywhere and wanting to wear knackered underwear and using a sock as a washcloth.

In some countries it can be a nice gesture to give your pre-used clothes to locals rather than throw them away. I haven't tried this in France.

Unless you have very voluminous knickers they aren't going to take up much space your luggage. Neither will most clothes unless you intend packing a ballgown, tuxedo or drysuit. It's the other things - books, electronics, pills & potions that take up the space and dealing with them will save more than enough space to have two pairs of knickers a day.

If you are worried about smelly clothes then use roll up vacuum bags which by definition don't smell if closed.

Of course you could always go to the extremes of someone I know who on a 7 day trek took 3 socks - that's 3 socks, not three pairs of socks - and wore two of them one day, then the next day washed one of them and wore the spare, then did the same the next day and so on

Why would anyone bring two pairs of knickers for each day? For warmth?

We bring old worn out washcloths and just throw them out after each use. Wonder what Europeans use in place of washcloths??hmmmm...

I think forums are to be congratulated for the proliferation of handy hints like wearing worn out underwear and packing old stuff of all kinds. It suppose it's important to be in the know. But here I am, traveling the globe, completely ignorant of such things and wearing my good underwear. Really, I must get with it.