Two Weeks Into a Month in Korea: How to Get All Your Laundry Washed at Once
On a long trip there is a day when every piece of clothing you own is dirty. Hotel laundry costs more than the clothes. Here are the three real options in Seoul, with prices.
Every long trip has this day. Two weeks into a month in Korea, a traveller messaged us from a hotel in Gangnam with a photo of a pile on the bed and a straightforward question: what is the cheapest way to make all of this clean without losing a day to it.
He had already looked at the hotel’s laundry card. Shirt ₩9,000. Trousers ₩11,000. Socks ₩3,000 a pair. His pile came to somewhere around ₩240,000 — more than the clothes were worth.
Quick answer
Three real options in Seoul. Coin laundry (₩5,000–9,000 for a full wash and dry, about 90 minutes, do it yourself) is cheapest and there is one within walking distance of almost any hotel. Neighbourhood drop-off laundry (₩15,000–30,000 for a large bag, next-day) is the best value if you can get there and back twice. Hotel laundry is charged per item and is three to five times the price of everything else. If you cannot spare the time or do not want to navigate a Korean-only shop, we run the drop-off and collection for you: the shop’s charge and transport are passed through at cost, and our handling is ₩20,000, quoted before anything is collected.
The three options, priced
| Coin laundry (빨래방) | Drop-off shop (세탁소) | Hotel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | ₩5,000–9,000 per load | ₩15,000–30,000 per bag | ₩150,000–250,000 for the same pile |
| Turnaround | 90 minutes, you wait | Next day, sometimes same day | Same day if in by morning |
| Your time | 90 minutes on site | Two short trips | None |
| Language | Machines often have English | Korean only, usually | English fine |
| Best for | Everyday clothes, budget travel | A big pile, long trips | One urgent shirt |
Coin laundry, honestly assessed
Korean coin laundries are clean, well-lit, open 24 hours, and everywhere. A large washer is typically ₩4,000–6,000 and a dryer ₩1,000 per 10–15 minutes; a full load washed and thoroughly dried lands around ₩7,000. Many machines have an English mode, and detergent is dispensed automatically. If you have ninety minutes and a book, this is genuinely the answer, and it is what we tell people to do when it fits.
The catch on a trip like his was that ninety minutes twice — once to load, once to collect — in the middle of a working day was the thing he did not have.
Drop-off laundry
Neighbourhood 세탁소 shops will wash a bag by weight, and it comes back the next day folded. This is the sweet spot for a fortnight’s clothes. The friction is entirely linguistic: these are small shops, usually run by one person, with no English, and the intake conversation matters — what is delicate, what must not be tumble dried, when you need it back.
Hotel laundry
Fast, reliable, and priced per item on the assumption that a business traveller is expensing it. For one shirt before a meeting it is the right call. For a fortnight’s worth it is not.
How this one ran
- He sent a photo of the pile and listed anything he was worried about — a wool jumper and a pair of linen trousers.
- We picked the shop. A drop-off laundry two subway stops from his hotel that we had used before, and we called to check they could take it that day.
- Collected from the front desk. He left the bag with his name on it; no need to be in the room.
- Instructions given in Korean at intake. Wool washed cold and air dried, linen not tumble dried, everything else normal. This is the single reason to have someone do the drop-off rather than doing it yourself with a translation app — the shop needs to actually understand, and shrunken wool is not recoverable.
- Collected the next afternoon and returned to his hotel front desk, folded, with a photo.
What it cost
- Laundry shop charge (large bag, ~7kg, including the two special-care items): ₩28,000 (at cost)
- Transport, two round trips: ₩6,400 (at cost)
- Our handling — collection, intake in Korean, return: ₩20,000, quoted and agreed before we started
- Total: ₩54,400
Against roughly ₩240,000 at the hotel, and against three hours of his own time at a coin laundry. If your time is not the constraint, the coin laundry at ₩7,000 beats all of this and we will tell you so.
What to know before you hand clothes over
- Korean dryers run hot. Say clearly what must not go in one. Anything wool, anything linen, anything you care about.
- Dry cleaning is separate and slower — typically 2–3 days, and priced per garment (₩5,000–15,000 for a shirt or jacket, more for a coat).
- Empty every pocket. Obvious, and it is still the most common problem.
- Nothing irreplaceable. A neighbourhood shop is not insured for your grandfather’s coat, and neither are we.
- Long-stay apartments and guesthouses often have a washer in the unit or the building. Check before paying anyone — a surprising number of guests never look.
FAQ
How much is a bag, roughly?
Most drop-off shops charge by weight, and a fortnight of clothes for one person is usually ₩20,000–30,000. We tell you the shop’s price before anything is dropped off.
How fast can it come back?
Next day is normal. Same day is sometimes possible if it is dropped in early and there is no dry cleaning in the bag.
Can you do this for an Airbnb, not a hotel?
Yes. We agree a pickup time with you directly since there is no front desk.
What about a suit or a coat that needs dry cleaning?
Same process, longer turnaround. Tell us the date you need it and we will work backwards from that.
Is this available outside Seoul?
Seoul and Busan. Elsewhere, a coin laundry is almost always within walking distance and is the better answer anyway — we are happy to find you the nearest one and explain the machine.
If you are in the middle of a long trip and the pile has won, send a photo in chat. Sometimes the answer we give you is “there is a coin laundry 200m from your hotel” — that advice is free.