Doing Laundry
 

I hope some one knows about getting a families laundry done without paying for each item at the hotels.The price of that would be ridiculous. Handwashing large items won't work.
I have read something about full service laundries but don't know exactly what that means. If you know please tell me in detail, how to find it, and how much to expect to pay.
I will be traveling with my family in August. Two adults one large teenager.
I need to pack light. We will be traveling from place to place and lugging heavy suitcases is not fun. We will spend our first week in Madrid on Gran Via. Then on to Toledo, then Cordoba, then Seville then Grenada and finally Nerja. We will have a car after Madrid.
What do the local people do? Not everyone can own washing machines.

Ask at your hotel desk for the closest public laundry. Some travel books(Rick Steves) list laundry locations.Load up one of your suitcases on wheels and your good to go. The only problem you may encounter is in translating the directions for using the machines. Take a small dictionary along.

Well, they go to laundromats, just the way many people do in the US and UK and the way you did when you were in college.

At the laundromat, you can buy soap, put the clothes in the machine, put in the coins, and do your laundry just like home.

Or, some places have drop off service where they wash your clothes, usually charging by weight, and they dry and fold them when they come out. You drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

Or you can go to a full-service laundry and dry cleaner just like I use at home for my suits and starched cotton shirts. But if you are traveling around, you probably don't have time for this option.

If you Google Madrid lavanderia you will get a long list of options. These will probably be self-serve.

Keep in mind many places may be shut in August, so have some backup plans.

Onda Blu is a European laundry chain - it's quite possible that would be less likely to shut down for August than independent places.

Thanks for the replies.
mkdiebold...Thats ok if they know the answer, but if they don't or commute to work... I'm very uptight about getting stuck without info and underpacking

Askislander...How do I find the drop off pay by the pound locations... Is there a Spanish term for them? Also any idea what a fair price is? Remember we are also going other places and will need clean clothes as we go.

WillTravel
I just finished googleing Madrid Lavanderia and got really strange results...some were for escort services ... I did a little better with , Madrid Onda Blu.. Got franchise descriptions. Found 2 actual addresses I hope they are current.

The more I think of it . It probably makes more sense to pack for at least one week and then start the laundry process in Toledo. 1)That we will have a car in Toledo. 2) Toledo seems much smaller

be careful with having your hotel offer to do your laundry. our hotel in italy charged $110 per (very tiny) load of clothes. Just ask locals in the neighborhood - they can most likely direct you to laundromats.

My family of 4 just returned from 3 weeks in Spain. We travelled with just one carry-on bag each. The laundry issue was solved by staying in apartments with washing machine/driers. We stayed in apartments in all cities where we stayed at least 3 nights (Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada). By the time our trip ended in Nerja we didn't have to do laundry anymore since we were on our way home. The only issue is that the washing machines are tiny and drying can take a long time unless there are only a few items inside. Also, not all washing machines have driers. In Granada we had to line dry our clothes, which didn't take too long since humidity was low.