Laundry

Can someone talk about laundry in regards to backpacker budget hotels.

Must it be done by hand and set out to dry? Any comments on how this typically works for travelers in my social class are welcomed!

Is it possible to have your clothes washed by individuals or through a service instead? I had envisioned individual entrepreneurs at ghats for example although I'm not sure how risky this proposition is.. note to self: no designer clothes (wait.. don't have any!)

You can have your hotel arrange to have clothes washed by a dobi wallah (Laundry man) - if you are in one place for a longish period of time it may be cheaper for you to look in the market and try and locate one yourself. You will need to take your clothes to him. Your hotel will not like him coming and collecting them there when they operate their own laundry service. Charges can vary - generally it will be 10 rupees per large item e.g. shirts and pants and 5 rupees for smalls. You could wash your underwear yourself in the bathroom, and put the larger clothes out to the dobi. You may find some hotels will be more expensive especially in the cities. One thing hoteliers do not like is excessive washing of clothes - this is because of water conservation problems - to have enough water to go around for showers for everyone. Some places you will see signs - please do not do laundry here - this doesn't mean the hotel wants to make a lot of money from your laundry! I t means they have water shortages.

Not that mind making money

In the guest house I used to stay in, I think it was one of the room-boys' businesses.