PSA: HOMESTUCK COSPLAYERS

some friendly tips from someone who’s stayed in hotels a lot, for cons and for trips and junk:

1. before you go to a convention where you’re staying in a hotel, go to the dollar store and buy at least one or two bath sponges (or get a sixpack off amazon for 5 bucks).  don’t use hotel towels to scrub off all that gray paint!!!  if you do, you’re basically ruining those nice white towels and forcing the hotel to throw them away if they can’t clean them.
2. make sure to keep your gray paint in a ziplock bag when not in use, and if you get any smudges on countertops/doors/windows/etc, use some water and tissue paper or toilet paper to wipe it off.  bonus points for people who have makeup wipes, which are awesome for taking makeup off you and your surroundings.  (these are what i use; you can find makeup wipes at walmart, target and dollar stores.)
3. for the love of all that’s holy, before you check out, at least try to rinse out the sink and shower.  If it won’t come off with just water, using a hand towel to wipe off excess gray from a shower or sink will get the job done.  i can’t say from a room service standpoint, but i imagine one slightly dirty hand towel is better than having to scrub down an entire bath to make sure the gray is gone for the next guest.

some other things that would apply to all convention goers include:

1. remember that hotels will charge you if they think there is damage done to the room!  so if you smoke, don’t do it inside a non-smoking room (there’s a flat fee they put on you if the room smells like smoke); if you need to wash off all that gray (or red or blue or whatever) and you leave multiple towels trashed and the bathroom looking like some kind of strange creature was murdered and drained in there, you may get charged!
2. if your room gets pretty messy and there’s lots of trash around, make an effort to clean it up; even if it’s just shoving it all into that plastic bag you brought sodas in on the first day, doing some effort of house keeping yourself will save the staff some time and show them that congoers aren’t oblivious to the universe around them.
3. if you can, leave a tip for house keeping.  it’s generally a nice thing to do.  if you don’t have money to spare, write them a quick note thanking them for their work.
4. remember that what you do in your hotel room does affect the con!  for larger cons (like ax/comic con/sakura con), it could mean stricter rules and less hotels willing to sign up for room blocks, which means more expensive rooms.  for smaller ones that are hosted in hotels themselves (pmx/ala/conji), bad hotel etiquette from us congoers could mean the convention being kicked out of its location!

so uhhh when you’re at hotels try to be a cool cat and treat the hotel like it’s a secondary home, not a temporary living space that you can do anything you want in.