I've been able to find inflatable hangers at the 'Container Store' -- their travel section has a nice assortment of goodies!

think "bidet" and complimentary shampoo...

I've always washed my own clothes in the room sink, and have finetuned it a bit over the years. My underwear is microfiber and dries with no problem overnight. I only take 3 sets so wash something out most nights (only takes a minute). My pants and shirts are also of the quick dry variety (also much lighter to carry around). I usually take a skirt which I don't wash. Roll wet clothes in a towel to take out extra water before hanging to dry. In my laundry baggie I have a small plastic bottle with liquid laundry detergent, a flat sink plug and a stretchy, twisty clothes line.

Every luggage store in the world, at least everyone I've ever been in, always has a section on travel items. There you can get the twisty, braided clotheslines - I now have two - no 3 - and my latest has suction cups at both ends. The original had loops on each end and you could always hook one end over a faucet, but never any place for the remaining end until I smartened up and tied a cord onto one end, brought along a spare suction cup with hook on it, and tied the problem end to the suction-cup hook wherever I needed to place it. Cup w/hook also good for holding middle of line in a shower. Rolling in a towel is a must for men's socks if you want them dry within 3 days. You can buy most everything imaginable, such as moneybelts, small kits of whatever you might need, small size soaps, etc. in these luggage store sections. However, I always go with the hotel shampoo. I didn't know the conditioner was non-desirable, as that is what I usually use for laundry as I won't use it on my hair. I brought liquid Woolite from home once, in a brand new plastic bottle, but the end sheared off somehow and I had liquid soap throughout everything. What a mess! Of course now everything of that nature goes in a zip-lock bag -- and take plenty of those in both small and large sizes. Great for the things that still haven't dried when you must move on. In Paris make use of the bidet for rinsing. Speaking of which --- a few years ago I was a docent for the Design House of the Year here where I live; the owners of the house had remodeled extensively and had installed a bidet next to the toilet in the master bathroom. Two young women came in, took a look, and one said to the other, "Oh, look. They've put in a urinal!" <BR> <BR>

I know this is unlikely, but wouldn't it be great if someone started a European Laudromat web ring or news group? Or better yet, set up a web site where travelers could get the locations of laundry facilities? <BR>This is the number one irritant in our travels, irritating mainly because we HATE doing wash in the sink, agree that hotel laundry is an exercise in extortion, and tremble in fear of many leave-it-we'll-shrink-it service laundries in strange cities. C'mon, European readers of this forum, do you have any secret resources?

We've traveled to Italy 5 times. After refining our laundry we bring powdered Woolite--it doesn't leak and is lightweight. Bring microfiber traveling clothing that dries quickly. Hang things on the bungy type clothes line and take a couple inflatable hangers. We have done our laundry in the sink and most of it will dry overnight. Marilyn

Some of best travel experiences have been doing laundry in other countries. (I think the ladies in the neighborhood laundromat in Islington (suburb of London) are still talking about the inept American couple!) Everyone needs a morning or evening break to do postcards, write in a travel journal or eat a picnic while doing laundry. We ask at our hotel for the nearest neighborhood laundromat, lug the clothes there and proceed to figure out the machines. We haven't had any problems with damaged clothes. If jeans don't completely dry, we hang them in the room overnight.

I bought handwash soap in Paris and still use it. You can buy new underwear and socks and bring an extra empty duffle to send every thing back in too.