People Are Washing Underwear in Hotel Room Coffee Makers—Then Brewing Coffee the Next Morning

When you run out of clean underwear while staying in a hotel, a viral video clip suggests you use the in-room coffee maker. Put your underwear in the basket where the filter and grounds go, press brew to run very hot water through the machine, and then dry your underwear with the hair dryer in the bathroom.

This gives you a cleaner pair of underwear, albeit without using any soap or detergent. The woman says she learned this trick from a flight attendant and calls it “brilliant,” but it just makes me think that a lot more flight attendants out there are working flights in less than fresh underwear?

TRAVEL INFLUENCER SPARKS OUTRAGE AFTER REVEALING WHAT SHE DOES WITH HOTEL COFFEE MAKERS

A health influencer’s video is going viral after she admitted that when she runs out of underwear, she puts them inside the hotel coffee machine, hits brew, and lets boiling water run… pic.twitter.com/vQEghRY27q

— HustleBitch (@HustleBitch_) February 19, 2026

Here’s what she says, in case you don’t want to watch and listen.

I’m about to show you guys one of the coolest tricks ever. Say you’re traveling and you didn’t pack enough underwear and you’re just like, oh my gosh, what am I going to wear tomorrow?

Every room has like a coffee pot thing in it. Every room, even the other coffee makers where it like brews through. All you have to do, put your underwear where you would put the coffee grounds, you close it, you press brew and it puts scorching hot water through it.

You guys, then the hair dryer in the bathroom, You blow dry those bad boys and you got yourself a cleaner pair of underwear to wear. I did not realize how many people already knew this hack. I learned it years ago from a friend that was a flight attendant and it’s brilliant.

There are several basic ways to see this:

• Don’t use the coffee maker! People are running their underwear through them, and then the next guests makes coffee? That’s morally wrong!

• Why not use the sink? Use the sink and soap. Many hotels offer a laundry service, though it’s not cheap most of the time. I can see why a first or second year flight attendant, who might make grilled cheese in the room with an iron and ironing board, would look to save money but many travelers can afford to have their underwear laundered in a pinch. That gets you actual clean underwear!

• This isn’t even getting your underwear clean. Even if the water is hot, that isn’t removing oils and soils the way detergent and a washing machine would.

I actually think it’s a good idea to pack an extra pair of underwear. Sometimes your flight home gets cancelled and you have to stay somewhere an extra day. It doesn’t take up that much room!

Regardless of whether the last guest washed their underwear in them, those coffee makers do not get properly cleaned and just accumulate bacteria as it is. I’ve never heard of washing your underwear in them, though. This is why I won’t drink coffee out of them:

And this is why you check the hotel coffeemaker before you use it…. from r/trashy

People do all kinds of things with their underwear and other clothing during travel. A Southwest Airlines passenger on a cross country flight departing from Oakland hadn’t finished her laundry and dried “her clothes by hanging them on the window shades.”

Ok, topic change.. nice woman in 1st row of 5hour @SouthwestAir flight out of OAK this morning didn’t finish her laundry and is drying her clothes by hanging them on the window shades. Seriously. #SouthwestGOAT pic.twitter.com/uq3qLDf5vw

— Oren Jacob (@orenjacob) October 18, 2023

The airline responded to the customer who shared this on social media, saying “Orange you glad it wasn’t underwear?” Back in 2022 an OnlyFans model dried her underwear using the air nozzle on her Southwest flight after spilling liquor on herself. She says she was still drunk from the previous evening and continued with “a few strong mimosas” at the airport. It wasn’t even the first time that a passenger dried their underwear using airplane air vents.

Passenger Spotted Drying Underwear Beneath Air Vent On Planehttps://t.co/z86bLk7kHq pic.twitter.com/58OLU93DaW

— 9GAG ❤️ Memeland (@9GAG) February 20, 2018

In fact, drying underwear using the overhead air vent on a plane – while not exactly an every-flight occurrence, doesn’t seem that out of sample, either.