Laundry while traveling in England

I don't have the Rick book on the UK (or the smaller London book) handy. There's usually a mention in each book for laundry options, and I'd expect to find that info there. Have you tried looking?

Seriously there are a number of launderettes through out London. Use them all the time when I’m there.
Google is a great search engine.

I think this is a good point to remind everyone that searching online for stuff is great, but may not help if a different word is used. Someone American searching for a "laundromat" online may not get the same joy as if they'd searched for "laundrette".

This happens a lot in the English speaking word, as anyone hearing about fairy floss / candy floss / cotton candy for the first time would find out (yes, it's true, there are three different descriptions for the same fairground treat in Australia, Britain, and America).

Google Maps does, however, know these words are interchangeable and adapts accordingly (in much the same way searching for "museum" and "musée" in France gives the same results on Google).

Ask the front desk person at your hotels. In my experience, they usually have a list of nearby locations.

I suggest zipjet. or another similar pick up and delivery service. You'll often see discount codes on the tube.

https://www.zipjet.co.uk/

"Ask the front desk person at your hotels. In my experience, they usually have a list of nearby locations. "

That was always my experience too - until this last trip, where I stayed at a "hub by Premier Inn" hotel. Since these are designed for 1-2 night stays, the front desk people had no idea where there was a nearby laundrette, and they explained that they had never gotten the question before! I found one on Google Maps without difficulty.

However, I learned a useful tip even so. I went during the morning, when someone was there doing service washes (meaning they do the work, you just drop off and pick up). It turned out to be a good thing, as she was able to help me when I bought fabric softener instead of detergent, told me which machines to use and to avoid, and told me how the dryer payment and timing worked (it wasn't clear). If I had gone in the afternoon or evening, the laundrette was open, but I would have been on my own, and would have run into problems.

So, even if you're not interested in a service wash, consider going when they are being done. I usually do service washes, but this trip I had time as I was catching a Eurostar train in a few hours.

We were on a 38 day trip to the UK last fall and this was a hard one for us.....Not in London as we had an air BnB that had laundry but elsewhere in the UK we couldn't find hotels with guest laundry facilities.

We ended up renting a few Apartment hotels in Inverness and York that had nightly rentals and laundry. We did not want to take time from touring to do laundry...... I hope you find one close to you that you can use.

"We did not want to take time from touring to do laundry"

If you don't want to take time doing the laundry yourself, just ask for the nearest "service wash." This is UK-speak for a place where you drop it off and pick it up, but they do the washing and drying. They are quite common all over (I've done this in Barcelona, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem, among other places).

As I said, I normally do service wash these days, but on this last trip doing my own laundry worked better with my schedule. If you are doing a service wash, confirm how long it will take and make sure you will be able to pick it up without difficulty (for instance, if you can't pick it up until 9 AM but are catching a 10 AM train, that's probably not a good plan).

+1 for the lovely service wash!

A few years ago I took a long train trip from York to Penzance, arriving after dark (it was October). My B&B was a small place quite close to the train station and I was very focused on locating it when I made my way there from the station. The next morning after a fine breakfast I set out to explore. And to my utter delight found that two doors down from my B&B, on the corner, was a launderette. I popped in and found they did service washes. Quickly went back to my room and bagged up my clothes and dropped them off. After a fun day of exploring the area it was heaven to pick up that bag of clean folded clothes. I'd expected to deal with getting a few things washed in London (my next stop), and hadn't thought about being able to do that in Penzance. I don't know why I hadn't thought about Penzance in that regard, but luckily instead of just a few things, I was able to get everything clean for a decent price. Funny how a corner launderette with a cheerful attendant can stick in my mind when I'm sure I've forgotten so much of the details of the "official tourist" things I saw on that trip. But then, I do like my creature comforts, including being clean and warm. :-)

These are wonderful tips! I can sink wash one time, but after the second wear I prefer a machine wash.

We did a 28 day drive tour of England and Wales last October and did laundry in a launderette twice. I found a website for all the launderettes in the UK. We were able to walk with our dirty clothes (all in one of our large roll suitcases), do our laundry in about about 1 1/2 hours and head back to our B&B.
https://www.yell.com/l/launderettes.html

I just entered launderette in my google maps and it showed me where several were. I looked at the reviews and picked the best one, which happened to be only about two blocks from my hotel. It was great, there was an attendant to give change. Just make sure you get there about and hour and a half before they close or you might not be allowed to start washing. It was the Pimlico Launderette, and I highly recommend it.

When I stayed in a Travelodge, they had a connection to a laundry which picked up our laundry and dropped it back off for a REALLY good price. Always good to ask at the hotel, sometimes you get a good answer.
Have fun!
-Alison

When we did our own laundry in England, we had about two weeks of dirty clothes (quite a lot) and of course needed one pound coins. The attendants at the launderettes provided change for us. We washed and dried all our clothes for about 12-14 pounds. It only took us about 1 1/2 hours.

On a long trip I don't want to spend every minute doing tourist things, sometimes a mundane chore like laundry can be an educational experience. Maybe because I haven't been to a laundromat at home for years, I was surprised at the level of automation of laundromats in Europe and how they seem to be way ahead of us here. And for those that want to "live like a temporary local", what better way to mingle with the common folk than asking for help figuring out the washing machine. Hint: Many of the washers automatically add detergent and you don't need to buy what you think is soap but is actually strongly scented fabric softener so your wife who is highly sensitive to smells is none too pleased for the next week or so.

I am in a minority, I do not like a service wash. I do not like all my clothing tossed into one washer and then dried completely. I usually do sink wash, but have done self service wash, on occasion. It doesn't take that long, and I usually schedule it during time I would want to be resting.

Adding on to Richards comment - laundromats are nearly always interesting social occasions. We rarely use one without finding a friendly Australian tourist who is happy to help you decipher the machines. The Aussies typically travel in Europe for 6-10 weeks at a time (due to distance, airfares and a liberal leave policy). They, therefore, become very familiar with laundry :). Occasionally we find a fellow American or a local who speaks enough English to help. Never had a serious problem and have met some very interesting people.

Robbie

I could not do epa service wash. I would be weirded out having a stranger touch my unmentionables. I guess I’m a prude. LOL

^^^What emma said.

BTW, I don't always do service washes. A few times when I've been based in the same place for several days, I've found a launderette and done my own wash. As others have said, each time there were people to talk with and to help with the machines, soap, etc. No, I didn't travel overseas to do laundry, but a couple of hours in a launderette gave me a glimpse into real life vs. tourist life, as has also been mentioned here.

I think my fave was Bobo's Bubbles launderette on Earl's Court Road, several years ago. The attendant was cheerful and helpful, and one of her friends was there doing some wash. The three of us had a grand time chatting. I don't remember the details now, but it was a hoot..

I could not do epa service wash. I would be weirded out having a stranger touch my unmentionables. I guess I’m a prude. LOL

You would do well in other parts of the world.

In Thailand, which I visit from time to time (I have family there), my family suggested I drop off my laundry at the place down the street. I was shocked to find that they did not accept underwear or socks; the ladies in the laundry shop giggled and rolled their eyes at the crazy foreigner (farang bah!) who would suggest such an outrageous thing. I asked family members who shrugged and confirmed that undies and socks were not allowed. "Too personal" and "it's a Buddhist thing, you wouldn't understand" were the explanations given.

When my family (6 adults) were in Ireland a few years ago, I did the laundry in Belfast since I wanted some down time by myself. Ended up chatting with the launderette worker who was from Spain and just working her way around the EU for a few years before settling down. A week later we used the service laundry in Galway while we drove to Cong for the day. Both got the clothes clean and worked for us in different circumstances.