Laundry in London and/or Ireland

[westtexman]

Hello all!

A couple of friends and I will be headed to London this Thursday. We will spend a couple of days in London and then head to Dublin where we will begin a driving tour of Ireland. Then at the end of next week, we will head back to London and spend a day before heading back home to Texas.

We are trying to pack as light as possible, so I won't be taking clothes for 11 days of travel. I assume we'll do laundry at least once or more often if we have the time and opportunity. It appears that our hotels in London have on-site laundry facilities, but I can't tell from the Web sites of our Ireland hotels if they have laundry facilities.

If our hotels don't have facilities on-site, are there generally many laundromats in cities such as Dublin, Cork, Kilarney Ennis or Galway? Also, what brands of washing powder are the best in Ireland? I love Ariel and Persil from the UK, but when I've purchased some products from the UK in the past, a few products specified that they had different formulations in Ireland? The product to which I am referring is Persil Bio and Non-Bio Tabs, which I believe the UK version had phosphates at the time (3 or 4 years ago perhaps). I suppose that the Irish equivalent was non-phosphated, thus the difference in formulations?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am REALLY looking forward to this trip!

 

[jamiel]

I'd get some wicking underwear (Underarmour, Ex officio, etc). and get a couple pairs and wash them in the basin daily. they'll dry overnight and will get you along very well. Also layer your clothes so you don't need as many. Enjoy!

 

[zanussi_lover]

Laundry in the uk

We all use Front loading washing machines that are built under a work top

The detergents we have are Ariel (The best p&g brand equivalent to Tide) Bold 2in1 (detergent with clay based fabric softener) Fairy Non Biological (Non Bio detergent with Clay based fabric softener, for sensitive skin) Daz (Budget Brand)

we also have Lenor (Downy) and Comfort (Snuggle)

Unilever detergents we have Persil and Surf (budget brands)

you can get most detergent in 3 formulations

Powders (20*c-95*c)
Tablets (P&G go into the detergent drawer and Unilevers go in a Net in the Drum)
Liquids (20*c-95*c)
Concentrated Small and mighty (Cold-95*c)
Concentrated Gel (Formulated for temperatures from Cold-95*c)
Liquitabs (measured sachets of liquid that you throw into the drum, which have a water soluable film which dissolves in water to release the liquid)

 

[ronhic]

Ask for another towel or 2 when you check in.....that way you can lay wet, hand wrung items on it....then roll it up and get a friend to twist one way whilst you twist the other...

 

...you'll be stunned at how dry things are when they come out...

 

Also, consider packing a small, dual voltage, hair dryer and plug adaptor....poke the nozzel partly into a sock and turn on 'low'...it'll take about 3-5 minutes to dry it....and underwear is nearly as quick...

 

I'd also pack 2 'dry cleaners' wire coat hangers....you can then hang damp shirts on them and do the same thing....

 

When travelling 10 years ago (OMG!, is it that long??), I managed to take 3 pairs of underwear and socks, 1 casual button shirts and 2 polos, pair of jeans, pair of hiking shorts, a pair of old and thin chinos and a polar fleece....for 6 weeks through the UK!

 

I did buy a couple of pairs of socks and underwear for a total of 6 by the end....and they saw the insides of a washing machine at the 3 week mark but it really wasn't even enough for a load! 

 

Oh, and don't worry about detergent for handwashing if you don't want to the mess/fuss...be multipurpose and buy a smallish bottle of very cheap shampoo or body wash- it works a treat

 

[vacbear58]

You can always buy

Perhaps it sounds a bit wasteful but if you cannot track down laundry facilities in Ireland, then there is Dunnes Stores, which have low cost items like 3pr mens socks for 8 Euro & Boxers/Slips for 5 or 8 Euro. By the time you pay for a machine & powder it is not going to be much different anyway, and who wants to do laundry on holiday.

These are the hard to dry items, as Chris says a couple of wire hangers (please no "Mommie Dearest" moments LOLOLOL) will be fine to dry shirts that have a quick rinse through and most hotels will have an iron available. Shirts even easier if you wear a T shirt underneath. I dont see any on the Dunnes site, but they must surely carry them. Otherwise get some low cost in London at Primark or British Home Stores (BHS) which you can leave behind if necessary.

Finally, I would just bring a small amount of detergent with you, it will be far cheaper than buying a box or bottle, most of which you will be leaving behind.

The link below is for Dunnes Stores

Have a great trip

Al

http://www.dunnesstores.ie/page.php?pid=17