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In my experience, laundry
service at "formal" hotels
in Turkey (luxury, five-star,
four-star and even some
three-star) can cost
as much—or more!—as you paid for the
garments (underwear,
etc).
In less formal hotels (inns, small
hotels, pensions, hostels), the service
is usually much better and far cheaper.
Sometimes you just hand your
laundry to the housekeepers and
it comes back cleaned and pressed,
often the same day, for a reasonable
fee.
Some pensions, inns and hostels have
washing machines that guests can use,
either
for free or for a small fee.
There are
not many laundromats/laundrettes
/washaterias in Turkey, so that's usually
not an option, although larger cities
such as Istanbul do have traditional laundries. More...
In coastal resort towns such as Kuşadası,
Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye and Antalya,
you will certainly find laundry service
at a marina—yachts don't usually have
clothes washing machines.
Other strategies: travel with clothing
(especially underwear) that's worn
out and can be discarded as you go;
or buy new underwear along the way.
(Turkey produces huge amounts of cotton,
which is turned into cotton garments,
which are plentiful and cheap in Turkey.)
I often wash my own clothes because I move fast and there may not
be time
to have them washed for me.
For this,
bring a drain plug! Very
important!
Because of Islamic tradition,
sinks
in Turkey rarely have closures (the
Kur'an advises that washing should
be done in running water), and the
plastic drain plugs that you may find
occasionally in hotels—when
you find them, which is seldom—don't
work well. (See my Turkish Hotel Room User's Guide for more.)
Before leaving home,
buy a rubber or pliable plastic
drain plug:
...and/or a flat
rubber disc drain cover, like the one
in the photo in the lower right-hand
column of this page—>.
Turkish sink drain holes tend
to be 1.5 inches/37 mm in diameter,
so get
a plug that'll fit that size hole.
Bring
laundry detergent (I
prefer liquid, high-efficiency), or
buy powdered detergent at any corner shop in Turkey:
çamasır deterjanı (chah-mah-SHUHR
dey-tehr-zha-nuh),
or just deterjan.
From June through September in
most of Turkey the warm, dry
air will dry your laundry
in an hour or less—great for washing
out cotton undies. During the chill,
rainy winters it may take more time.
Dry cleaning is kuru
temizleme (koo-ROO
teh-MEEZ-leh-MEH). Shops
are scattered around most cities.
Ask
at your hotel
for one nearby. Same-day
service is
available at many shops (for an extra
charge) if you deliver your garments
first thing
in the morning.
—by Tom Brosnahan
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