While we are on the subject of washing dishes, my question is do you bring laundry detergent from home, if you do what kind? I have been in Walmart, Target and my grocery store looking for travel detergent. Does anyone have any tips for me? I don't plan on doing alot of laundry. This is the first time we are renting with washer/dryer and I really want to pack less.
If the unit has a washer and dryer it may have laundry detergent in it. Even if it doesn't you can get that at Dolphin or Starfish and not have to carry it with you.
There will probably be some in the villa. I don't know that I would bother with taking it.
I have seen Tide in very small quantities (4 loads, I think), or you could probably just put some of the powder type in a ziploc bag. I still don't think I'd mess with it though.
I'm not sure where you're staying, but generally if you rent a house that has a washer and dryer, they should have laundry soap available for your use. This is most definitely NOT something you should be worrying about when packing.
-Ruth
I went to the laundromat and got those $.50 packages out of the machine on the wall. Each box does one load. I don't know if it was worth it or not. There was soap at the villa, left from the previous renters or the cleaning people, and you can easily pick up soap at any of the markets on STJ. I don't think I'd haul it down there again.
I found out that almost everything I worried about not finding on the island (my brands, etc.) was there. Not to worry!
I also measure it out into zip locks with the dryer sheets then put them all into a quart size. I'd probably prefer not to but my daughter is HIGHY allergic to Tide and Cheer and a few others. She gets hives the size of quarters all over her back if I use the wrong thing so I must bring my own. It's really not that big of a deal.
I really don't want to be running out and looking for detergent on vacation and I don't want to count on finding some at the rental house so I will take California Girl's very good tip and pick up some packets at my local laundry mat.
I did look for the tablets Jayseadee mentioned but no luck in finding them.
I just saw those little laundry det. squares at Target and Walmart. They look like the little Cascade squares for your dishwasher. They look very travel-friendly. At wal-mart, they were at the end of the aisle, not actually in the aisle if that makes sense.
I've been going to STJ for about 15 years and I've only had to buy laundry detergent twice and that's because we had a large group and we used up what was left for us by the cleaning staff. I wouldn't bother. Chances are you won't need it.
Every house we've rented has had a LARGE supply of laundry detergent available. I have never given it a thought, I just assumed all villas w/ w&d also came with soap.
Our last villa had enough to do a couple of loads. We seemed to wash towels often. We bought more detergent at Pine Peace. I've seen the convenient travel sizes at Target and CVS.
Like Chrisn, we have severe Tide and Cheer allergies in the family. I do take powdered detergent. I use Charlie’s Soap and it takes just a tablespoon per load, so it convenient to take it along in a doubled-up sandwich bag.
We also have people with ski/allergy things for detergent. So, I pack up a ziplock bag...and double bag it. I also mark "DETERGENT" on the bag. Because...flying with a quart bag of white powder...
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