We can count on one hand the number of people who love doing laundry, but for those people who live without a washer and dryer in their home, it can really stink (not literally, although it could if you don't regularly wash your clothes). The act of dragging your laundry down the street to the local laundromat, then sitting with it for hours as it washes and dries can be quite a drag if you don't have a good way to occupy your time while you wait. We certainly can relate. As such, today we're going to discuss 10 ways to save time and money at the laundromat, that may also save a piece of your sanity.
1. Sort Before You Go
If you really dread the time you have to spend at the laundromat, then the best thing you can do for yourself is to sort your clothing at home before you go. We find that trying to sort your clothes into appropriate wash loads can be time consuming if you wait until you get to the laundromat. However, if you presort at home, not only will you feel more organized, but you'll be able to immediately toss your loads into a washer as soon as you get to the laundromat, which will save time and money at the laundromat.
2. Pre-treat Stains at Home
Much as you should pre-sort your laundry at home, if you want to save time and money at the laundromat you should also pre-treat any stains before you head out. It doesn't make any sense to wait until you're on-site to remove stains anyways as the stain removable process usually requires overnight treatment.
3. Bring Your Own Detergent and Dryer Sheets
If you've ever washed and dried your clothes at a commercial laundromat, then you know the value in bringing your own supplies, specifically detergent and dryer sheets. These types of laundry supplies are typically quite expensive at the laundromat as they are provided at a convenience to you. Therefore, if you want to save time and money at the laundromat, bring your own.
4. Do Your Laundry at Off Hours
Most commercial laundromats are busiest in the evening or on the weekend. Therefore, if you want to save time at the laundromat, make sure you do your laundry when the rest of the world is at work. You can call the laundromat to confirm, but we find that the middle of the day is usually best if you like the quiet of an empty business. When you do this, you can often wash several loads at one time (using 3-4 washers simultaneously).
5. Wipe Out Washers and Dryers
Anytime you use a public piece of equipment, specifically washers and dryers that are handling people's intimate items, you should wipe out the washer and dryer before use. For one, the previous person could have been using bleach. You don't want to wash a load of darks and risk your jeans coming out acid-washed because you didn't wipe down the washer do you? While in theory the washer should be clean after washing clothes, we find that we feel more confident about washing our own clothes if we wipe out the machine first. We really like these wipes.
6. Check Your Settings
Also, before washing a load, make sure that you check the settings on the machine. While we regularly recommend that people use cold settings, the previous tenant could have done a small load on HOT.
7. Keep Quarters Handy
This past year, many businesses experienced coin shortages. As such, many commercial laundromats made the move to touchless/card/app payments which most people seem to love. However, that doesn't mean that the business you'll be visiting has made the switch. If the laundromat you're using has coin machines, make sure you bring plenty of quarters. You may even want to keep a rolling collection at home so that when you need to do laundry, you have your money ready to go.
8. Be Careful to Leave Your Clothes Unattended
In an effort to save time and money at the laundromat, we find that many people will work in other errands. For example, if you have an hour until your wash load is complete, you might run to the bank or the store or do whatever else needs to be done. If you plan to do this, make sure that you give yourself alarms to get back in time to change out your laundry loads, particularly if the laundromat is busy. Other people are just as busy and want to get their laundry done as quickly as possible too. If you take too long to return, you could risk someone putting your laundry on top of the machine or off on a table so that they can use the machine. If you're doing a load of delicates (underwear, etc), you probably don't want the entire world seeing what you wear under there.
9. Don't Forget to Bring a Basket
While most of us bring our dirty clothes into the laundry in a bag, you typically don't want to transport clean clothes home in the same bag - mostly because no one wants to iron a bag-load of wrinkled clothing. Rather, bring a basket to transport your clean and folded laundry home.
10. Bring a Large Black Trash Bag
In addition to bringing a basket to the laundromat, we also suggest that you bring along a large black trash bag just in case it's raining while you do laundry. No one wants to spend $5-10 on laundry, only for it to get completely soaked from a rainstorm the moment you step outside. Even if the weather appears to be nice, we keep one handy at all times.
Buy Commercial Laundromat Equipment in North Carolina With T & L
If you're opening a new commercial laundromat, laundromat payment solutions are just one of the things you need to consider. Call T & L Laundry Equipment for all your laundry equipment in North Carolina. We offer in-house financing and have been proudly servicing the laundromat and commercial laundry facilities in North and South Carolina for more than 40 years.
