Hotel laundry: 7 ways to avoid $9 a shirt

What the list charges

Across Auckland's CBD hotels, a shirt is $6–$12, trousers $9–$15, a dress $15–$30 and express adds 50%. A week's clothes for one person lands between $150 and $250.

Seven ways to pay less

1. Pay by the kilo, not the item. A per-kilo service turns $9 a shirt into about $2. Our rates.
2. Use the list for the one urgent item only. One shirt for tomorrow's meeting on the list, the rest by the kilo.
3. Pack merino. It goes three or four wears between washes.
4. Sink-wash the smalls. Travel detergent sheets, hang on the shower rail.
5. Time the express. Drop before 9am and most per-kilo services return next morning anyway, no express fee.
6. Book before you need it. Day three of a seven-day trip, not day six.
7. Avoid the "bag minimum" trap. Some hotels charge a per-bag flat fee for small loads — check the form.

Staying at one of these hotels? Reception will take a wash & fold bag alongside the hotel form.