Laundry

[charley1947]

Last year in CM I took my laundry to a place near my hotel. I was overcharged by CM standards and my white clothes came back with a decidedly red tinge. Is this because of the water, the soap or my being a farang? I will be moving to CM in a couple of months and haven't yet located a house or apartment. I will be staying in a hotel for the first month or so and don't want to have my clothes ruined. I understand about trial and error but I am hoping someone out there may have some tips. Also, what about dry cleaning. I wasn't looking last year but I probably will need a service this year. Any help is appreciated and this is a great forum for a newbie! Thank you all.

[IanForbes]

Depends on where you live in Chiang Mai. My friend Nong owns a laundry and does an excellent job. I recently took a gortex jacket to her that I thought was uncleanable and it came back spotless. It had a smudge of something on it that I couldn't get out with any solvent I used at home despite numerous washings.

Nongs is on Whing Phing road not far from the airport.

[elektrified]

Most likely it is the bad water. Our water in our moobaan is brown - no joke. Now we buy tons of those 19 liter bottles of water for 20 Baht each to use for everything. The first time we washed our white clothes here when we moved in 18 months ago, they turned light brown and we have never been able to get them white again.

[Donnyboy]

Most likely it is the bad water. Our water in our moobaan is brown - no joke. Now we buy tons of those 19 liter bottles of water for 20 Baht each to use for everything. The first time we washed our white clothes here when we moved in 18 months ago, they turned light brown and we have never been able to get them white again.

sounds like a challenge to do the laundry

I would seriously look at an inline filter of some sort

[charley1947]

Most likely it is the bad water. Our water in our moobaan is brown - no joke. Now we buy tons of those 19 liter bottles of water for 20 Baht each to use for everything. The first time we washed our white clothes here when we moved in 18 months ago, they turned light brown and we have never been able to get them white again.

sounds like a challenge to do the laundry

I would seriously look at an inline filter of some sort

I don't intend to do the laundry myself. There appeared to be a plethora of laundries in CM. I was just looking for some ideas like IanForbes or some of the other folks who might help me avoid the trial and error process.

[Donnyboy]

Most likely it is the bad water. Our water in our moobaan is brown - no joke. Now we buy tons of those 19 liter bottles of water for 20 Baht each to use for everything. The first time we washed our white clothes here when we moved in 18 months ago, they turned light brown and we have never been able to get them white again.

sounds like a challenge to do the laundry

I would seriously look at an inline filter of some sort

I don't intend to do the laundry myself. There appeared to be a plethora of laundries in CM. I was just looking for some ideas like IanForbes or some of the other folks who might help me avoid the trial and error process.

no problem, i was just replying to elektrifieds post & and you did ask about water quality

i agree, laundry results do vary here in CM, and i dont have any experiences with any as we do our own

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Charley1947,

As Khun Ian noted : "depends on where you live."

Suggestion : once you get here, and have a place to stay : post again, and let us know the neighborhood you're in (nearby Wat, name of major streets you're near) : you may get a good specific recommendation from someone actually using the laundy they suggest.

If you end-up near the Gymkhana Club, we know a great family that does superb work at the standard rate of about 30 baht a kilo. They deliver the finished laundry back to our house (about 1 kilometer from where they are) at no extra charge, and they would pick up, also, at no extra charge if we asked.

best, ~o:37;

[IanForbes]

Dye baths are NOT consistent in Asia. Red clothing is ALWAYS dangerous to put in with other clothes. I learned that the hard way myself. That COULD have been the source of the problem. I could show you the pink shirts, that were formerly white shirts, that I now don't wear. One red shirt can stain a whole washing machine full of clothes.

But I'm STILL waiting here patiently for the owner of these shorts to come and pick them up...

Edited February 15, 2010 by IanForbes

[SinghaLover]

I hope the op does not mind if I post here as well, as I am currently living on Nimmanhaemin Road and I am looking for a good place to do my laundry as well.

I live around Soi 9, so anywhere close to that (as I will have to walk ) that has fair prices and good service would be perfect.

Any of you know some places around there?

Thank you!

[PeaceBlondie]

We get our laundry done for five hundred baht per month for two people, including pick-up and delivery. We wash our own linens.

[elektrified]

Come on people....there are as many laundry shops in Chiang Mai as there are massage and noodle shops. How difficult is it to find a laundry shop? And if someone does recommend a place that was "good" when they did business there 4 months ago, does not mean that the same owner is there today and the quality will be good today. Just look around, try a couple of places and that's it. Not so difficult.

[Donnyboy]

Come on people....there are as many laundry shops in Chiang Mai as there are massage and noodle shops. How difficult is it to find a laundry shop? And if someone does recommend a place that was "good" when they did business there 4 months ago, does not mean that the same owner is there today and the quality will be good today. Just look around, try a couple of places and that's it. Not so difficult.

i guess so, but who knows, we might be able to spot Charley1947 on the street, the guy with the brown & red tinged shirt and matching shorts

[NancyL]

I suggest that the OP wait until he gets settled into his new home and start asking westerners residing in the area where they send their laundry. Ask people who dress like they'd care if it wasn't done properly. We now have a clothes washing machine and I love doing our laundry and ironing. It gives me a chance to download and listen to my favorite NPR radio shows while I iron. Now I just send the sheets to the laundry lady across the street because we don't have a large area to dry sheets.

Back when I sent out laundry, we went thru a big trial-and-error process and had several items stained or ruined. I found it helped if I sorted the laundry prior to giving it to the laundry lady, with instructions about not mixing the dark-colored clothes with the light colored ones.

Also, since I started doing the laundry I've discovered that Hubby has a habit of leaving change in some of the many pockets of his cargo pants. Who knew? Not us, back when the laundry lady washed them!

[Donnyboy]

Back when I sent out laundry, we went thru a big trial-and-error process and had several items stained or ruined. I found it helped if I sorted the laundry prior to giving it to the laundry lady, with instructions about not mixing the dark-colored clothes with the light colored ones.

omg, thats basic laundry 101, even i know not to mix colours

[NancyL]

Yeah, it's amazing that some of the laundry shops didn't seem to know Laundry 101 -- i.e. don't mix colors. Also, they'd wash our towels with other stuff and our clothes would be returned clean but with a layer of towel fuzz on Hubby's dockers slacks. We actually sent the towels to a different laundry shop. It's really just easier to do it yourself if you have access to a washing machine. Many apartment and condo buildings have coin operated machines for their residents.

Edited February 16, 2010 by NancyL

[millwall_fan]

We take all the Olde Bell laundry to a lady called Nid on Kampangdin rd, near the Centara hotel and called not unsurprisingly 'Nid's Laundry'. I've been taking my laundry there for over 10 years and hardly ever had a problem. She delivers too and its 30baht a kilo. She speaks good English which is a bonus.