There's a rumour that has quietly haunted hotel rooms for years: that crew members use the in-room coffee maker as a makeshift washing machine for pantyhose and delicates. The story goes that you drop the garment into the pot, add soap, run the machine a few times, then hang it in the bathroom to dry overnight. Whether anyone actually does this is hotly disputed, but the mere possibility has been enough to put some flight attendants — and plenty of travellers — off brewing anything in their rooms.
The legend surfaced widely in a 2019 Reddit post on r/lifehacks, where a user described the technique in detail. Since then, opinion has split. A flight attendant writing for Bon Appétit's The Receipt column noted that "senior mamas" love telling horror stories about coffee pots being used to rinse pantyhose, though she admitted she couldn't picture anyone really doing it and suspected urban legend. A self-described ten-year crew veteran on Quora said they'd never heard of the practice. So it may well be pure folklore — but like the best travel myths, it sticks because it's just plausible enough to make you look at that carafe sideways.
The good news: there are far better ways to deal with laundry on a trip. Packing a travel-sized bottle of mild detergent costs almost nothing and turns any hotel sink or bathtub into a washing station. Fill it with cool or lukewarm water, add a drop of detergent, gently wash, and soak for a few minutes. Rinse thoroughly afterwards — leftover soap makes fabric stiffen as it dries. Underwear can simply come into the shower with you.
Drying is the trickier half, especially in humid climates. The classic fix is the burrito method: roll wet clothes tightly in a dry towel and press down to squeeze out moisture, then hang items on a rack or a portable clothesline somewhere airy until fully dry before packing. Two caveats — dripping water can damage wooden floors, and nobody at a resort wants your boxer shorts fluttering on the balcony.
For bigger loads, look for a self-service laundromat nearby, which is usually the cheapest option. If time matters more than money, a local laundry service will wash, dry, and even iron everything while you're out sightseeing. Hotel laundry desks are the most convenient of all, though often the priciest — independent shops tend to undercut them.
Who needs this? Anyone travelling light, backpacking between cities, or facing airline baggage fees on a long trip. A quick sink-wash routine can halve the clothes you pack, and it's a genuine money-saver on stays of a week or more. As for the coffee maker — maybe just use the lobby machine, or bring instant sachets. Some myths don't need to be true to ruin your morning brew.
