I usually do my laundry at Trickle Coin because I've heard terrible things about this place, but decided to give it a shot after my roommate's laundry got locked in one of their machines for 4 days. But that's for a different review and I digress.
Turns out DInsmore wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but it was still a far cry from great and I probably won't be returning. Let's start off with the good.
For starters, it's pretty much the only reasonably located laundromat in the Arts District. Location, location, location. It's likely also the reason the owners apparently don't have to try very hard to get or maintain business. Secondly, the prices are quite cheap. $3.50 a load isn't bad, but a fixed price without options for special wash, or even the basic distinction of whites or colors, is rather limiting. The dryers are actually one of the best features, as there is no fixed price for starting a load. So you can go quarter-by-quarter for 6 minutes a pop and don't have to worry about overpaying or accidentally underpaying and having to repay the minimum for a new cycle. So, overall the price and location are good... and that's about it.
On to the bad. Now, it may not have been as bad of an experience if I hadn't gone on the muggiest day of the year with no AC in my car, but there's a certain expectation that comes with laundromats. One, you expect to be able to wash your clothes. Two, you expect to be able to dry your clothes. Three, you expect to be able to comfortably wait while your clothes wash and dry. Four, you expect to be able to COMFORTABLY wait while your clothes wash and dry! It's the middle of July in Minnesota and this place has zero internal cooling systems to speak of. Dryers get hot, so it's akin to a kiln and please forgive my alliteration. Lack of cold air is pretty much inexcusable and the primary reason I'll maybe only ever give it another try in the dead of winter (at which time I assume I'll be greeted with no heating).
Upon my return from home, where I waited while my clothes washed, I was walking to the coin machine and couldn't help overhearing a mildly-upset patron explaining to an owner and/or manager that the clothes in her machine were soaking wet after a wash. Yes of course they're supposed to be wet, but not in a literal pool of water (and I'm literally using the word 'literally' correctly, so don't give me any sh*t). Somewhat to my surprise the manager offered to pay for a new wash, so that was nice. But then the patron told the manager to put an out-of-order sign on the machine to which the manger replied that it "probably wasn't actually broken, she just overloaded the machine", which was much closer to par for what I was expecting after reading other reviews.
I apologize for getting lengthy, but I have burning need to dissect that statement. How exactly would overloading a washing machine lead it to leave excess water? If anything, more clothes would soak up more water, leaving your wet laundry drier than expected, if anything. Furthermore, you are SUPPOSED to pack laundry fairly tightly in the washer so that the articles of clothing can actually scrub against one another and "wash". That is the basic concept of a washing machine and I would expect a laundromat owner, of all people, to understand that.
Lastly, when I did eventually pull my clothes out of Blast Furnace A into Blast Furnace B, there was a hilariously-disgusting baby sock with the word LOVE written across it in bubbly, fluorescent letters. For clarification, it was not my sock, which means it distributed itself into my laundry from the hidden chamber the socks go when they break up and decide to see other socks. I know this because I checked the machine prior to loading it because, well, I was all sorts of skeptical about this place and racoons nest in all sorts of strange places. To be fair, at least it was clean. I think.
In conclusion, it's worth paying a little more and driving a little further to launder your delicates. That or put more pressure on your landlord to install hook-ups in the basement. But if you need it fast and you need it now, Dinsmore is the place for you. But for the love of all that is holy, make sure you go on a day when the heat index is a bit lower than 98. read more