Getting your laundry done in Bogota???

poco says on Mar 1, 2006, 17:18:

Consider You can have a washing machine delivered to your home. 5,000 pesos per hour in small towns. Don't know about the bigger places.



Maybe for $100,000 or less a month you could get a part time maid over 40.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

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Colombian Services says on Mar 2, 2006, 06:14:

GIB, Don't forget to rinse twice Don't forget to rinse twice to remove all the soap chemicals here that are outlawed in the U.S.

I've found another sinus & eye relief (for me anyway) I've been sleeping with the window open, works OK if your bedroom doesn't face a main street with black smoke pouring from buses and traffic noise.

Mine is some sort of chemical reaction including cheap perfume, I just can't pinpoint it, but the fresh Bogota air (ha ha) at night seems to prevent the problem if you haven't tried it yet.

Best Wishes,
Bob

*********************
Miami Phone: 1-305-433-2299
Colombian Services Group:
www.Colombian-Services.com
www.FlowersToColombia.com
www.BogotaColombiaLodging.com

Bob - www.BogotaColombiaLodging.com - www.FlowersToColombia.com - www.Colombian-Services.com

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Gomezman5 says on Mar 2, 2006, 10:03:

I love this topic What memories!!

Here is the way I look at it. The cheapest way to have you clothes cleaned is to have a woman come to your house to do it for you. No exceptions.

They have these Lava/Seca places, but there are not too many of them and they are not all that cheap. They are like coin laundries.

If you are a tourist staying in a hotel, let the hotel do it. They are not cheap either though and they charge by the item. At the same time, their prices are by Colombian standards, quite high.

Or as GIB above said, you can go to these hand laundrymats, and they will wash the clothes for you. They ussually have one or two machines, and you get you clothes back the next day, or if you get there early enough, at the end of the same day. They tend to be open late. Here is the key. Some of these places charge by the item, some charge by the kilo. It is almost always cheaper to pay by the kilo. Your biggest problem, as GIB alluded to, is the fact that you have to worry about getting all your clothes back. They tend to be so incompetent. It is ussually some young sweet girl working for the owner,that makes the mistake, and you feel sorry for her so you just say to yourself "forget it" because you don't want to get her in trouble.

One time a funny thing happened. The place lost one of my shirts, but gave me two shirts that did not belong to me. I went back and told the lady what happened and she said,,,that's OK, keep those two shirts in exchange for the one I lost. and then I asked.....well what about the real owner of the two shirts. She said, it's OK, I think he has your shirt and someone elses too!!!

I thought....only in Colombia.... :)

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Greg444 says on Mar 2, 2006, 16:44:

What about in Cali and Medellin the same issues?

How does the take out laundry service cost, lets say a normal one week load for a person?

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Gomezman5 says on Mar 3, 2006, 08:23:

Cali and Medellin...same story...only worse Look, Bogota is the capital. It has the most of anything that Colombia has to offer. It is the most modern and plentiful in terms of things of this nature. If you think that Colombia has a lot of coin laundrymats .. forget it. Many, Many years ago, I thought it would be a great business opportunity. Afterall, every city in the US has them, including small towns, why doesn't Bogota? Well, that's what happens when you have a Colombian born, but Gringo thinking person coming up with business opportunities in Colombia.

In Colombia, the people would not have the money to pay for these coin operated places. They barely have the money to live (eat and housing)so the thought of going to a laundrymat to put their clothes in a machine, would be out of the question. Also, Colombian are used to washing their clothes by hand. There are many Colombians that think (and rightly so) that even if they had the money, the clothes come out cleaner (especially the whites)when they are washed by hand. I will readily admit, that when I took my clothes to have them washed by hand in Cali, my white socks came out whiter than any machine could ever do. Third, Colombians, with their long hours and in case like Bogota, long commutes, don't have time to go to a laundrymat even if they existed. They simply do it at home where often more than one person partakes. Fourth, utilties are very expensive. The laundrymat's cost for water and electricity, could not be so easily recovered making it only a marginaly profitable business. Lastly, people who have money, hire people to do the work, or they own a washer and dryer (sometimes only a washer, because they hang the clothes outside) in their homes. Or they hire the cleaning lady in the home to wash the clothes as well as the house itself.

So now you understant the whole picture. My suggestion is that you take GIB's above advise. He has a good sense for every day life for situations of this nature....

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Miguel says on Mar 3, 2006, 16:34:

Barranquilla prices for laundry Done by hand, a week's worth of clothes with pants and shirts ironed cost me 13k.

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miamimike says on Mar 4, 2006, 04:17:

Do it yourself !! I handcarry a small portable nylon camping clothesline(5 feet long) with plastic clothespins that I hang in the Bathroom and wash all my sox, T-shirts and Underwear in the wash basin. All my stuff is the new quick drying stuff so the only Items I take out to a laundermat is slacks and jeans. In a Pinch, you can dry your damp underwear, sox and tshirts in your Microwave if the room has one.

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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