I cannot believe how downhill this laundromat went since "renovating". It used to be air conditioned, and still has signs that say "keep door closed, air conditioning is on" -- but those are clearly for show, as it is hotter in there than it is outdoors. It is a miserable experience, especially if you live in the area and walk your laundry there in a cart, which many of the people who use it do. It's like walking on the surface of the sun to go sit in a sauna. How lovely!
Beyond that, they are so expensive! Again, for the non-gentrified people who actually made this area an area, it is a burden, and their card machines are set up to take no less than $20 at a time -- which I suppose makes sense, as the washers are expensive, and the dryers, which do not seem to be particularly great at drying things (THEY HAVE ONE JOB!) always require extra swipes, so even doing a regular week of laundry for two people comes to about $20. That is far too much money, especially when two people do not create an absurd amount of laundry - though if you decide to wash a comforter or something, put $40 on and expect to have some left over, so you're tied to the laundromat you know is overpriced.
A lot of the washers smell like mold. Again, they just underwent renovations, so we re not exactly dealing with old, ancient machines. The staff is nice enough and everyone there minds their own business for the most part - unless the lady who demands a dollar (who, in fairness, just kind of wanders the neighborhood doing this -- and even knows who speaks English and Espanol) -- so that is not the laundromat's fault.
I switched to a different laundromat -- and there is no minimum on the card, plus, that week of laundry comes to $10 or less. And it is in a far more affluent area. I'd love to hear this explained, but then again, I don't really care. After my last laundry took almost an hour to dry -- and it was stiflingly hot in there (other laundromats can remain temperate somehow - and they used to know how, as well) -- I will never be returning there. read more