Influencer Tara Woodcox faces backlash for washing underwear in hotel coffee maker: 'This has to be a joke'

Influencer Tara Woodcox is facing backlash online after revealing she washes her undergarments in hotel coffee maker while travelling.

A travel influencer has sparked widespread outrage online after revealing that she uses hotel room coffee makers to wash her undergarments. Tara Woodcox, who has nearly 400,000 Instagram followers, shared the unconventional travel tip in a now-viral video. She described it as a clever solution for moments when travellers run out of clean underwear and have no access to laundry facilities.

What Woodcox described as “brilliant” quickly triggered backlash online. (Instagram/@tarawoodcox11)

In the video, Woodcox explained that she placed her undergarments in the compartment where coffee grounds are typically added, shut the lid, and pressed the brew button, allowing boiling water to run through the garments.

“Say you’re travelling and you didn’t pack enough underwear and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to wear tomorrow?’ Every room has a coffee pot thing in it. All you have to do is put your underwear where you put the coffee grounds, you close it, you press brew and it puts scorching hot water through it,” she said in the video.

The influencer added that she learned the hack years ago from a friend who worked as a flight attendant. “I did not realise how many people already knew this hack. I learned it years ago from a friend that was a flight attendant and it’s brilliant,” she noted.

However, what Woodcox described as “brilliant” quickly triggered backlash online, with many users expressing horror at the idea of hotel coffee machines being used for washing intimate garments.

“Not brilliant. Let’s bring back having consideration for others! Make that cool again….” one user commented.

Another wrote, “I’m shocked this video hasn’t been deleted. This surely has to be evidence for hotels to take action. This is so unsettling. I’m so concerned for anyone who has caught anything from you or anyone listening to this advice. It’s not ok.”

Several commenters also said the video had permanently changed their habits while travelling. “I’ll never use a hotel room coffee maker again,” one person said.

Others questioned why the influencer did not simply wash the garments in a sink using soap and hot water. “Why not wash them in the sink with hot water and soap and dry them with the dryer? This has to be a joke right?” another user wrote.