Marianna

I try not to take any clothing that needs special care. I have washed out items in hotels and hung them up to dry overnight. I have used the washer/dryers as needed in apartments and villas we have rented - never overdrying clothing which means more ironing. I will usually do any laundry very early in the morning (collecting whatever needs to be washed at night) and get it out of the dryer and hung up before we go out for the day. It is easy for me - I get up very early and make the coffee and get breakfast things ready - and I don't mind doing it at all. We have never used a hotel laundering service or a wash and fold type laundry service. In Menton on our recent trip this month, our hotel (Best Western Prince des Galles) had a tiny closet sized space in the hallway equipped with an iron and ironing board for ironing or touching up clothing. This was a new service since the last time we were there. It came in very handy for us at the end of our vacation since most of our clothing had been laundered at the apartment(yes, it was in the kitchen and I figured out how to stop the cycles or washer and dryer - make sure you have the booklet with directions or ask the person who greets you at the apartmwnt) we rented in Antibes prior to a few nights in Menton.

Sue_xx_yy

My experience with drop-off laundries is that you will be lucky to get the laundry back completely dry, and in more or less the colours each item featured at time of dropoff. If your standards are higher than this, handwash the items, or bring your valet to do the wash.

Personally, I rather like the challenge of self-service laundromats in Europe. Lezzee, I've done laundry in Llandudno (Wales), Cambridge, Monterosso, Siena, Sorrento, Appenzell, Muerren, Baden-Baden, Nice, Arles, Carcassonne, Sarlat, Venice, Verona, Vienna, Granada, Lisbon, Les Andelys, Bayeux .... and I think each and every machine had a different set of instructions. So I cannot answer as to what is 'common.'

May your suds not overflow the washer and your fibres not shrink. Bon voyage.

Mimar

I've never used a drop-off laundry because of my fears. Which I see are justified. Lots of so-advertised travel clothes require special handling.

Rick Steves' guidebooks are a good source of laundromats. The only catch is you don't meet the locals; you meet Stevites.

nanabee

sometimes local laundromats can be interesting experiences in and of themselves.
once in florence at a laundromat, we met a close friend from the states doing his laundry. we had no idea he was even in italy!!

GSteed

A service that you are requesting is time intensive. That is a reason hotel charges are so high. You can avoid these problems by traveling with a low maintenance wardrobe. European women do their fancy laundry by hand! The washing machine is for sheets and towels. The American wardrobe is mostly, 'wash and wear'.

Rd

Wash the clothes yourself. We always find the river Seine in Paris a good place to wash clothes, near the Eiffel Tower. Can never understand why the Parisians give us such funny looks though, we're normal human beings!

flanneruk

"Incidently, why do they insist on putting the washer in the kitchen?"

Because washing machines aren't much fun in a bedroom.

Why do so many Americans insist on not understanding that London property is a bloody sight pricier than in Dorksville, Iowa and if they want a utility room in the flat they're renting they'll have to pay real money for it?

Which most Americans seem not to have, given the perpetual neurosis on this board about their ability to afford a sandwich.

Carrybean

Oh, calm down.

hetismij

"European women do their fancy laundry by hand! The washing machine is for sheets and towels. "

Not this European woman. I've got better things to do with my life than handwash clothes thank you. It all goes in the machine, 40 degrees short wash then out on the line, weather permitting, to reduce ironng too.

superheterodyne

>> Incidently, why do they insist on putting the washer in the kitchen? <<

Well, where else do you find a water supply and a water evacuation ?

Then, if there is such other room, what are the electrical safety requirements for apparatus in that room ?

Roger_Lisa

"Why do so many Americans insist on not understanding that London property is a bloody sight pricier than in Dorksville, Iowa and if they want a utility room in the flat they're renting they'll have to pay real money for it?"
I was just wondering why you didn't use New York City or L.A in your example
Why Dorksville Iowa? Also, do you think Americans in Iowa use something other then REAL money? We stopped trading beads and animal pelts a few years back.

TommieG

Why are the washer/dryer in the kitchen?

The most likely reasons have already been mentioned; lack of space elswhere, the plumbing etc is already there and it is easy to put the laundry outside to dry.

Here in the Netherlands there is also very little room in most houses for a separate laundry room. But here the most chosen option is either put the washer/dryer in the bathroom, or put it near the central heating boiler. A both these places the plumbing is already available and you can make best use of you space by combining these functions.
In my house (as in most new houses these days), the boiler is in the attic. This is done, beacause the houses are relatively small, so there isn's much room downstairs for a boiler and washer/dryer. So my washer/dryer are in the attic (in a separate laundry room).

To get back on-topic; take as much easy to wash clothes with you. Don't count on launderettes and dry-cleaners to wash everything as carefully as you would do yourself!

grandmere

Very timely thread for me: I just emailed the B&B where I'll be staying for a week in Sancerre to inquire about laundry (no laundromat in Sancerre). The owner replied that they will do a "bag" of laundry for me for 20 euro. Instead of trying to sort out with her whether this means the entire bag gets done as one load, regardless of darks and lights, etc., I think I will visit a laundromat in Paris before I leave for Sancerre!

vjpblovesitaly

"I was just wondering why you didn't use New York City or L.A in your example
Why Dorksville Iowa?"

Because nobody from NYC or LA would ask such an inane question. People from cities are familiar with apartments and condos with washers and dryers in the kitchen.

Roger_Lisa

You're right and I AM impressed by your knowledge of laundry facilities in Europe. I guess us inane country folk from Dorksville Iowa and Geeksburg Georgia or Bentonville arkansas.. are not as sophisticated and worldly as you big city high foluting brainiacs.

janisj

OK, Roger_Lisa - just how many apartments in NYC do you think have a utility room?? If they have a washer/dryer at all they will be in the kitchen or bathroom - but mostly in the bldg's basement where they have to share. Or none at all . . . .

hopscotch

Normally whites are boiled and colors are cooked at a lower temperature.

Only leave your undies at a laundromat, and get the price before you leave them. Do your outers in your shower and let them drip dry.

Roger_Lisa

Well janisj I just don't know? Us simpletons here in the poor states figured we coulda just wash our clothes at the river down by the big tower!

Therese

Mimar, the answer to your question re weather or not it's possible to stop the cycle of combination washer/dryer machines so as to take out items that you don't want "cooked" and line dry them is, in my experience, yes. But it can be pretty tricky to figure out unless you've got the instructions right in front of you. So far I've been fortunate enough to have them available when needed, though I will say that it took me a while to figure out the directions in Portuguese in my last apartment rental in Lisbon.

As the others in this thread point out, I wouldn't trust anything so delicate that you can't put it in the dryer to a commercial laundry. Either leave it at home, or rinse it out by hand.

Parrothead

You have no option but to have your laundry done at a service laundromat in Athens. I am one who prefers to do my own, but tried for hours to find a self serve place and found it impossible.

My advice; if your picky best option is to do it yourself. Second best option is to get a recommendation and always pay the extra amount to have it separated by color. If your real picky, separate it yourself and do your best to communicate your preferences.

Then hope for the best. I've never had a horrible experience but have definitely gotten it back a bit damp and folded poorly.

St. Cirq, did you say you had to wait 5 days? I've never waited more than half a day.