We're not planning on packing much for our trip...as we really want to be as mobile as possible (bringing large backpacks and a duffel bag.)

I've read up on some of the posts here on the laundry situation and I think, due to our limited time in each city, that going and doing laundry at outside facilities is going to be difficult and time-consuming.

Is the cost of doing laundry (no dry cleaning) at hotels THAT expensive? Also, I've heard some hotels provide a clothes line above the tub and detergent to wash your own clothes in the room. Anyone have any experience with this? We're planning on bringing a lot of travel (quick-dry) clothes with us so I'm hoping to just wash stuff ourselves if possible.

Any input is much appreciated!

hotel laundry is about twice to 3 trimes the price of outside, but it is still very reasonable compared with home....bkk being more expensive than outside....there are local laundries everywhere...expect 2 day service outside and same day service inside hotels...many hotels have a cheaper version of the laundry in their garage or basement where you deliver the stuff and pick it up the next day...1/2 price....

many rooms have clothes lines but i have never seen detergent....we take a small plastic container of liquid detergent with us...watch out for leaks

Take your own clothesline (plaited so you don't need clothes pins), universal sink plug and laundry detergent. I decant Woolite into a 4oz plastic bottle (don't fill it all the way). Shampoo works really well too. You can buy the clothesline at travel stores or online at places like travelsmith.com or magellans.com or travelstore.ricksteves.com. Get the kind with hooks rather than suction cups.

You will find laundry services on many of the small side streets near the hotels and in the residential neighborhoods. They change either by weight or by the piece. You drop off your laundry, they wash, dry, fold and iron. You pick it up the next day. It couldn't be easier! One warning, however - I found their detergents to be very highly perfumed.

I've tried washing out a few things in my hotel room, but because of the humidity, they take quite a long time to dry.

Another warning. If you do use a laundry, make sure they will keep your clothes separate. I had khaki trousers come back with yellow splotches one time in Cambodia. I really prefer to do it myself, but in humid climates I try for AC.

I've stayed at lots of hotels that have a clothesline over the tub, and many have laundry detergent as well. One of my "tricks" for laundry is that I stay in a Bangkok hotel that offers free laundry! Some hotel laundry prices are high, some not; I've used outside laundries (leave you clothes in the morning, pick them up about 5)in many other cities.

When I was in BKK last year for a month, I did a lot of light laundring right at my room. I was staying in a bungalow style hotel, and fortuantly they provided laundry racks. But also right outside the hotel was a seperatly owned, sort of everything shop, it was really funny, they had a Lunch buffet at lunch time, and a bar in the evening, and they also sold flowers and stuff, and had other small gift items. It was an open air type place, they also had a self serve laundry. So we did our laundry there. I don't know if had something to do with the humidity or what, or just maybe a faulty dryer, but our clothes would not dry in the dryer, so we finally just took them out and hung them out to dry. We had take one full day to do laundry, but it was sort of nice, the place had drinks and stuff and we met quite a few people just doing our laundry

I tried to wash things in our hotel room also, but like OJudy commented, it took forever for clothes to dry (I guess because of the humidity). In the 3 hotels I washed clothes, I don't remember any of them having clothes lines.

One other thing - don't expect to find irons in the rooms either. I made that assumption and ended up with some clothes that I just couldn't wear because they were too wrinkled. The hotels (at least the ones we were at) didn't allow irons in the rooms, so they had none to lend. And, our schedule was such that we didn't have time to use laundry services. Luckily, I took enough clothes to Koh Samui that I was able to wash them there and have clean clothes for the rest of the trip. The clothes dried IMMEDIATELY in Koh Samui.

If you're planning to do your own laundry, it's a good idea to give your clothes an audition before you decide to pack them. Wash and drip dry anything you're you're thinking of taking. If an item takes forever to dry, or wrinkles, take something else that does better.

I find anything made of Coolmax works well, but my favorite light weight khakis from http://railriders.com/ are too hot in humid weather, my heavier http://www.travelsmith.com/ pants do better. Or cotton pants or skirts bought locally in S.E. Asia.

I, too, had a problem with laundry in Cambodia. Had a tan top come back with a major red patch all over the front of it. They offered to bleach it and since it was ruined otherwise, I said ok. It ended up a pale yellow. At least it's still wearable.

We asked guide and/or driver about laundry and they took it someplace. It came back so nice that we were sending out clothes that had not yet been worn. In Chaing Mai we even had to stop for the last load on way to airport. The cost, of couse, was very, very little. Just find someone not in the hotel you can trust.

We loved laundries in Thailand -- clothes came back so clean & perfectly ironed, and we loved interacting with local people. Also, very inexpensive. I think it's a waste of time to do your own.

I use the clothes line found at the Container Store. Probably containerstore.com. The clothes line has metal, built-in clothes pins. I always take my own laundry detergent,too. And one of those travel towels that I use to wring the wet clothes in before hanging them. Clothing dries faster that way and the travel towel dries out fast,too. Happy Travels!

There are local laundries 'everywhere', hotel laundry rates / drink prices etc tend to go along with the rates for the hotel ! Higher the hotel rate the more the laundry prices, stay at mid range to cheaper places and they are quite reasonable.

we have never had any problems whatsoever...and we have used laundries dozens of times....sometimes the whites are not like home, but my wife sends good whites to the hotel laundry for that reason, i.e. white linen slacks....the hotel laundry sends things back nicer than new!!

we have no trouble with things drying in the room, but we leave the a/c on all the time...

When we were in phuket at the Dusit Laguna earlier this year, the ladies who run the snack stalls on the beach offer a laundry service (24 hours) was about 1/4 of the price of the hotel, which worked out v v cheap - about £0.25 ($0.45) for a shirt, socks and pants were much cheaper - plus no tax or service charge (which the hotels will often add on - bumps up the price by about 20%) - we didn't use the laundry to clean any valuable items so for us it was a no brainer to wash our own items and try to dry them, or to use the hotel laundry

We also used the ladies at the vendor stands on the beach. They took dirty clothes and returned them in beautiful condition. Of course, do not send your Armani stuff.