Keeping Up With The Wash When You Do Laundry At The Laundromat

Everyone does laundry, but we're not all blessed with a washer and dryer in our home or apartment.


I still remember with joy and excitement when I finally got my own washer and dryer, and believed my days of lugging everything to the laundromat were over.

But they really weren't, at least not entirely. That's because things happen. Washers or dryers break, and they can be expensive to replace or repair.

But your family doesn't stop wearing or dirtying up clothes, bedsheets, towels, dish towels and more while the machines are broken.

So on those occasions I've still headed back to the laundromat.

Or maybe you still don't have a washer or dryer. Again, very common. So you consistently have to use public machines, or even if you don't go to a commercial facility your building has a communal set of machines that you use.

In all these situations there are certain logistic considerations that you've got to make that are different from those of us who've got a washing machine dedicated for your use in our home all the time.

You've got to plan more, to make sure everything gets washed before you need it next. You can't remember the night before about the uniform that needs to be washed, you've got to have remembered when you went to the laundromat.

In addition, you've got to think about pretreating more, since if there is a spill or mess you can't throw it in the wash right away. Instead, it's got to wait until you take everything to be washed and dried.

Those are a few examples, but if you wash your clothes at a laundromat you know what I mean, and I'm sure you can think of even more examples.

Everyone needs a routine or schedule for getting their laundry done, if you consistently want to have clean clothes, bedding, towels, and more for your family's use. But a schedule for those who use a laundromat will be different than for someone who doesn't have to leave their home to get the laundry done.

So below I've gathered quite a few routines and schedules shared by fellow laundromat users, with families, sharing how they keep up with the wash in this situation.

Hopefully these ideas and suggestions will get your creativity going to help you craft your own schedule that will work for you.

I'd love to hear your schedules and routines as well, a long with any other tips you've got for getting your laundry done at the laundromat. You can share your tips and schedules here and I'll add the best ones to the page.

In addition, here are even more articles from the series exploring the wide variety of laundry schedules and routines that work for real people, depending on their circumstances and preferences:

• Daily Routines Can Reduce Your Laundry Pile


• Routines & Schedules For Moms With Young Kids


• Weekly Marathon Session To Tame Laundry Piles


• Schedules & Routines For Large Families

Scroll on down to start reading all the various routines for those who wash clothes and other laundry at the laundromat!


Top photo courtesy of AlishaV, from Flickr CC

Bimonthly Laundry Schedule For Laundromat

by EngineerMom
(St. Paul, MN, USA)

What do you do when you need to use the laundromat for your household's laundry, and cannot do your laundry a little everyday like some other people's weekly laundry schedule?

EngineerMom has a great tip that may help your household. She writes:

My husband or I do laundry every other week.

We live in an apartment building with dryers that don't really work. Rather than hang-dry everything, we take our laundry to the laundromat every other Saturday.

We have a 7-month-old son.

It takes about 3 hours to wash everything, hang up what needs to be hung, and fold the rest, then drive home (it's a 10-15 minute drive from our building).

This schedule works for my family because we don't end up spending every single Saturday afternoon at the laundromat (it takes 3 hours whether we wash 1 week's worth or 2).

We would prefer a schedule where we could do one or two loads per night, rather than letting all the washing build up for two weeks (it's heavy!), but right now it's just not possible.

Oh, the longing for our own washer and dryer!

My Laundry Routine With Communal Washers In Apartment Complex

by Carrie

I find it hard for me because I live in an apartment complex with over 100 units and 4 communal washers/dryers.

We are on a fairly tight budget (only one income) and don't always have money for the laundry ($2.50 per load); so I hand wash (and air dry) a lot.

I break mine down into days of the week.

There are 4 of us (each gets their own day), and the other 3 days are towels, sheets (unless I wash towels and sheets on their specific day), and; if I can help it; a no laundry day (even God took a rest).

This may not work for everyone or anyone else, but it works for me so until I find a better solution for my situation, I'll stick to what works!

Photo courtesy of Jaako

I Actually Saved Time By Going To Laundromat Instead Of Doing It At Home

by Otealia

We have a small family of 4. I taught my sons how to do their own laundry when they were around 10 years old.

I found that the washer and dryer were going 6 days a week and my electric bill was through the roof!

I decided to cut my losses and we started going to the laundromat.

We were there once a week for about 2.5 hours. All laundry is done, folded, and placed in Rubbermaid containers: one for each person.

Now that the children are grown, I go once every 2 weeks. I know many won't like this approach, but it sure works well for us.

Photo courtesy of Muffet

I Do Laundry Every Three Weeks For Just Myself

by HM101 Reader

I go to the laundromat every 3 weeks. Since I do not have a washer and dryer, and I only have to do laundry for myself, I cannot bring myself to go more often.

I also have to time it so that their washers and dryers will not be occupied and I will not have to wait for someone else's laundry to finish since I choose to go to a small laundromat that has natural light.

So, I go between 8 and 11:30 in the morning on a weekday.

I do four loads of laundry and it takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then, it is done for 3 weeks.

Life is too short to hang out at the laundry mat anymore than necessary.

I don't mind the quiet imposed by the drone of the machines; it is kind of like a library where I catch up on a book or a newspaper.

While the thought of going to do laundry is painful, the doing of it is rather meditative.

Taylor says:

I hope these ideas shared by readers have given you some ideas for yourself of how to keep up with your family's laundry when doing it at a laundromat.

I'd love to hear any other tips and suggestions you may have for doing laundry at the laundromat, so if you've got anything to share please tell me in the comments or you can share your tips and schedules here.

In addition, don't forget additional articles in this series where we explore lots of different real life schedules and routines that work for getting your laundry done!

• Daily Routines Can Reduce Your Laundry Pile


• Routines & Schedules For Moms With Young Kids


• Weekly Marathon Session To Tame Laundry Piles


• Schedules & Routines For Large Families

Photo courtesy of coda, from Flickr CC

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Laundry Tips & Tricks For Busy Moms

Schedules, Routines & Habits For Your Home

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