Doing laundry in Paris
 

Are there laundromats in central part of the city, preferably 6th or 7th? Or laundries that will wash (not dry clean) clothes?

I passed laundromats all over town (though usually not in the super touristy areas). They're as hard to find as they are in any other city. The trick is figuring out how the machines work in French. I rented an apartment with a washer/dryer in Paris and spent a whole night translating the dials online.

Open website
www.pagesjaunes.fr

Click on 'recherche detaillee'
for the business type, enter 'laveries en libre-service' (Activite)
add your address (adresse)
and mail code (localite)

check-mark the box for "à côté de"
click 'trouver'

It will take a few seconds but a map will appear and a list of those 'laveries' you asked for that are near your address...

Thanks, Travelnut! I'll give that a try.

works for "boulangerie", "alimentaire", "supermarche", "patisserie", "pharmacie", "cafe", "restaurant"... too!

Thanks, Travelnut!

There's one very near the Buci Market, either on Buci or Rue de Seine in the 6th.

There's a laundromat off rue andres des artes (sp???) in the 6th. If you are entering rue andres des artes from rue dauphine, take your first left. The laundromat is about half a block down on the left.

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You may be a little shocked by the price and also how long it takes to do a load of laundry. Bring something to read.

Also, the couple I've been in use a central control for putting in your coins and setting the dryer. (as opposed to putting the coins into a specific dryer's coin box).

Do they still require tokens (jetons) or can you use Euro coins, and lots of them, I presume, based on previous poster? Also, another educational bit (but this was late 80s in Paris)--the washers didn't have spinners so after the clothes were washed you had to put the dripping mass in a thing which looked like a small torpedo and feed it 10 centimes to get your clothes spinned, then you put them in the dryer. Most of the frugal French skipped these steps but we didn't have any choice. Surely, Shirley, that's a thing of the past!!!

There is almost always a central payment box for all of the machines. They use coins. There is a detergent dispenser as well, which uses coins.

European washing machines are designed to use something like 70% less water than North American machines. Cleaning is thorough but slow. Many people go and buy groceries at the market while their clothes are being washed.

The 6th is my neighborhood when I vacation in Paris. There's a laundromat on rue de Seine, a half block north of rue Buci, left side of the street. It's right before you get to Hotel de Seine. There's another one on rue Grand Augustin. Happy Travels!

European washing machines wash for a very long time in comparison to American washing machines. Ours wash 25-30 minutes usually. The European ones can go on for well over an hour. They might save more water, but I don't see how they're saving energy. I wash on the delicate cycle as to cut down the washing time. And be very careful of the water temp as it's in Celcius. Happy Travels!

There was one right around the corner from our hotel on Rue des Bernardins, unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the street where the laundromat was. Just a warning, since all the directions (naturally) are in French -- I put in one purchased little box of detergent, and when it didn't make a lot of suds, I put in another. BIG MISTAKE!!! There were suds coming out of the machine, all over the top, front and floor. I was glad I was all alone in there doing my best Lucy Ricardo imitation and mopping up the floor with what paper I could find LOL!

Guenmai, Thanks for the exact location on Rue de Seine. I'm the one staying in "your" apartment on Rue St. Andre des Arts in September! I note the apartment has a washing machine but I may take the clothes down the road to dry.

Cathinjoetown...The one on rue Grand Augustin is probably closer, to the apartment, but if you go to the one on rue de Seine, you can throw the clothes in and walk around and window shop since it's a much more interesting area.
Plus, the supermarket is right at the corner of rue de Seine and rue Buci as well as Paul's eatery. There's a place called Cosi (?) next to the laundromat and they have nice, grilled sandwiches. My best French friend and I used grab a bite there, for lunch, a lot since she was a hotel manager on rue de Seine.
Then there's the French store, that's a French copy of our original Banana Republic, on the same block. So, you should be able to keep yourself busy while drying.
I would definitely use the washer in the apartment as it's included in the rent. Laundromats cost a fortune in Europe.
As for lugging the wet laundry, if I were you, I'd zip up to Bon Marche's gourmet supermarket, next door to Bon Marche Department store...in the 7th...right as you come out of the metro station at Sevres Babylone... Line 10....only one stop after you get on Line 10 in the 6th. In the supermarket, they sell both their own, nylon, grocery shopping bags and those great little, nylon French, shopping carts on wheels. They make great gifts and are quite handy. They don't cost that much. Plus they are collapsible and fit VERY easily into a suitcase. Then you can use it for both transporting your wet laundry and for groceries...knock out two birds with one stone. Just wheel the bag down the street and not have to break your shoulder carrying stuff. Happy Travels!

Lots of time in Europe, clothes washing machines are actually combination washer/dryers. The cycle just goes from washing into drying.

Thanks, Mimar. I have used the combos before and perhaps it's my dyslexia but if I haven't been there to get them out asap after the drying cycle, the clothes become one big ball of super-wrinkled fabric. I'll give it another try.

Cathinjoetown, I'm with you. The flat we rent in London has a combo, and the clothes can't be removed from the dryer for at least a full minute after it stops running. The door won't unlock for at least that long. That's just enough time to guarantee that they are a mass of wrinkles steamed permanently into them. On the other hand, I don't recall ever having a combo in a European laundromat.

The combo washer/dryer at the serviced apartment that I rent in Bangkok has a European, combo washer/dryer and it's horrible. It takes forever for the clothes to dry and they're always very wrinkled...even using Bounce sheets. Plus, I can't throw in a second batch of clothes to wash until the combo one has finished drying...a total waste of an apparatus and time. Happy Travels!

On the other hand, the combination washer/dryer takes up very little space.

The problem I have is certain items need to hang dry; I can't figure out how to get them out at the end of the wash cycle, then let the rest continue to the drying cycle without having to restart the whole thing all over.

But these little problems are part of travel....

My combo machine allows me to decide if I want to use the dryer function or not.

In any case, it will only 'dry' if I push the 'half load' button. So if I have a full load, there is nothing to decide anyway.

As for space saving, I MUCH prefer the kind of stackable washer/dryer that we have here in the States. Then there are two separate machines and not everything in one. Happy Travels!

These comments made me laugh and glad I'm not the "only" one. I now just hang the clothes where I can and hope they dry before I have to pack them--actually a good trick is to hang them (well spun out) in the closet or wardrobe and leave the door open over night. All part of the fun--am sure there's a thread somewhere on bathrooms--my nightgown got half flushed down a toilet on Santorini, while I was in it (the nightgown and the bathroom). Will have to look for it.

Translating the dials?????

Just PUSH THE BUTTON and watch what happens...