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Advice to wash your clothes on the Camino de Santiago

We bring you some tricks and tips on how to wash your clothes that will come good for you, especially if you're considering doing for the first time the pilgrimage route

Consejos para lavar tu ropa en el Camino de Santiago

Be a pilgrim provident

If you've never done the Camino de Santiago before is normal that some doubts assail our heads; if you are preparing the trip for the first time and do not have the advice of a veteran pilgrim near, one of the most frequently asked questions that always arise is what I do with my clothes? How do I wash it?

Though the Camino de Santiago can be considered a "joyride" we are not facing the typical couples getaway where we happen to find all done (but that sure you already know). Every year more people travel the Camino, especially in high season and sometimes we will gather in shelters a large number of pilgrims with the same needs. These needs can not always be satisfied as we would like, but if we are prepared, we can easily go over a problem. In the Camino elsewhere, the provident pilgrim forearmed.

Wash and dry clothes, hand or machine?

In the case of wash our clothes, keep in mind that not all hostels have a washing machine, and usually if they only have one, so the queues with other hostel guests are insured. However, what we will find in all accommodation is at least several batteries for hand washing our clothes. Keep in mind that hand washing has two advantages; It will take less and spend less. Anyway if we have access to washing machine and want to use it, we must have about 3 or 4 euros, taking much more out washing of course if we go in groups or we agree with someone else and share.

After washing we have to dry, which is complicated especially in the days of bad weather (which in Galicia are no strangers precisely) or outside periods of high season in summer. Therefore, if we make the Camino in summer, it is best to dry our clothes on a clothesline (we find in all lodges), while if we do it in winter, we use a dryer (although not all hostels have one) with a similar cost to put a washing machine. As a last resort, if a garment has not finished drying and we have to leave the hostel, we can hang our backpack to give him full sun.

Essential for washing and hanging

Taking all this into account, also you should try to get as prepared as possible. For this we tell you what you should not miss in your backpack when washing your clothes in the Camino de Santiago:

  • Clips or safety pins: You will not always find clamps in hostels, so do not forget them, especially for lingerie, you will lose all your clothes before arriving at the Cathedral of Santiago. They also can take a number of safety pins and also take up less trouble, if you take the backpack to the top.
  • Hand soap: Essential a bar of soap to wash by hand, even if you have planned machine wash, because you never know what you can find on your next stop. If you go to wash machine, the housing itself have soap for washing machines.
  • A rope: Especially in times of great influx of pilgrims a small rope of about two meters will be very useful in times when you can find the full clotheslines. It's as easy as deploying your rope on the line and out of trouble, in addition to tie it between two trees if you have an emergency.

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