How to Find a Cheap Laundromat Near Me to Save Money
We’re walking you through everything you need to know about finding a cheap laundromat near me (and you) that’s safe and clean!
Author: Kari Lorz – Certified Financial Education Instructor
When it comes to doing our laundry, most of us would prefer to do it at home. But what happens when our machines break down, or we just don’t have a washer/dryer at home? That’s where laundromats come in.
But with so many laundromats to choose from, how can you be sure you’re choosing the best laundromat for your needs?
We’ll take you through everything you need to know to find the best laundromat near me.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may make a commission at no cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more info
How to find a laundromat near me
The easiest way to find a laundromat near you is to search online. You can use a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, or you can try a specific website like Yelp or Laundry Finder. Just enter your address, city, or zip code into the search bar and hit enter. You should see a list of laundromats to choose from.
Or you can do it the easy way and just input your zip code right here. Just choose which service you’re looking for and click the corresponding green button…
Coin Laundromat Near Me – location finder
24 Hour Laundromat Near Me – location finder
Laundry Service Near Me – location finder
What to look for when finding the best laundromat near me
Yes, finding any laundromat is easy (you just search in Google for it, as you did above), but I know you want to find the best laundromat! You don’t want to go to a sketchy, dark, unsafe, and run-down place with mold in their machines – Yuck!
So let’s go through how to pick the best laundromat near me…
1. The first laundromat on the search list does not mean the best
Did you know that when you search in Google, the top listing isn’t necessarily the best? There’s a lot that goes into Google’s search algorithms, but one thing is for sure – the top listing has paid to be there. And while that doesn’t mean they’re not a great laundromat, it does mean you should take the others into consideration as well.
Look for the word “ad” or “sponsored” next to the listing; if you see that, that means they paid to be in that spot. You need to scroll a few results down and look at those instead. The next tip goes through what to look for.
2. Check reviews on Google and Yelp
Obviously, you want a place close to you (if possible), so start looking at those. When you find a laundromat you’re interested in, the next step is to check its reviews. Google and Yelp are two of the most popular review sites, so those are a great place to start. You want to look for the nearest laundromat with mostly 4- and 5-star reviews; anything less than that should pass.
People should mention…
- Is it clean?
- Do the machines all work?
- Space for folding?
- Hangers/drying racks and laundry carts?
- Free Wi-Fi
- Comfortable seating area?
- How are the staff?
These are all important factors you should look for when reading reviews to help you choose the best laundromat near me.
3. Location is the most important thing
The location is the next most important thing to consider when looking for a laundromat. You want a safe place (this trumps a location that’s closer to you). A good location should have plenty of lighting, security cameras, staff, and a well-lit parking lot. The last thing you want is to be doing your laundry in a dark and dingy place where you don’t feel safe.
4. Know operating hours (especially on holidays)
You don’t want to show up to a laundromat only to find it closed. Most are open 24/7, but some have specific hours (especially on holidays). The last thing you want is to haul all your laundry there only to find it closed.
It’s also helpful to know their busy times and avoid those if possible. You should call them and ask the attendant what times to avoid.
5. Inspect the photos (but they could be old)
When you Google a laundromat, you’ll also see photos of it. These can be helpful in getting an idea of what the place looks like on the inside. However, remember that these photos could be old, and the place may have changed since then. So take them with a grain of salt.
6. Is parking available or easy to get to if taking mass transit?
Depending on how much laundry you have (don’t wait until you have ten loads), you want a laundromat that’s easy to get to, whether you’re driving or taking mass transit.
Some things to look for include…
- Is there parking available? Is it well-lit?
- If not, is it close to a bus/train stop?
- What kind of container are you taking your laundry in?
- On the day you’re doing laundry, is it raining? If you’re walking a ways, you don’t want to wash and dry your clothes only to get wet again as you walk five blocks to your car or the bus stop.
7. Verify payment methods – change machine, credit, etc.
You want to make sure you can actually do your laundry once you get there, so know how you need to pay for it before you go.
Most places these days take credit or debit for you to buy a prepaid laundry card, but some are still coin laundry only. You don’t want to get there and not be able to do your laundry because you don’t have the right change.
Some places have a change machine on site, but others don’t, so you’ll need to bring quarters with you.
8. Consider amenities
Does this place have the things you need? Think of things like…
- Detergent machines
- Sinks
- Wi-Fi
- Comfortable seating area
- Folding tables
- Hangers/drying racks
- Tables for ironing (if you need that)
- A TV or entertainment
- Play area for kids
Some of these things may be more important to you than others, but it’s something to think about as you choose the best laundromat near me.
9. Is the laundromat staffed?
You’ll want to consider this, especially if you’re doing laundry late at night. It’s always nice to have someone around in case of an emergency or if you need help with a machine. Not all laundromats are staffed, so it’s something to keep in mind when making your decision.
What are the different types of laundry services?
There are different types of laundry services, such as
- Pickup laundry services – this is where someone will come and pick up your laundry from your home and then return it to you once it’s clean.
- Drop-off laundry services – this is where you take your dirty laundry to a location, and then someone else cleans it for you. This is sometimes referred to as a fluff n’ fold laundry.
- Self service laundry – this is where you wash and dry your own clothes at a laundromat (this is what this post is all about).
- Commercial laundry service – this is where businesses take their laundry to be cleaned, such as hotels, restaurants, etc.
- Dry cleaning service – this is a place to take all your delicate items for proper dry cleaning (you don’t want to ruin your expensive suit, so be sure to read all cleaning tags on if it needs to be dry cleaned.
8 Tips for saving money at the laundromat
While you do need to spend some money to wash your clothes, there are a few things you can do to minimize the cost.
- Bring your own detergent – yes, you can buy travel sizes at the laundromat, but it’s a lot more expensive than bringing your own.
- Don’t use too much soap – it’s always better to use too little than too much. Too much soap makes your clothes stiff and you run out faster.
- Wash your nice items inside out – this will make them last longer (i.e., won’t pill as much, so won’t need to be replaced as often).
- Pretreat at home – along the same lines as make your clothes last longer, always check your clothes for stains as soon as you take them off (or at least within one day of wearing them). Fresh stains are always easier to get out of clothes than old stains.
- Don’t dry your items too much – yes, your items should be dry, but you’re wasting money by turning the dial to the full length of time.
- Don’t wash items too often – Yes, you wore your jeans to go grocery shopping, but are they dirty? The American Cleaning Institute says you can wear your jeans three times (on average) before washing them.
- Skip using fabric softeners – this product is basically a gimmick. you don’t need it, and it leaves a residue on your clothes and in the machine.
- Use dryer balls – you don’t need to use single-use dryer sheets. Grab some wool dryer balls and reuse them for years (this also cuts down significantly on the chemical load on your clothes). You should use about 4 balls in a regular-size load.
Laundromat tips & etiquette
- Look for stains and pretreat at home – removing some stains takes time (soaking, scrubbing, etc.), so look for stains and work on them for at least three hours before you leave for the coin laundromat. This will make your laundry day go a lot smoother and faster.
- Bring your own laundry supplies – detergent, dryer sheets, delicates bag, etc.
- Don’t count on the coin machine – always have a stash of quarters ready to go, as the machines may be out of order or not have any coins.
- Separate your clothes ahead of time – this will make it go much faster, and besides, sometimes you don’t want to be sorting your delicates in front of strangers.
- Check inside the machine – ink, messes, forgotten clothes, etc. You don’t want anything in there contaminating your clothes and ruining them.
- Don’t overload the machines – this will just cause the soap not to disperse well (or rinse out), and you’ll have stiff clothes. Or in the dryer, it will take twice as long to dry them, which is a waste of your time.
- Use the right size machine for the job – this goes with the above, yes, it can be a bit more expensive to go up to a bigger machine, but it’s worth the time saved from doing a double drying session.
- Make sure your clothes are all the way dry – This is especially true if you are the type of person that sets your laundry down inside the door to your house and leaves it for a week. (Mildew is gross, and the smell can be hard to get out of clothes once it’s in there.)
- Fold before you go – you want your clean laundry to be folded neatly when you leave, as throwing them all back in the bag to get all wrinkled is just ruining all your hard work cleaning them.
- Bring a friend – if you’re worried about safety, then bring a friend. It can be nice to have someone with you to watch each other’s loads while one of you goes to the coffee shop down the block.
- Play nice – If someone else is hogging the washer and the person is MIA, don’t ever put their clothes in the dryer. You don’t want to dry something that isn’t supposed to and ruin their clothes. If you do, they may ask you to pay for it.
Ideally, you should wait up to 10 minutes before removing clothes from the machine and setting them to the side. - Be courteous – If you’re watching/listening to something on your phone/computer, please wear headphones. No one, absolutely no one, wants to listen to your music. The same goes for phone calls, never put them on speaker – take your calls outside.
- Be mindful of who is using bleach – Of course, you can’t always know who used the machine before you. But if you see someone with bleach, be sure to get a different machine than the one they used. If you use bleach in your last load, please be kind and run an empty wash load to clean the machine. No one wants their clothes bleached out on accident.
- Don’t be rude – Don’t stare at people as they sort/fold their laundry. That’s weird. Yes, they’re in a public place, but no one wants people watching them as they sort their underwear.
- Make it easy – When taking items to the dry cleaner, be sure to point out any stains, don’t assume they’ll see it. The dry cleaners can also usually do small repairs (rips, buttons, stitching, etc.).
Pros of using a laundromat
- Wash more laundry in less time – you can do three loads at once and get everything done much faster.
- You can wash large & bulky items – things like your bed’s comforter, large blankets, etc.
- Fun to do with a friend – as I said, it can be fun to do with a friend and make an afternoon or evening out of it.
Cons of using a laundromat
- Inconvenient to go to – it can be far away, or you may have to lug your heavy laundry a few blocks if they don’t have a parking lot.
- Being with the general public – let’s be honest, people can be strange, and they can make you feel uncomfortable. Or they may be sick and coughing all over the place. You never know until you get there.
- Laundry is personal – do you like showing strangers your underwear? Me neither.
Laundry tips & hacks for clean clothes
No one is born knowing how to do laundry; everyone learns how to do it (hopefully). So here are some laundry tips and tricks to help you do a better job at cleaning your clothes.
1. Read the labels on your clothes
This is important! You don’t want to ruin your clothes by washing them in the wrong water temperature or drying them on too high of heat, which can shrink the item. Always read the care label before washing.
2. Separate your laundry
You should always sort your laundry before washing it. This helps to prevent colors from bleeding into each other and ruining your garments.
3. Wash your clothes inside out
Putting your clothes and having them rub all over each other is hard on the fabric, so wash them inside out to keep the outside of your clothes protected.
4. Use the right amount of soap
More soap isn’t always a recipe for cleaner clothes. In fact, too much detergent can make your clothes dull and stiff. So read the bottle and use the right amount for the load size that you’re doing.
5. Check to make sure the machines are clean before using
You don’t want to “clean” your clothes in a dirty washing machine. Check the seal for mold and mildew before loading your clothes in.
6. Don’t dry everything on high heat
Some items can take the heat, and some items will shrink into a terrier-size shirt. Don’t tempt fate and put it on high heat because you’re in a hurry.
7. Have the right supplies
- Dawn dish soap gets out almost all grease stains from food (I promise, it’s my go-to, and it works every time.
- Boiling water removes berry stains (even from jam), but do this at home.
- Spray & Wash gets out most other stains (remember to treat stains as soon as they happen, it’s a lot easier to get out a fresh stain vs. one that’s been there for a week).
- I like to use wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets (as dryer sheets are too stinky for me, and I like to use the least amount of chemicals as possible).
- There are many tips to get white clothing “whiter & brighter,” but honestly, I haven’t found any that have really worked. Please let me know if you have a tried & true way.
- Pass on the fabric softener as it’s bad for clothes and the machines (it leaves a residue).
8. Have a bag for dirty clothes and one for clean
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to put your nice clean clothes into a bag where your dirty clothes were hanging out. Also, don’t put your clean basket on the floor of the laundromat; always set it on a table or the chair next to you.
Laundromat near me FAQs
When are laundromats the busiest?
Laundromats are busiest on weekends and during the early evening hours. If you can do your laundry during the day on a weekday, you’ll likely have the place to yourself.
What’s the average cost of doing laundry at a laundromat?
The average cost of doing a load of laundry at a nearby laundromat is about $4.00. This includes the cost of the washer & dryer.
Do I need to bring my own laundry detergent?
Most laundromats have vending machines to purchase laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. However, it’s always advisable to bring your own.
Where can I get quarters for laundry?
You can get quarters for laundry at a bank, or sometimes grocery stores have coin machines where you can get quarters. You can also purchase a laundromat card which allows you to load money onto it and use that to pay for your laundry.
Can you get bedbugs from the laundromat?
There is always a risk of picking up bedbugs from any public place, even from the cleanest laundromat. Yet, it’s more of an urban legend than the norm. So you don’t need to be too concerned.
I will say that bed bugs don’t like high heat. So while high heat may not be good for your clothes, it does kill bed bugs, the same for old. Here’s what Healthline says…
– 115 degrees or hotter (i.e., in the dryer on hot for at least 30 minutes)
– 32 degrees or colder (i.e., sealed in a bag and in your freezer for 3-4 days)
Do laundromats take credit cards?
Yes, most laundromats do take credit cards. However, it’s always advisable to have quarters on hand just in case the credit card reader is down.
Is washing at a laundromat clean?
Yes, laundromats are generally a very clean place. The washers and dryers are cleaned regularly, and the floors are usually mopped several times daily. It’s always a good idea to look inside the machine first before putting your clothes in it. You might even want to do a finger swipe inside the drum to ensure no extra residue could gunk up your clothes.
Do I need to bring my own laundry basket?
Yes, it’s always a good idea to bring your own basket. Sometimes they have carts to move wet clothes to dry clothes, but I’d rather use my own basket for this.
How long does it take to do laundry at a laundromat?
It usually takes about 60-90 minutes to do a load of laundry at a laundromat. This includes the time it takes to wash & dry your clothes and fold them. It depends on how big your laundry load is.
Do you have to stay with your laundry at a laundromat?
No, technically, you don’t have to stay with your laundry, but it’s always a good idea. If you leave your laundry unattended, someone might take your clothes by mistake. Or, someone may move your laundry out of a machine and just dump it. You never want to be the person hogging a machine, especially in busy laundromats.
So stay with your laundry, please.
Is it cheaper to do laundry at home or a laundromat?
It really depends. If you have your own washer and dryer at home, doing your laundry there is cheaper. But if you have really old machines, they probably aren’t High Efficiency, so they may use a lot of energy.
Averaging it out, according to experts, “On average, it costs 17 cents per load” to do a load of laundry at home.
So, if you do three loads of laundry a week = it costs $2.20 a month or $26.50 a year to run a standard washing machine in the US.
For a dryer, it’s about $.32 a load. So that comes to about $4.16 a month or approximately $50 a year if you do three loads of laundry a week.
At the end of the day
Finding the best laundromat near me (you) can be daunting, but with the right tips, it can be easy. We’ve outlined some key things to look for when choosing a laundromat and some of the most common questions people have about laundromats. Hopefully, this article has helped make your decision easier!
