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If you have the option to have your own washer and dryer, get one! Even if it costs more to be able to do your own laundry at home.
Why? Well, you will want something clean that is in the laundry. Now what do you do? Go to the laundromat for an hour and a half just so you can wear that pair of jeans you want to wear? Drive there, then be a captive to whomever might be hanging around in the laundromat until your clothes are washed and dried, or go sit in your car. Laundromats often have sketchy people hanging around in them.
And you have no idea who washed what in that washer before you. Same with the dryer.
And if you have enough clothes that you can let them all pile up for laundry day - what does laundry day look like? Hauling all your laundry out to the car, drive to the laundromat, haul your laundry out of the car, fill washers, hopefully remember your laundry soap, and hangers and dryer sheets, which you also have to haul back and forth.
Then you kill 30 - 45 minutes waiting for everything to wash.
Then you put them all in separate dryers at different temperatures and wait for things to dry. Assuming there are even any available dryers not being used. Some things will dry faster than other things. Then you haul things out of the dryer and fold them or hang them up. And hopefully, some weirdo isn't watching you fold your underwear or looking to see if you have any kids clothing or husband clothing, etc.
And if there is a weirdo, you are faced with shoving everything quickly into your laundry bag, knowing everything will be hopelessly wrinkled when you get home.
Then you haul everything back to the car, then drive back, and haul it all back into your home. And put it all away.
Are you tired yet? LOL.
I have a little portable washer with a tiny spinner in it, and I sneak and wash my clothes in my apartment. Then I hang them up to dry in my bathroom with a fan and a heater going. If I could have a real washer and dryer, I'd be in heaven. I will only use a laundromat now when I have something bulky like my comforter.
You sound like you were traumatized LMAO! I would have repped you again, but it won't let me. Now you got me scared of laundromats!! LOL!!
Well, going to a laundromat surely spares you some time, because you can do all the loads at the same time. You can also wash/dry big items, like sleeping bags, or bedspreads. You have extra space to fold your things. While you pay more, you don't need to worry about maintenance and repairs.
However - going to a laundromat means:
sometimes you have to haul your laundry in and out, and drive somewhere; not all places are sanitary, people wash in the machines just about everything (poop, puke, urine, shoes etc.), they use bleach and the residue could damage your clothes, the wash basins are sometimes dirty or scummy, or full of hair; washing after a smoker means your clothes will get some of that scent too. You have to keep an eye on your stuff - it get "lost" or misplaced very often. If you care about your stuff - keep in mind that many industrial washers are really hard on your clothes.
At home you can do laundry whenever you want (saves time), no need to have a "laundry day", don't need to watch it, you can do it in your PJ, no need to save quarters, no need to deal with weird people.
Which one do you do between the two? Is it really worth it in the long run to get a washer and dryer compared to just going to the laundromat? Why or why not?
With my busy schedule, I am so glad I now have a washer and dryer and really hope I won't have to go back to a laundromat for a long time!
When I had time though I was contemplating just continuing to go to the laundromat since doing laundry once every two weeks and just getting everything done in two hours was convenient. Sometimes now I'll work six days a week though and on my one day off maybe during the week, it would be such a drag to have to spend 2 hours at a laundry place when I just want to do something I don't have to do. So doing clothes before and after work is so much better, for me at least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person
You just spilled something noxious on your clothing. Do you take it off and pack it to the laundromat or just throw in your washer and get it cleaned right away?
You spend much of one day at the Laundromat doing your week's laundry or you come home and run a load in the evening so you aren't wasting a day doing it?
Never had these problems. If I had spilled something on my clothes I'd wash it off as best I could and leave it for laundry day. Never had something I couldn't get cleaned off fairly decently until I was able to wash it. Also, doing my 6 to 7 loads of laundry took me always 2 hours or less. If I had the time, I think it may be more convenient to go to the laundromat and get all my clothes done at once. Now that I've went out and bought a washer and dryer, I'm sure I won't do that again unless one or both breaks. Then I'd get it repaired or get another one if I'm still on this busy schedule!
Let me think....toss a load in at my convenience or load up everything in a vehicle, drive, unload, hope a machine or 2 are available, hope there aren't too many weirdos there when I'm there, pack everything back up several hours later, drive home, unload the car.....
Yeah, no contest.
Weirdos? Why is a a laundromat associated with weirdos in your mind?
I go to the laundromat about every 2 weeks. I can a load up the jumbo machine with 3 loads of wash and it takes about a half hour. 40 minutes to dry everything. Who cares about loading and unloading I'm not lazy or weak it's good exercise.
I'm done doing laundry in a few hours at the laundromat while at home doing 3 loads will take about 4 hours.
Running multiple washers at once or a jumbo one vs one load at a time is a benefit.
Well, going to a laundromat surely spares you some time, because you can do all the loads at the same time. You can also wash/dry big items, like sleeping bags, or bedspreads. You have extra space to fold your things. While you pay more, you don't need to worry about maintenance and repairs.
However - going to a laundromat means:
sometimes you have to haul your laundry in and out, and drive somewhere; not all places are sanitary, people wash in the machines just about everything (poop, puke, urine, shoes etc.), they use bleach and the residue could damage your clothes, the wash basins are sometimes dirty or scummy, or full of hair; washing after a smoker means your clothes will get some of that scent too. You have to keep an eye on your stuff - it get "lost" or misplaced very often. If you care about your stuff - keep in mind that many industrial washers are really hard on your clothes.
At home you can do laundry whenever you want (saves time), no need to have a "laundry day", don't need to watch it, you can do it in your PJ, no need to save quarters, no need to deal with weird people.
The laundromat i go to has brand new all stainless steel front loading washers and nothing you describe. And numbers on the washers so you don't lose or forget anything. I'm somewhat of a germaphobe if these places were like you describe i would never go.
You are thinking about the old top loader washing machine days.
I got spoiled in my last apartment. I had my own Washer/Dryer in unit. No longer having to lug my laundry to the unit in the complex or go fight for use and space at a laundromat. I agree with the others if you can go for it do it. Unless you have a desire to share space and have to constantly find or buy quarters to get your clothes dried. For me the time and effort is not worth it, I would rather pay extra for a washer/dryer.
Weirdos? Why is a a laundromat associated with weirdos in your mind?
I go to the laundromat about every 2 weeks. I can a load up the jumbo machine with 3 loads of wash and it takes about a half hour. 40 minutes to dry everything. Who cares about loading and unloading I'm not lazy or weak it's good exercise.
I'm done doing laundry in a few hours at the laundromat while at home doing 3 loads will take about 4 hours.
Running multiple washers at once or a jumbo one vs one load at a time is a benefit.
Well, you are there......
When I do laundry at home, I can throw a load in and go do something else...clean my kitchen, mow the lawn, bake a batch of cookies, take a shower, walk the dog.....if I had to go somewhere, I'd be stuck there until laundry was done. It's about efficiency.
Plus, with winter coming, it's really nice to toss my clothes in the dryer and pull on warm clothes in the morning.
I have a top loading machine with no agitator. I can put a LOT of clothes in there, including big blankets, and they wash up quite nicely. I have a source for the same detergent that many top hotels use, so my laundry is awesome! (and I never iron...).
So...you've never had to use a laundromat before? Because I can't believe the reverse that you've never had your own W&D, at least when you were growing up.
The ONLY advantages to a laundromat is that you can do bunches of loads at once and you can do bigger loads. But there are very few occasions when that is better than not having to haul your laundry around and then wait around in a grungy place with mostly grungy people. And sharing grungy machines with grungy people. But seriously, you never used a laundromat/laundry room in college?
Which one do you do between the two? Is it really worth it in the long run to get a washer and dryer compared to just going to the laundromat? Why or why not?
OMG, there's no comparison. Owning my own washer and dryer is so much better than the laundromat. First of all, going to the laundromat is a huge timesuck compared to washing your clothes at home. It's also very inconvenient, but the main downside is it gets insanely expensive over time. Loading and unloading your clothes from your car, dealing with other people's obnoxious kids, litter everywhere, broken machines, and dryers deliberately set at cool temperatures are just some of the joys that await customers at their local laundromat. I'm happy to live without these for the rest of my life. I think laundromat customers fail to realize that they are financing someone else's appliances, one quarter at a time.
True story: As a broke college graduate, I drove an old hoopty held together by bungee cords and bald tires, ate a steady diet of Ramen noodles and black coffee, and lived in a crappy duplex in a marginal neighborhood. I got a job just days after my graduation in 1997 and you know what I bought with my first paycheck? No, not a nicer car, food, or a deposit on a better apartment. I bought a used washer and dryer. I have never gone to a laundromat since.
Last edited by Scooby Snacks; 11-02-2015 at 08:41 PM..
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