Packing Tips And Hacks
Jenna Busch
There is nothing more fun than a day at the beach, whether it’s in your hometown or on a vacation. The sun and surf are wonderful for the whole family, but there is that pesky little thing that inevitably follows you home. It’s sand, of course, and it gets all over everything. You’ve surely done your best to wipe everyone and everything down, but it’s incredibly difficult to get all of it off of toys, towels, and everything else you end up carting along on your sea- or lakeside journey.
While there are great hacks like using baby powder or oil to get the sand off of feet and hands, what about the rest of it? How can you keep all that stuff from invading your car during the ride home, let alone having it tracked into your house? We’ve found a fantastic hack that’s easy to use and very inexpensive: Use a laundry basket to hold your children’s beach toys.
The laundry basket hack
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For this hack, you will want to have a dedicated beach laundry basket. Skip using the pretty woven wicker or wood ones, which can trap bits of sand between the pieces of material. Plastic is your best bet. You can even get a collapsible one if you need to save space, though a regular one is great if it is a staple in your trunk. You can use the laundry basket to carry all the sandy beach toys and towels home and give them a shake and/or a quick wash to keep the sand out of … well, everything.
A collapsible one (even one made of slick fabric) is fantastic to pack for vacation, so your rental car doesn’t get sandy either. We suggest looking for one with no holes or an option with holes toward the top of the basket. This also works well for muddy items if the beach isn’t your destination. You can even keep one in the trunk to keep your car emergency supplies from sliding all over the place. If your trunk has a fuzzy bottom, try putting some wide velcro strips on there for extra grip.
Bonus tips to make this work for you
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Laundry baskets are great for holding lots of things, from stuffed animals to LEGO blocks to travel snacks. You may end up wanting them in your car all the time, and if that’s the case, or you want one in your back seat, look for a basket with an oval or slim rectangle footprint so it fits easily. You can even line it with a plastic garbage bag if things get extra sandy or muddy in your family.
If you don’t plan to have this item live in your car, you can even look at affixing wheels to the bottom of the basket for ease of movement. Plus, it can double as a fun rolling cart for your little ones to play in while you’re at the park or any other summer destination. (Definitely use the plastic ones for this, and make sure you grab something extra sturdy.) Sure, you can use it for actual laundry, but this is just so much more fun.
