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Washing at Home | Drying at Home | Washers | Dryers
Laundry Care Products | Dry Cleaning | Ironing | Laundromat
The Laundromat
For Something Really Different
Washing and drying laundry at a commercial self serve establishment is a totally different situation from the luxury of being able to clean clothes and linens without having to leave the house. For many young people, moving away from home and being solely in charge of one's laundry often involves getting acquainted with a Laundromat. While most teens kind of learn about laundry at home, they tend to wash only the basics, leaving the trickier stuff to the Laundress-of-the-house.
 First Timers
Initiation to using a Laundromat often coincides with the purchasing of new launder-able items. This can turn white socks and underwear pink, shrink that designer sweater to fit a toy poodle, and reduce a down comforter to a lumpy, insubstantial mat. The basic rules of washing (Click here for more info) that apply to commercial washing and drying are the same as domestic laundering, but the machines are different. Read carefully both the directions on the machine and the detergent, then ask lingering questions of an attendant if one is available.
Busy Places
Laundromats are usually busy places, and the one and only Laundromat on Martha's Vineyard is no exception. Basic courtesy goes a long way. Keep an eye on the general flow of activity; who's in line, how much time is left on a machine, and where to recycle spent detergent jugs. Protocols like not leaving clothes unattended are important.
Because it's used mostly by working people who are tenants, the busiest hours are pretty predictable. Moms and their young children tend to reign on weekday mornings, and paid workers flood in at lunchtime and after work. Saturdays are busy, and Sunday mornings too. Mid afternoon is a reliably quiet time, minimizing the wait for a machine.
 Sorting is not Loading
For Laundromat users, there usually isn't a clean sock or towel left in the house before venturing out with mountains of dirty laundry. This means multiple machines will be called for, and sorting will be needed. To speed the process for everybody, pre sort before standing in front of the washing machines. This task can be efficiently accomplished at home especially if each load is stuffed into it's own laundry bag or basket before walking out the door. (Click here for more info)
Detergent Usage
For Laundromat patrons, liquid is easier to travel with because the detergent or bleach alternative is less likely to spill from a jug, than powder might from a previously opened box. No matter which form is used, believe the directions when they caution to use less detergent than in a front-loading machine. This is because they use approximately half the water of top loaders, and we sometimes miscalculate just how strong "ultra concentrated" really is. (Click here for more info)
Some front-loading machines won't unlatch at the end of the rinse cycle if they detect any soap. Also, laundry that still has a soap residue in it at the end of the rinse cycle isn't really clean, and the left over soap acts like a magnet picking up additional dirt. This situation creates a spiraling effect that causes some Laundromat owners to recommend abstaining from using detergent now and again.
Commercial Front Loading Washing Machines
For anyone used to operating top loading washing machines, front loaders will seem odd. Unlike top-loaders that swish clothes around an agitator in the center of a tub full of water, front-loaders tumble clothes in and out of half that amount of water. Laundromats offer front loaders because on average they use 40% to 50% less water and 50% to 65% less energy than top loaders - proof of their long term economic and environmental advantage.
Gravity also works in favor of a front loader because the spin cycles wring more water from a load, shortening time and energy needed to dry clothes, whether on the line or in a clothes dryer.
The Best Machine for the Job
Laundromats offer different sized machines, and each has its advantages. Delicates do best in the smallest machines. They are usually top loaders that swish instead of tumble their wash cycles, and don't spin as fast to extract the water. When using larger capacity front-loading machines, mix heavy and medium weight articles of similar colors together such as jeans, tee shirts, and maybe a jacket. Jumbo machines are for articles that have extensive washing histories and have proved that they are rugged enough to withstand the tangling that sometimes weaves the whole mass together by the time the cycle ends.
Lost and Found
At the end of the cycle, take an extra look for a stray sock or pot holder. Because the tub is below eye level, and front loaders spin so fast, small articles can press flat onto the tub and seem to recede from view.
 Drying Options
For folks that don't have washing machines at home, there are few options to the Laundromat, but sometimes drying can be done at home. If there is limited clothes line space available at home, dry some things at the Laundromat and hang others out of doors. (Click here for more info) Since commercial dryers tend to run hot, set aside delicate articles that are apt to shrink or scorch bringing them home damp to put on the line or dry flat.
Commercial Dryers
Different than Home Dryers
Articles in a dryer need room to tumble around if they are to dry efficiently, and commercial machines are generously proportioned. However, they do not offer precision settings like home machines do. There aren't temperature or moisture sensors to shut a machine down when its contents are dry, and the temperature settings are not as precise as home laundry dryers.
Re-Sort for the Dryer
The best mix for a washing machine might not be the best for the dryer, so sorting again between machines can quicken the process and guard against things getting too hot. Rubber can melt, socks and elastic waistbands can permanently lose their stretch, and some synthetics literally get crisp when they get too hot for too long.
Heat Sets Spots and Stains
As with home drying, any spot or stain that hasn't come clean in the wash is very likely to set permanently in a commercial dryer. (Click here for more info) As laundry is pulled from the washing machine, check again any known spots to see that they are gone. Otherwise, don't put the article in the dryer.
An Efficient System for Drying
If two or three dryers are needed, combine quickly drying things with slowly drying ones. A few towels, a bed sheet, jeans, some tee shirts, and some synthetic things might be a good assortment. Then set one or two dryers to the longest length of time that might be needed, and the rest on relatively short settings, evenly distributing quick and slow drying articles between all machines.
It's All in the Combining
This system works for a number of reasons. Since the last few minutes of dryer's cycle is dedicated to cool down, it isn't efficient to wait till the cycle ends and then continually chuck in additional coins or tokens to start the machine again if part of the load isn't dry. Longer timed machines overrides a short cycle's cool-down period. It's more efficient to occasionally open the machine door, feel if clothes are dry, and then pull out any articles that are ready to be folded. Leave everything else in the machine to continue drying after hitting the start button to reactivate.
If a short cycled machine finishes but a few items are still damp, those can be tossed into a machine set to a longer cycle. By now all the delicate pieces have been removed because they dried safely. Eventually, the longest drying items will all be in the longest running machines. One beauty of this system is in the early part of the cycle. Heavy damp clothes are mingled with relatively light, drier pieces, so the moisture level is minimized, and items tumble more easily than a load that is uniformly wet and heavy. This system also guards against lighter items drying too quickly, possibly shrinking and developing static electricity.
It Makes for a Quicker Exit too
A time saving benefit is that most everything else can be folded and packed by the time the last of the laundry is dry.
 A Laundry Folding Trick
If clothes and linens are smartly folded right out of the dryer, there is often no need to even think about hauling out the iron and ironing board. Unlike some of our houses, Laundromats reliably have folding tables to work on. Smooth out wrinkles and fold clothes as much like the stores do as possible. Button the top, middle and maybe bottom button of shirts and sweaters, zip up zippers, straighten out pocket linings, and smooth out pocket flaps. Retailers have figured out how to keep garments looking crisp by matching leg seams on pants, and folding in the sleeves of shirts.
To really ensure wrinkle free clothes, consider the techniques that work for packing a suitcase. Fold again or roll up articles after they would normally be considered done. This makes them into even smaller bundles that may create some creases, but not wrinkles.
Meanwhile...
Being at the Laundromat can feel a little like time out of time because of the waiting around. Some folks take the opportunity to clean out their cars, or catch up on organizing handbags or backpacks. These activities generate amounts of trash that really add up by the end of the day. Laundromat owners usually recycle detergent containers, and dispose of laundry related trash, but they get annoyed by ashtray contents, profuse beverage containers, and other garbage, so a carry in/carry out policy is appreciated.
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