Readers come clean

Too cheap to send out my laundry, too pressed for time to sit in a commercial laundromat, I lamented my lame attempts to do hand laundry on the road in the Sept. 1 On the Spot column (“Dirty Little Secrets of Doing Hand Laundry on the Road”) so I asked readers for their secrets of laundry success. I cleaned up, so to speak. Here are some of their awesome tips at bitly/ReaderLaundryTips.

Turn on the fan

I do hand wash only if I am staying more than one day at a hotel and then I do it only on the first night so it has time to dry. If you leave the fan on in the bathroom and close the door, the clothes will dry overnight. If you put your clothes that tend to wrinkle between layers of dry-cleaner bags, they essentially do not wrinkle. Catherine Luciano Torrance

Fabric is key

Dress in clothes made only of man-made fibers, because Mother Nature designed natural fibers (cotton, wool, etc.) to retain maximum moisture. Manmade fiber will dry faster, retain less dirt and stains, and remain less wrinkled.

Pack a dark washcloth to sponge dark clothes without leaving obvious lint.

Fold pants, shorts, etc., over lightweight paper towel tubes to reduce wrinkling. Works well and saves space if tubes are pretty flattened. Multiple pairs of pants can be folded together over one tube. Colin Forkner Corona del Mar

My cardinal rule is no cotton. That means no jeans or cotton T-shirts. I bring only quick-dry items of the sort that wick away sweat. I don’t find them to be too hot for steamy places.

If I am headed for such a place, I bring a lightweight skirt. I roll my clothing and I use compression cubes. Haven’t had much of a problem with wrinkling. Kathleen Battersby

Culver City

I agree that knits are a carry-on traveler’s best friend, and jeans with a bit of stretch won’t require washing. As for wrinkles, for years, I’ve used an environmentally friendly, easy and free solution: a small, empty spritz bottle. When I unpack, I fill it with water, spritz any wrinkled clothing, smooth out the wrinkles and I’m good to go.

I wear a knit garment after landing so that while I’m out enjoying my destination, my clothes are drying and unwrinkling and ready for the rest of my trip. Bonnie Voland Los Angeles

Just don’t do it

Take all old underwear, T-shirts and ratty jeans (instead of new items), then leave them behind. You never have to hear your spouse complain, “You’re still wearing those?” Plus your suitcase will be lighter on the way home. If the suitcase is old, leave it behind and save bag fees by coming home with only a carry-on. Daniel Dobbs Costa Mesa

Hang it all

When I expect to do hand laundry on my trip, I bring two or three wire hangers with a few clothespins. Hangers are more manageable than a clothesline, in my opinion, but some hotels have only hangers that cannot be removed from the closet. Junko Ogihara Culver City

In California, the state parks system’s Division of Boating and Waterways regulates each year vessels used by recreational boaters on the state’s rivers, lakes and marinas, about 2.6 million vessels. The agency’s safety requirements vary by size and type of vessel, but all motorboats are required to carry life jackets, and every child younger than 13 must wear a life jacket when not in an enclosed cabin.

The agency also publishes a set of safety guidelines known as “ABCs of California Boating” and offers boating safety classes.

If you’re a passenger on a recreational vessel, Higgins said, look at the weather forecast with your route in mind.

“The weather is the most common thing that can make a trip very unpleasurable or even deadly,” he said.

Make sure there are life jackets for everyone, a fire extinguisher, a marine radio and a membership with an organization that can give commercial towing assistance, if needed.

But your captain is crucial too.

Given all that can go wrong, “it’s crazy to think that somebody could just buy a boat and drive it without any training,” Higgins said. But until 2018 that was true in California.

State law generally requires that boaters be at least 16 years old to operate a vessel with a motor of more than 15 horsepower. Until 2018, California had no specific certification or license requirement for recreational operators of motorized watercraft.

Now the state is phasing in a program that requires boat operators to pass a safety exam to earn a required California Boater Card. As of Jan. 1, the requirement has applied to boat operators 25 or younger. In 2020, the age threshold increases to 35 years old; in 2021 to 40 years old; and so on.

The phase-in continues through January 2025, at which point every adult recreational boat operator will be subject to the requirements that include the safety exam and California Boater Card.

But there are many exemptions. Anyone operating a rental vessel, for instance, is exempt from needing a Boater Card.