Italiano in pratica
by Alessio · teacher of Italian for foreigners, ITALS master’s in teaching Italian abroad (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice) and a master’s in teaching Italian as a second language (Giustino Fortunato University, Benevento)
Self-service laundrettes, lavanderie self-service, are common in cities: you pay at a central machine, choose the washer number, and detergent is often added automatically, detersivo incluso. For a jacket or a suit, go to the lavasecco or tintoria, the dry cleaner.
Ten days into the trip, every shirt has been worn twice. The laundrette is the answer, and it's simpler than it looks once you've understood the one machine on the wall that runs all the others.
Here's how it works, the words on the buttons, and the closed questions to ask the person next to you, or the dry cleaner.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Il detersivo è incluso? | Is detergent included?answer: sì or no |
| Si paga qui? | Do you pay here?answer: sì or no |
| Quale lavatrice è libera? | Which washing machine is free? |
| A quanti gradi? | At what temperature? |
| Quanto dura il lavaggio? | How long is the wash? |
| L'asciugatrice è libera? | Is the dryer free?answer: sì or no |
| Si può lavare a secco? | Can it be dry-cleaned?answer: sì or no |
| Per quando è pronto? | When will it be ready? |
Read the Italian out loud once before you need it. The questions marked sì or no get a one-word answer you can understand.
Load the washer, la lavatrice, note its number, then pay at the central machine on the wall with coins or card and select that number. In many laundrettes detergent and softener are dosed automatically; if not, they're sold at a dispenser.
When in doubt, ask with a closed question: il detersivo è incluso?, si paga qui? Regulars are usually happy to show you.
| You say | English |
|---|---|
| Il detersivo è incluso? | Is detergent included?sì or no |
| Si paga qui? | Do you pay here?sì or no |
| Quale lavatrice è libera? | Which washing machine is free? |
| Accetta la carta? | Does it take cards?sì or no |
| You hear | English |
|---|---|
| Scelga il numero della lavatrice. | Select the washer number.on the machine |
| Inserire monete. | Insert coins.on the machine |
| Solo monete. | Coins only. |
Lavaggio is the wash, asciugatura drying, centrifuga spin, delicati delicates, colorati colours, bianchi whites. Temperatures are in degrees: a trenta, a quaranta, a sessanta gradi.
Washers in laundrettes are usually bigger than home machines: one load often takes two full bags.
| You say | English |
|---|---|
| lavaggio · asciugatura | wash · drying |
| centrifuga | spin |
| delicati · colorati · bianchi | delicates · colours · whites |
| A quanti gradi? | At what temperature? |
| A quaranta gradi. | At forty degrees. |
Move the clothes to a dryer, l'asciugatrice, pay at the central machine again for the minutes you want, and select the dryer number. Ask whether one is free: l'asciugatrice è libera?
Delicate clothes and wool are better dried on a rack at home: non si asciuga on a label means don't tumble dry.
| You say | English |
|---|---|
| L'asciugatrice è libera? | Is the dryer free?sì or no |
| Quanti minuti servono? | How many minutes does it need? |
| È ancora umido. | It's still damp. |
| You hear | English |
|---|---|
| Quella è guasta. | That one's out of order. |
| Venti minuti bastano. | Twenty minutes is enough. |
In the 
amo Italian app you practise inside real-life pathways: il bar, il ristorante, i trasporti, la casa and more, with listening, dialogues and the grammar explained in English. This page gives you the phrases; the app trains your ear.
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At the lavasecco or tintoria, hand over the item and ask closed questions: whether it can be dry-cleaned, whether the stain will come out, va via la macchia?, and when it'll be ready.
Keep the ticket, lo scontrino or il tagliando: you'll need it to collect your clothes.
| You say | English |
|---|---|
| Si può lavare a secco? | Can it be dry-cleaned?sì or no |
| Va via la macchia? | Will the stain come out?sì or no |
| Per quando è pronto? | When will it be ready? |
| Ce l'avete per domani? | Can you have it ready by tomorrow?sì or no |
| You hear | English |
|---|---|
| È pronto giovedì. | It's ready on Thursday. |
| Non garantiamo per la macchia. | We can't guarantee the stain. |
| Tenga il tagliando. | Keep the ticket. |
Many apartments have a washing machine but no dryer: clothes dry on a rack, lo stendino, or on the line outside the window. Ask your host the closed questions: c'è il detersivo?, posso stendere fuori?
Avoid running the washing machine and the oven at the same time: many Italian homes have a small electricity supply, and it trips. See the guide to the holiday apartment.
| You say | English |
|---|---|
| C'è il detersivo? | Is there detergent?sì or no |
| Posso stendere fuori? | Can I hang the washing outside?sì or no |
| Dov'è lo stendino? | Where's the drying rack? |
| You hear | English |
|---|---|
| Il detersivo è sotto il lavandino. | The detergent is under the sink. |
The washing line strung between two windows across a narrow street in Naples is one of the classic images of Italy, and it is still real. Almost every Italian home has a washing machine, but very few have a tumble dryer: when ISTAT last counted, in 2014, only 3.3 per cent of families owned one. Sunshine for much of the year, small flats, the price of electricity and a 3 kW supply all point the same way.
That is also why laundrettes are used mostly by students, travellers and people whose machine has just broken. For Italians, washing is done at home, dried in the air and, very often, ironed, shirts above all and in some homes even the sheets. Looking pressed and tidy is part of bella figura, and the dry cleaner, la tintoria, takes care of jackets and suits.
There are rules even for drying. Many apartment buildings, and some historic centres, forbid hanging washing on the side of the building that faces the street, and older buildings sometimes have a shared drying room or a roof terrace for it. If your rental has a rack, lo stendino, use it on the balcony or indoors; if it has a line outside the window, use plenty of pegs, because the wind is not kind to socks.
Read next: What does an Italian home expect of you? · Why does an Italian hotel feel different from one at home?
Italians rarely answer with a bare sì or no. These are the forms you will actually hear, so you know which way the answer went.
| You hear | English | It means |
|---|---|---|
| Sì, certo. | Yes, of course. | yes |
| Certo! | Sure! | yes |
| Come no! | Of course! (literally: how not?) | yes |
| Volentieri. | Gladly. | yes |
| Va bene. | Fine, OK. | yes |
| Prego. | Go ahead / please do. | yes |
| No, mi dispiace. | No, I'm sorry. | no |
| Purtroppo no. | Unfortunately not. | no |
| Non c'è. | There isn't any. | no |
| È finito. | It's sold out / all gone. | no |
| Non si può. | That's not allowed. | no |
| Non ancora. | Not yet. | no |
Six real replies. Tap Yes or No for each one.
The grammar behind them
This guide as two printable pages, in English: the phrases to say, the yes/no questions and what you will hear.
All 43 phrase PDFs · €9Already included in the full course · €39 a year.
Or keep the eight phrases as an image, to save on your phone or pin:
Italian phrases: At the laundrette in ItalyLoad a washer, note its number, pay at the central machine and select that number. Detergent is often dosed automatically.
A dry cleaner, also called «tintoria».
«A quaranta gradi».
Many don't: washing is dried on a rack («stendino») or on a line outside.
