Although most people loathe going to the laundromat, I often find comfort in doing all of my laundry at the same time. In and out in two hours and I don't have to worry about things for a few more weeks. That said, I've often felt it's more expensive to operate this way. The question is, is it really?
Over at The Simple Dollar they've broken down and averaged out your basic laundry costs including supplies and drive times. Many things have been taken into account and they've determined that the average load of laundry done at home will run you $.97 (excluding equipment costs) . Likewise, a load of laundry done at the laundromat will set you back $3.12.
Although this doesn't include the price of the machines themselves you might be using at home, it's not a horrible ballpark idea of what you'll be looking at as far as costs. What do you think your average cost of laundry runs you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
• Read More: A Cost Comparison of Home Laundry and Laundromats at The Simple Dollar
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This is a good eco-conundrum as well as a cost issue. I would think laundromats, like many other shared resources, would win that, but like many others, I loathe laundromats.
You read the data incorrectly. A cost per load at home is .97 with a savings of 2.15 per load versus using the laundromat.
But even if they were the same costs, the ability to do your laundry in your skivvies in the middle of the night: Priceless.
Apt Therapy, you've done it again! You've read my mind. I was just considering getting a washer/dryer in my apartment and this is very helpful ... rock on.
Even if the laundromat were cheaper, the experience in it is so lack luster and feels like such a waste of time, that I'd be willing to double to do it at home.
And why does doing laundry at a Laundromat cost more? Because it's a business - it's purpose is to to earn the owner money.
I have had/done both... As nice as having my own washer/dryer was, it is not common in NYC. I have the next best thing. A CLEAN laundry room only an elevator ride away, with $1.50 wash and $1.50 dry. It's great to be able to do four loads of laundry in under two hours every other week.
As for cost/benefit analysis... When you factor in the cost of the machines, and the fact that I don't have to pay for the additional square footage required to have a washer/dryer (at about $1,100 per square foot in Manhattan, the cost of 9 square feet of floor space for the machines alone is valued at nearly $10k) it makes much more sense to use a laundry room, especially with the much higher cost of energy in NYC.
I really wish I had a washer/dryer at home. While doing laundry I could be working on anything at all at in the apartment. Plus I hate it when the only washing machine left is full of cat hair. : /
as someone who is very allergic to scented detergents it is very nice no longer having to share washers with other people using all kinds of smelly stuff.
I feel very lucky, after 16 years downtown in a city having to lug my stuff to a laundrymat (a trip which got much longer after the closest one burnt down!), I moved to a building with a laundry room.
I live in a 6-unit building that has a small, dingy, unwelcoming laundry room with only one washer and one dryer.
But unbelievably, only one other household uses it at all! Everyone else lugs their things to the laundrymat 5-6 blocks away. I guess they were put off by the uncheerful space.
But guess what? Since I don't have to SIT there while I do my wash, I don't mind!
So basically I share the machines with a very nice couple with a cute toddler. They don't have any problems with my taking their completed loads in and out as needed, and vice versa.
Sure, I occasionally can't do a load when I want, but since the laundry room is one quick 10-second jaunt down a staircase from my kitchen, I feel like a homeowner with my own machines!
I LOVE being able to put a load in, set a timer, and DO something else.
Also, washing my stuff without worrying that a creep will steal all my undies, but only the lacy, pretty ones when I literally step out for on minute to make a phone call (happened); or have to listen to the really weird guy that literally hangs out in the laundrymat 24/7 critiquing in minute detail the bodies of the young women walking by (happened); watch a guy shoot up in the corner (happened); or get menaced by the world's largest and scariest dog owned by the world's least capable dog owner (happened): priceless!
And that's not as bad as a friend of mine who had to switch laundrymats to one much less convenient because EVERY time she went to do her wash the same man was in there, erm, pleasuring himself.
An analysis is only as good as one's assumptions and data. I disagree with a decent amount of his assumptions.
For me, I want to be able to wash my clothes at home. Not just because it is faster and easier, but because I've found that many industrial washers are really hard on your clothes. You also have to deal with things like the prior user doing a red load which will stain/ruin your whites. etc, etc.
I've done both. Nothing beats the comfort of doing laundry at home. Yet, nothing beats the time you can spend reading the newspaper or a good book at the laundromat while doing laundry.
At the moment, I have machines at home.
What? this is actually a useless piece of info and so disappointing to me. What? why wouldn't you include the cost of the machines. If you in trying to determine whether it is cost effective to have a washing machine in their home or to do the laundry at the laundry mat, this doesn't help. If I saw an analysis as to the cost of the machine included now that would help
I've used home laundries, apartment complex laundries, and laundromats. Home laundry is by far the most convenient, cleanest, and easiest. If at all possible, I'd choose it even if it were the most expensive option.
I use the laundry room in my apartment building so the only cost of transportation is my walking down there. I don't need to dress in any publically acceptably way, other than not having any bits hanging out.
I love being able to do multiple loads at once and getting over with. My time has value, too.
"Laundry hook ups" was a dealbreaker when shopping for my condo almost 3 years ago.
Throwing a load of wash in the morning when I leave for work and then throwing it in the dryer when I get home at the end of the day is PRICELESS.
Home: Do laundry whenever you want, no need to have a "laundry day". No need to save quarters! No need to deal with wierd people.
Good lord people, this is simple math: a $1000 washer dryer combo will cost you $2.60 per load if you do 5 loads every week for a year (52 weeks, 260 loads). Now, if you have that washer and dryer for ten years (2600 loads), then your cost basis goes down and each load costs a whopping .38 cents.
Add the .97 cents in soap and water mentioned above, then you've got $1.35 per load.
I can't tell whether I'm just crabby today or if basic thinking skills among the Teacup generation have gone the way of texting and tweeting: no substance.
We actually did these calculations a year ago when we were considering buying a washer/dryer, AND we did take the cost of the machines into account. We concluded that if we keep our W/D for at least 3 years, we will break even (comparing cost of doing laundry at home + cost of machines vs. cost of doing laundry in laundromat, and this did not include cost of driving to the laundromat).
However, I would say that not having to drag my laundry through the snow in the winter is priceless. (We ended up buying the W/D.)
hmm if you assume the average price of a washer/dryer unit is $1000, and if they last about 16 years. That will cost you $62.5/ year, which about $5.20 per month.
Let's say average household does 6 loads of laundry a month. $2.15* 6= $12.9 + $5.20= $18.10.
At the laundromat, $3.12 * 6 loads= $18.72.
I guess it might save you about 60 cents a month. However if you think about the cost of gas, hauling your laundry, and the time you spend waiting for it (time= money, of course). Maybe the laundry machine at home wins?
Checked the original article. The cost per load at home is $.97. The *savings* is $2.15.
I don't care if it's more expensive or cheaper to do laundry at home - I hate going to the launderette. I am so happy that the place I live in now has a washer and dryer. I will never ever ever again live somewhere without this facility in-house, whether it's in-unit or a shared laundry room.
been lugging the laundry to the "mat" for just over ten years. I can't wait until we have a W/D at home (should be some time this fall!!), I don't care what the cost.
plainblk: you don't keep buying the washer & dryer every year. You divide the original cost by the number of uses over time.
A $1000 washer over 16 years @ 6 loads a month would be 1000/(6*12)16 = .87 per load.
Do these break downs include the cost of electricity at home?
Having, over the years, experienced both laundromats and in-house washer/dryers, I have to say that, cost calculations aside, the convenience factor (of having your laundry facilities inside your dwelling) trumps all.
That said, I still harbor fond memories of my old laundromat in Paris, more than 35 years ago...
Sometimes you have to double the cost of the laundromat load. If one of your fellow users is smoking, you need to start all over!
While I have had times in my life where I enjoyed going to the laundromat (Sunday morning in Brookline in a nice clean laundromat with the paper and a strong cup of tea), the thing that isn't factored in here, as everyone keeps pointing out, is the convenience--not having to spend 2+ hours going out and coming back is worth a lot in terms of our time. Given that we do 6-7 loads a week (pets make for lots of bedding and such), there is no way I would spend less money at a laundromat. Add to that that we had our last washer and dryer for 20 years (they cost less than $400/each new) and the cost differential (not to mention the convenience differential) is huge.
Plus new washers and dryers are so much more effective and efficient (we just replaced ours in the last 6 months). The difference in time and quality of cleaning is amazing.
$3.12 are they kidding? The washing alone costs 1.75 to 2.25 a load at my laundromat! Minus the soap and dryer time.
My biggest issue the breakdown here is that it doesn't take into account that your clothing is more likely to be ruined at a laundromat. You're more apt to stuff more clothing in because it costs per load. And every laundromat I've ever used has had at least one inconsiderate person who uses bleach and I end up ruining a garment (or ten). Toss in the cost of ruining a $40 blouse and an at home machine starts to look might nice.
After lugging my clothing multiple block in the city to find a laundromat, and enough desperate nights washing clothes in the sink because I didn't have time to hike to the laundry, I vowed never to live in another apartment building without some laundry machines somewhere in the building.
One thing I miss most about having a personal machine is the ability to have various cycles. I rarely use the entire cycle on a commercial dryer, for instance, since that would shrink my clothes to death. But of course I'm still charged for the full cycle. When using a dryer at home you can actually set the drying time to a short window. I'm willing to bet the ability to do light washes and short drying times can help you save money too.
When I have a backlog of washing (eg on return from vacation), I take a big bag for a service wash and tumble dry. It costs £12, and the clothes come back beautifully laundered and folded.
That data is kind of irrelevant if they didn't consider the costs of machines for home use. Of course, it's almost always an investment but you wouldn't start seeing savings right away.
I have a washing machine I hook up to the kitchen sink. My apartment complex pays the utilities (included in rent) and I hang dry the clothes.
Other than the cost I'll have to replace the washer ($230) one day and detergent and fabric softener, my laundry costs are $0! :)
You cannot put a price tag on the peace of mind that comes from knowing what the last thing washed in a machine was before the load you're about to put in...lord deliver me from laundromats!
I dry my clothes outside as often as possible because they smell better and it's super cheap. Actually here in Texas the summer has been so dry they dry faster outside than my dryer can do it.
Things I hated about the laundromat were definitely the price—laundromats in Cambridge, MA are very expensive—having to lug my clothes there in the snow and ice, and the damage the industrial washers did. I did, however, enjoy the time I got to spend reading.
Now I have a nice eco-friendly and gentle washer/dryer, and I find it much more preferable. Maybe if there were laundry green laundromats that were exceptionally clean, I'd think about using one again, but for now, home is where laundry belongs.
You absolutely have to factor in the cost of the machine at home, and the cost of the utilities: machines need repairs, need replacement, etc. There's a breakeven point that shifts depending on how big your household is, too. But I don't care: I can always go to the laundry mat if I need to do it all at once, but there's nothing like picking fresh laundry off your very own laundry tree to wear in the morning.
When I flat shared in London, my housemate met her now husband at the launderette - she would always do her laundry on a Sunday morning and he would always wash his rugby team's kit on the same day - not sure if that is a positive as she now has to do his washing too, and their subsequent kids!
It grosses me out to wash and dry my clothes in the same washers and dryers as a whole bunch of other people. The times in my life when I've had to go to the laundromat, I often found the wash basins to be dirty or scummy, and once, there was a hunter washing mud-caked hunting clothes and sleeping bags in there. he took his (still dirty-looking) clothes out of the washer and threw them in the dryer next to me, and made me wonder about the nastiness that happened there when I wasn't around. What's the point of washing your clothes if they end up dirtier than when you brought them in?
A person can read while laundering at home, too, not only at the laundromat!
We were given a washer and dryer a few years ago. We lived in a house with hookups. It was great. We recently moved to an apartment where I have to lug our laundry down to the parking garage where the laundry room is. It's frustrating because we already own the washer and dryer. But, we moved for a job, and the job is great, so it's worth it. However, I long for the day when I don't have to leave home to do laundry. :)
The mistake of reading "savings" as "costs" when translating The Simple Dollar website is a particularly bad typo... How can a blog this big not have a fact checker? The result is blatant misinformation.
And most people don't read comments, so AT, if you are reading this, how about biting the bullet and posting an addendum??
Our W/D are 22+ years old. I actually MAKE money every time I wash a load. ;-)
In college I did the communal laundry thing, which was a little worse than a laundry for an apt. building because hundreds of people used them. Pros: if you got three machines your laundry for a month was done. Cons: the water was so dingy that it wore out my clothes a lot fast. Inconsiderate college students sometimes decided the mature response to an un-manned machine was to throw the load all over the room, not neatly in a pile. Bleach stains are inevitable.
In NYC I had a w/d in my 300 sq. ft. apt. with a roommate. It ate up half our closet space and I had to live with my clothes hanging directly next to my bed, but it was SO worth it. My then-fiance dropped his clothes off at a laundry place that washed, dried, ironed and folded which was well worth the cost to him and his spare wardrobe.
Now we have a large-capacity front-loading w/d and I will not trade it for anything. With children the costs are not only raised in laundry loads, but in babysitting, juggling the kids, and sanity. Our family of three washes at least five loads a week, and I can only see that number going up. I don't have that kind of laundromat time.
Our laundry mat even has wifi and on average I spend 20.00 month, hand washing my delicates at home before I go I can dry while my others wash. time and money saving. My Jenas I just damp dry and bring home on hangers to air dry hanging them from my shower rod over nite. It is just enough to take out the wrinkles save dry time and money also
I love the laundromats in Sydney - for $10 you get your load of washing washed, dried and folded for you, and you come back to get it whenever you feel like it. However, I only use laundromats when it's been raining and I need to tumble dry my sheets, or when I can't be bothered waiting 2 days for my clothes to dry on the inside line because the outside line is too wet.
The laundromats buy and repair their machines, and still make a profit. Imagine: all that money down the drain...
I have a laundry room in the basement of my apartment building. It's nice enough, but I would kill for a washer/dryer in my apartment. The convenience would be amazing, plus no residue from harsher detergents. Plus, of course, no residue from god-knows-what.
Awhile back, I treated myself to a really nice set of white sheets -- and after the first wash/dry, every piece was covered in black grease marks. I always look in the machine before putting my laundry in, and there was nothing visible, but there must have been something on the inside, either from a previous customer or from the machine itself. So sad, and such a waste to ruin those expensive, gorgeous sheets!
Every since I started doing laundry, my family has owned a washer/dryer set in our home and it is extremely convenient to be able to do my laundry at any time I wanted to do laundry. It was also very convenient to wash my laundry, and then take it outside and hang dry it in our backyard. Then, I went off to college and was forced to do laundry at the laundromat. Not only is it a pain to have to do laundry within a specific time frame and to lug all my laundry three blocks (no car nor bus; just walking), but I can easily rack up on average $20 a month doing laundry at the laundromat. It may be convenient to be able to wash & dry multiple loads at the same time, but it's just not worth it for me compared to the benefits of having on-site laundry.
Have a family that generates 10 to 14 generous sized loads of laundry per week and you'll quickly decide that a laundromat sucks, not to mention the advantage of having a HE machine and easy ability to line dry. Plus, I don't have to spend the time & money to load everything up in the car and sit there. I can get other things done at home while the laundry goes. Oh, and I don't have to deal with machines that have other people's soap residue, hairs or other unsavory bits in them.
washing ALL of my clothes in two hours one time vs washing ALL of my clothes all day in several loads ...i think going to the laundry mat is worth it despite the cash.
This study is plain is nonsense, I own 2 laundromats and have just done an assesment on my own. I dont know when this was written, but in Feb.2013 under Obama's anti business, anti energy oil and coal in todays world it is cheaper to do laundry at the laundromat. I am doing advertising on this fact I will use just one true account of a customer, his dryer broke, has a family of 5. He came in 2 times in a month and spent $48. The next month his electric bill was $80 less and he swears he did nothing different but not use his 240 volt electricity suck dryer. He saved $32 bucks and got the same thing done but. For cheaper and in a fraction of the time because of multiple equipment and super large capacity options. Laundromats even despite cost increases in all things are able to pass the commercial energy rate on to customers. Bottom lineis you keep more of your money and watch your electric and water bills decrease. Now we have all seen dumps but their are plenty nice laundry's around. It is a win win, why spend all day at home doing laundry and running up your bills. Besides you will get the job done in blazing speed and have time to do other things.
And the lady above apparently has visited a shabby laundromat my equipment has stainless steel tubs and never collects soap residue or unsavory bits as she calls it. I guarantee my equipment is cleaner than hers in my laundromat. But to each their own. She can stay couped up at home all day longand doing 14 loadsi bet she dont have much time to get other things done. Washer dryer fold. Waaher dryer fold. Washer dryer fold say that 11 more times. Or come to my nice laundromat and go washer dryer fold in 2 hours and be done. Aaahhhh. Besides her electric bill i would hate to see. In the 80`s it was cheaper to do at home....today with out of proportion cost on absolutely everything, it is cheaper to do at laundromat. Save time and money. And support a local business and local jobs. I look forward to seeing you if ever in Moncks Corner,S.C. with a dirty load or 2.
So many have mentilned convenience factor and when going to college left their family washer and dryer at mommy house and spent 20 dollars. But dont account for mommy spending 40 dollars on her electric bill. Nothing is free.
Mark H has a great case for the laundryomat. Modern front-loaders are efficient and effective, but painfully slow and low in capacity. Simultaneous loads is the only solution so that laundry day is more like laundry hour.
I’m in Charleston but my landlord foots the electric bill so no interest here…try to get an operation on the peninsula, everybody complains about high energy costs. (the quaint buildings are very inefficient)