Many travelers spend time researching travel gear to acquire the perfect set. Some don’t even care if they break the bank doing so.
But while we often struggle with knowing what kind of luggage we need and what to pack in it, we don’t often consider the cleaning that has to come after use.
That’s a huge no-no since cleaning should be the first order of business after getting home. Imagine having to pack all your clean clothing inside a filthy bag on your next trip. That just can’t be!
Today, we’ll briefly discuss why your luggage needs to be cleaned after a trip and how to clean it to make your luggage last.
Why Clean Your Luggage After Your Trip?
Reason #1: To prevent mold growth
You don’t want to have to go through the trouble of pulling your bag or luggage out of storage before a big trip only to find that it smells disgusting. This can result from mold growing from the leftover food crumbs, moisture, and dirt from the last trip that was never cleaned out.
Removing mold from luggage is difficult, to say the least. You may even be better off buying a new one entirely. That’s because a musty smell can linger even after you’ve cleaned the mold off, making you think twice about placing your clothes inside.
Reason #2: To prevent the bag from deteriorating
Over time, oils and dirt can cause fabrics in your luggage to degrade. Dirt and debris caught in the luggage wheel could harden and cause problems later on.
Reason #3: To prevent bugs and insects from entering your home
Yes, we are also talking about those troublesome, icky bed bugs! They could be in your luggage without you realizing it. If you forget to clean your luggage or clean it incorrectly and then put it away in a closet, you could end up with a home infestation.
Bed bugs aren’t even the worst of them. You could open your luggage after it has been sealed for over 24 hours in transit and see cockroaches coming out of it.
Reason #4: To prevent the spread of disease-causing viruses and germs
Your luggage has been exposed to dirty streets—mud, dirt, spit, and poop—hotel room floors and tossed into overhead bins in the cabin and onto filthy belts at airport baggage claim.
Who knows what viruses, germs, and bugs your luggage is now carrying back home with you. We also do the same with backpacks, and then we wear them over our backs. Yikes!
Cleaning Your Luggage
If you want to prevent bugs, viruses, and germs from entering your house and making it their new home, follow these simple steps to cleaning your luggage after every holiday or business trip.
Step #1: Do not bring your dirty luggage into the house
Your luggage has been handled by a lot of people and has been in contact with several conceivably dirty and infected surfaces during your trip, the airplane floor included!
You can quarantine your luggage in your garage. In case you don’t have one, a porch or a storage area will do, as long as other animals and bugs won’t find them and make them their new home.
Step #2: Unpack your clothes in the garage and put them into the washing machine.
This step is very easy if you use packing cubes to organize the clothes in your luggage.
When it comes to repelling bugs, throwing soiled clothes in the washer is more effective than tossing them on the floor, where you are basically sending a welcome invitation to creepy crawlies.
You’ll also want to wash your clothes in warm water on a full cycle.
Step #3: Sanitize frequently held surfaces of your luggage
This is to make sure you get rid of lingering germs and viruses on the wheels and handles of your luggage. The handle, hand grips, and wheels of your luggage should be cleaned with disinfecting wipes.
Regardless of whether you have hard or soft luggage, you can use the same disinfectant. Either hydrogen peroxide or alcohol should do the trick.
Make sure the surfaces you sanitize stay wet for about 30 seconds; otherwise, the viruses and germs might not be killed.
Step #4: Dry your luggage thoroughly
After you’ve wiped down the outside and cleaned the inside of your luggage, you should dry it to prevent mold and mildew growth. There is no better way to dry your suitcase than leaving it out in the sun.
That said, it’s important to limit sun exposure to no more than two hours to avoid damaging the fabric. In addition to drying your luggage thoroughly, the heat of the sun will also potentially kill any leftover viruses, germs, and bacteria.
Conclusion
You’re all set! Now that you know the importance of cleaning your luggage after a long trip, you can start planning your next holiday destination. This time around, it will be with clean and sanitized luggage ready for the next flight.
Read More:
What to pack – the female travellers’ edition
