Last weekend, we went away and stayed in a hotel apartment. Lo and behold, there was only a per-piece hotel laundry service, not a washing machine like most other apartments. To top it off, I had packed lightly for everyone (including nappies), and I forgot to bring along my laundry detergent! What to do?

I’ve read the blurb: modern cloth nappies can simply be machine washed like normal clothing. So began my cloth journey in 2006, doing nappy laundry daily or every other day with the help of the washing machine.

The next hurdle was holidays: easy! Just choose a short stay apartment that comes with its own washing machine, bring some cloth friendly laundry detergent like Rockin Green Detergent and continue using cloth on holiday.

Until one holiday: last weekend. No washing machine, no laundry detergent, not enough nappies and clothing.

So what did I do? Handwash with dishwashing detergent! To save water I washed all the other clothing for the day together.

The hotel had good old-fashioned service, so fortunately we were provided with a baby bath tub and a cot, free of charge.There was a little balcony too, very handy for drying dripping wet clothing and nappies. This was what I did:

1. I plopped a capful of dishwashing detergent concentrate into the baby bathtub and placed the bath tub in the shower recess to catch the falling hot water from the shower, making a washing solution full of bubbles.
2. While making up the washing solution, I soaked the clothing while pre-cleaning the nappies: put solid waste into the loo with the help of Eenee flushable liners (great for out and about and childcare too). Then hand rinsed each nappy under the tap in the washbasin, gently squeezing to remove as much urine and residual solids as possible.
3. I then gently agitated the soapy water with all the clothing in it, squeezing out and removing clothing one after another. The nappies went in next, squeezing the detergent solution through the fabric then squeeze out.
4. Drain the tub and refill it with clean hot water. Agitate, rinse and squeeze clothing and nappies.
5. Repeat once more until there are no more suds left in the water.
6. Drip dry on the balcony, allowing at least 12 hours to dry completely.

By doing this, I was able to get a much-loved show-off nappy back into rotation 2 days in a row, as well as keep us clothed.

I hope this helps you when you go away on holidays and are caught short with very little luggage. All you need is a water source, dishwashing detergent, and something to contain the water (in this case a baby bath tub).