I enjoy the 'mat sometimes - getting five loads done at once is pretty cool. However, noticed the price thing too: $2.25 to wash and the washer is so small it takes 2.5 machines to do the "one load" I can do at the apt I live in for $1.25. It's already expensive when you are a woman to maintain clothes...this just adds insult to injury.

ALways surprised to learn how many ppl only wear things once, then lauder (unless it is the obvious socks/underwear or you have a smelly job). My clothes would be falling aprt I think if I washed everything after one use and used a dryer.

As far as using laundry less...yeas ago I started waiting until I truly had full loads before washing and foregoing using the dryer all the time...it was more of an environmental consideration than economic...although that is a plus.

@Nicole:

thats my problem. my apt doesnt have washer/dryer hookups and we are not allowed have a washer that can be hooked up to the sink. we do have a "laundry center" in the basement. small wash (20lbs) is $1, large wash (30lbs) is $1.75, and drying is 25¢/8 mins.

ive become good friends with my wash board and drying rack, and try to get my laundry soap from the ethnic areas (they have hand wash directions for use on them) the smaller items like undergarments and shirts are hand washed. the larger items like jeans and bedding go down to the washer.

i'm getting in touch with my inner "old school" ^.^

@littlemisslondon: You can find washboards at music stores. Weird, I know, but other than antique stores, is the only place i've seen them.

Unless the laundromats come back down in price, I see no reason to go back to one.

Anyway, I dropped it, went and had lunch with my husband downtown, and picked it up on my way back out of town. It was so fresh-smelling and clean and FOLDED and it cost me $1.05/pound, which was a LOT OF FREAKING LAUNDRY for $11.

Anyway, when I hear someone is having surgery or something, I totally get them a gift certificate to the Squeaky Clean. Because that place freaking ROCKS!

If you're doing your laundry there, they also have Game Boy rental. And three sattelite TVs. (They also own this place: [squeak1.fatcow.com] )

Seriously, though - does no one have a washboard anymore? How much could people save by a) having fewer clothes and b) handwashing them?

now i live at home...and its so nice not having to put quarters in the machines.

A block from my college apartment there was a combination beer bar and laundromat, though. Really genius business model when you're within walking distance of a college. Put the wash in, have a beer, put it in the dryer, have another beer....

Okay, technically, they are only called "washaterias" in Texas...

It was part of a larger article about how, since WWII and largely because of advertising, we buy a lot of stuff for convenience that simply isn't economical ... the authors thought such a small building could also store communal lawn mowers, a tool library (tools you need often enough that renting is a PITA, but not often enough to take up space in your house and pay the price to own), and certain other things.

Some planned communities, mostly "green" ones, have these kinds of shared appliances/tools/etc. It's an interesting idea, but I'd have a hard time giving up the convenience of a personal washer/dryer. Some friends of ours who live in a "green" development, though, said that enterprising 10 year olds make a little money by collecting laundry from people who don't want to haul their own back and forth, running the washer/dryer while doing homework, then folding it and taking it back to the owner.

If the tube is clogged with lint and not venting properly, the lint will actually blow BACK into the machine, clogging the mechanisms. Not only will this drastically affect the efficiency of the machine, but is potentially a fire hazard.

(I work in a yoga studio where we do about 15 dryer loads a day with our little energy efficient dryer. The thing hadn't been cleaned in years - when we finally cracked it open, there was enough lint clogging the machinery to knit a very large sweater.)

I also invested in a large drying rack, so that I rarely ever have to use the dryer anymore. My apartment is super-dry, and the drying clothes actually adds a little humidity (as well as making the whole place smell like fresh laundry.)

Since I bought my house in 2000, I haven't had to use a laundromat. But when I was using one, I didn't do the laundry myself, I dropped it off and they charged by the pound for the service. I'd drop 40 or so pounds stuff into a sack. At the time it was about 50 or 60 cents per pound. I realize it's gone up by now. But what about your time? And you don't have to worry about it eating your quarters or dollar bills. Just something to think about.

Overcharge?

I live in a nice duplex apartment with a basement with W&D hookups. To buy a cheapish washer and gas drier, it would be $900 at least, not counting installation. Thats equal to almost three years of going to the laundrymat once a week!

If anything I'll be going to the 'mat more now, as my plans for buying a washer and dryer have been put on hold indefinately and it's hard to justify driving 45 minutes to my parents house to do a load.

I'm a pretty grungy person no matter what the economy is like- I wear my jeans at least 4 times before I wash 'em. I hand wash my bras to preserve the elastic. I do change my socks ever day, though!

We've had a washer/dryer in our apartment for years. We splurged and bought a Malber, which requires no hookup or ventilation. It was small and imperfect, but it beat hauling laundry up a steep hill and then four flights.

Hadn't set foot in one until recently when my daughter completely soaked our king-size down comforter in urine. The laundromats around here in NYC don't have coin machines anymore. You're supposed to purchase a card for $3 and add dollar amounts to it, which can be used in the machines. I refused to pay an extra $3 for something I'd never use again, so the manager let me use his. It cost me $10 to wash and dry that sucker.

I daily thank the universe for three things: my Tempur-Pedic mattress, my 20 year old dishwasher and equally ancient washer & dryer in the apartment. With three kids, I can't imagine life without them.

And Naked Snuggie Guy: Don't you launder your Snuggie? If not: Gross! I will never sit next to you on the bus.

Can I sit for you?

it's amazing how many people would rather repair than replace or give up and use a laundromat right now.

the only thing i usually take to the laundromat is the mattress topper for my bed because it's too big for my washer and dryer. but i'm thinking next time i wash it i'm going to do it by hand in the bathtub and hang it on a clothesline instead.

This is the essence of laundromats.

if you take into account the cost of water, electricity and maintenance and the fees for owning the building and other stuff, nothing justifies the cost increase other than greed.

laundromats overcharge. they double prices for no reason.

and now that the economy is bad and less people are using them, the laundromats seem to now want to increase prices for the few people that still use the laundromat.

This is why they go out of business, instead of lowering prices to gain more customers which eventually makes them more money, their brains are unable to think intelligently, so they increase the price for the few remaining customers to help pick up the slack left by there being less customers.

the cycle of price increases causes the laundromat to loose even more customers and for prices to get even hire until the laundromat runs it's self into the ground.

Here in northern CA there's a gigantic used appliance place where you can buy an old-but-quite-serviceable Whirlpool washer and dryer for about $200 for the pair. At $3 per load, it takes maybe 70 loads to pay for the washer/dryer, after which the only cost is electricity, which is pretty negligible, and water, which is nearly free.

And I've heard from many appliance repair people that the older equipment is actually far, far more reliable than new appliances, so even though older washers are less efficient, you will still save substantially in the long run.

We use the laundromat near us for the heavy duty washers and dryers to clean stuff that we don't want to potentially break our equipment - like sleeping bags or rugs and such. And for a few months when we were having our basement refinished. That's about it, but we're not using them any more or less now - just about once or twice a year still.

I can't fathom going to work in clothes that have not been laundered since the last time I wore them.

Not having a job has eliminated my need for a clean shirt for every day of the week and I can get another day or twos wearing out of pants before they get washed. My clothes don't seem to get as dirty when I don't even get out of my pajamas some days.

@TechnoDestructo: deicing the roads are important. if not even the ones who can go to schools cant reach there. So yeah... salt is important.

A lot of apartments are now offering washers and dryers on-site which saves carrying stuff to the laundromat. I don't know how the prices compare.

States don't have budgets for schools, but they sure have budgets for salt!

I wonder if this is due to the recession or because there are less people in the laundromat to deter the theft.

If I know I'm going home soon, I won't do laundry for a few weeks and haul up seven or eight loads to my mom's. Maybe if these laundromats weren't increasing prices at a ridiculous rate more people would be using them.

I figure that if you're going to shower daily anyway, why bother with some frilly clothes you don't need? And I stay perfectly warm with my Snuggie.

The problem is that several families have moved into the dryers and set up house.

I haven't cut back on my laundromat use. That said, I only use 1 machine and it's nearly filled, so there's not much room to cut back. I think people may be trying to use fewer machines-no longer separating colors from whites, etc.

Next up on the recession hit list: coin operated car wash centers.