Chores on Vacation?
Why would you write a post like this you may ask? Because you have to have clean laundry and in the UK it’s a different business than in the US. Because laundry is viewed and handled very differently in the UK and Ireland than it is in the US and Canada. Think like a European. In the land of supersize and convenience, we take for granted that we will either have our own huge washers and dryers, energy guzzling devices that they are. Ours is a culture of machines and waste. Depending on where you stay, you have some options for laundry other than washing in your hotel room.
In the US if you do not have a washer setup, you have to use Laundries and Eco Washes. We are used to going to a massive place where banks of machines run on coin and credit card. Not so much in the UK. Most launderettes are run as a service wash, which you may know as a dry cleaners here. I used a service type wash in San Francisco many years ago where the laundered and folded clothing with your preferred detergent. Can you say spoiled? It’s very common in the UK for people to do this, and you may find a few actual pay machines that you can run. Problem is service washes can take a few days and well, if you are traveling, you may not want to waste precious time on this with your schedule. Also, service washes are wired in with soaps and softeners on a massive scale in these places. If you have delicate skin like me and have to go scent free, this will not work.
Search on Yelp or other review sites for the laundrettes and look at the reviews. You’ll note that in Glasgow for example, there are very few pay to wash sites that operate like what an American would expect. Nothing like standing with dirty laundry at an outdoor wash place at a petrol station. I couldn’t find a hipster laundromat with coffee or pub attached either, but when searching look for self-service.
Hmmm, business idea for budding entrepreneurs in Glasgow, build hipster laundrette/coffeehouse/pub?
Staying in a Service Apartment or Flat?
If you are renting a apartment for part of your stay, you may have one equipped with a washer drier combo. Yes, they are small and energy efficient machines And some of them have dual functions, yes, they do both. I encountered one on my stay and the idea is brilliant, however you cannot get a lot of laundry done in it.
And really, if you can figure out the auto settings to go from wash to dry, the drying takes a while because the settings may take some fiddling about. I had to look the model up and look at operations because the one in front of me had all it’s markings faded.
Taistealaiche 