Ok, That's It! Am Totally Off Laundromats

[launderess]

At least our local.

Having a rather large amount of laundry to get done, and with all the damp/hot weather felt a quick trip to the local laundromat was better than hours worth of washing and waiting with the Miele.

First when one arrived the Hispanic young girl runs to the back to tell the "boss" that one is starting to wash after the offical cut off time (730PM). Pointed out that regardless of what their clock said both my watch and clocks at home read 725PM, as opposed to the one on the laundromat wall which said 740PM. Since the boss knows who we are, and made quick work of the complaint and went about my business.

Really nothing to report out of the ordinary about the washing and drying process, but noticed something that made one go "eeeeeeeeewwwwwww", when folding clean wash and putting it into laundry bags. The young Hispanic girl and the other worker were setting up loads of dropped off laundry to be started the next morning, however they dumped those dirty bag fulls of laundry into the same carts customers use to take their clean laundry out of the washers and dryers.

Maybe it is just Moi, but there is something very unsanitary about loading just washed laundry into bins where soiled laundry has been. Even at home my laundry baskets have only ever been used to cart clean laundry out of the washer or dryer. Think one is going to simply bite the bullet and purchase a larger washing machine to can totally avoid going to this laundromat in the future.

L.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, to go along with the truism that the most bacteria-laden part of the human body is the mouth... the most virulent collection of bacteria in any home is not the toilet, but rather the kitchen sink drain. Especially those with garbage disposers that allow a potent frappe of food for bacteria and mold to be introduced and replenished on a regular basis.

The typical kitchen sponge should also be considered a biohazard. Nice and damp with plenty of food and nooks and crannies for the nasties to flourish.

 

[frigilux]

A wise move, Launderess. Get yourself a 4.1-4.5 cu. ft. front-loader and you'll have it all; capacity, energy/water savings, excellent cleaning, great water extraction. If space is limited, you can stack them.

Laundromats can be very gross/unsanitary. Back when I had to use one, I always wanted to run a cycle with bleach before I put my clothes in.

Now, just ask for brand recommendations and watch the fur fly, LOL!

 

[sudsmaster]

Perhaps a can of Lysol spray, to wet down the laundry baskets (and sorting tables) before one uses them would be a good addition to the laundromat arsenal.

 

[launderess]

Oh I NEVER Use Laundromat Tables

Have one of those huge vintage wicker laundry baskets that one takes along. Laundry goes from the dryer to the cart (well not anymore), taken from cart and folded,then put into basket.

 

[douglasdc6]

I Had to use laundrymats for many years because I could not afford to have my own washer & dryer pair , Even when I was living with my parents We couldn`t afford to go out & buy even a used set .

So glad to finaly be able to buy my own pair.

I hated having to make trips to the washateria & on many accasions someone would come in & hog all the machines & to make things worse I might find bubble gum in the machines & have ruined clothes.

I don`t mis them - Ben there .

 

[ronhic]

I dislike laundromats with an intensity that is probably unhealthy.

When I moved into my first flat there was one across the road. I never used it. I paid to have the plumbing modified in the bathroom to accomodate the Hoover Electra 550 I had ordered....

No manky baskets, grotty machines and questionable dryers for this little black duck!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Having once seen a turd-world refugee spray Raid (brand insecticide) into a washer before loading her clothes into it, one has no desire whatsoever to use a laundromat again.

One has to wonder what is living on one's person that one would need insecticide to kill all sorts of nasty beasties that one is putting in the washer with her own laundry.

(Just as an aside Tad's steakhouse [was across 34th street from Macy's] if it is still there, used to throw its rubber floor mats right on the grill that is used for steaks. This was EVERY night for years. I understand you want to wash your floors, but I mean REALLY now, EWWWWWWWWWW. The chemicals and insecticides that must have been eaten countless times............

When one thinks of the bodily fluids and solids those machines "see", one's stomach rumbles.

I myself have gotten blue in the face discussing cross-contamination, and its avoidance. Had an ex who went from sitting on the throne to the refrigerator. Didn't wash his hands. When I pointed it out he asked "Why would I need to, it's on the paper?" I was out of there ASAP, permanently. [Darling you need to come to me equipped already with certain class, culture, breeding and socal graces..........]

Between roaches, rats and those who smoke in the laundromat, (as well as the above comments) I myself am also "done" with them.

I am behind you 100% in avoiding the launderama.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~Even when I was living with my parents We couldn`t afford to go out & buy even a used set.

That is confusing to me. The weekly cost of using a laundromat is ridculously high when one is used to their own machines.

You are, after all paying the propietor's water & sewer, gas, electric, maintenence, fuel, RENT, SALARY and incidentals.

Would't monthly payments on a say SEARS card (even at "usurious" interest rates) to pay off machines be less than the weekly use of a laundromat?

 

[toggleswitch2]

Lady L:

Would you have to sneak in a machine (landlord, fellow tenants not spouse)?

I myself have been known to bring wrapping paper/contact paper and dress up the box as Christmas present. Of course much more effective/convincing if in November or December........

 

[peterh770]

First, you need to shop for a laundromat just like you would shop for anything else.

Second, it is the m.o. to use carts to put dirty wash into, sort into, move from washer to washer. No one is going to get away from this.

Third, it builds your immune system.

 

[mysteryclock]

Next time I have to launder some oversized item at a Laundromat that won't fit in the Bosch at home I plan to run an empty, hot load with Charlie's Soap, STPP and most of a bottle of Lysol concentrate to clean out the gunk and sterilize the machine beforehand. Even the cost of that + the actual wash load will almost certainly be less than sending it off to a dry-cleaner which probably has the same "ick factor" -- you just don't see it!!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Nothing has changed but what you know.

....And as Ann Landers (deceased advice columnist) once said when a woman wrote in to describe her fabulous, loving, caring amazing hsuband, good marriage and his amazing way with the kids,but who was caught (by her) horizontal with his best male friend.

Her response:
Nothing has changed but what you know. Is he not still all of those wonerful things?

(As Edina and Patsy would say maybe he just needed something to grab onto).

I had to EXPLAIN to a friend that his gym bag that was under the urinal at the gym, on the subway car and platform and everywhere else does not belong on my table or on my kitchen couters (workbench). I was looked at as if I were crazy.

 

[launderess]

Toggles:

Already have the Miele and a Hoover TT washer/spin dryer, not to mention a vintage portable Whirlpool dryer. Not much room left for yet another washing machine! *LOL*

Was considering snapping up a vintage Whirlpool or Kenmore portable washing machine, to mate up with the dryer for faster washing, but capacity on those units isn't the best.

PeterH:

Laundromats are becoming harder and harder to find in Manhattan, real estate is just too expensive and rents to high. Most laundromats are owned by the landlord of the building, or are part of large drop off services.

As for loading soiled laundry into the carts, thanks for the heads up! Now will bring a bin liner to line the cart.

Find myself using laundromats less and less these days, and really only went because of items too large for the Miele and or when a huge volume of laundry would take ages in such a "small" washer. Yes, the Hoover can whizz through a large amount of wash, but a person has to get worked up to using that thing for any long period of time. Too much effort and noise that after the first several loads the novelty wears off.

L.

 

[whirlcool]

We sterilize our kitchen sponge by wetting it an putting it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Nothing could withstand that heat. It sizzles when you take it out.

I feel fortunate. The only problem I have at our local laundromat is the machine stuffing, oversudsing mamacitas. The coin op I use recently replaced the last of its Speed Queen washers and driers with brand new Wascomat digital washers and dryers. Very nice.

It is run by a Chinese couple. When I am done washing our blankets and comforters, I always leave the machine door open on the FL machines. Usually it only takes a few moments for one of the machine attendants to come over and close the door and lock it and then give me a dirty look. Of course they are all Chinese and have very little command of the English language. But the place is clean and newly repainted. But for some reason in this part of town coin op laundries are very hard to find.
I was in town for a friends retirement luncheon today and in town there were many more laundries that I have seen up here in far north Houston.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Well, to go along with the truism that the most bacteria-laden part of the human body is the mouth...

An undertaker friend once said it was (under) the fingernails. But then again he didn't ahve to go IN the mouth.

 

[dogboy44]

Preaching to the choir here!

I am reading all this and totally agree! LOL. The last time I went to the laundomat was 1985, we lived in a railroad apt in Queens. The laundry on the corner was pretty great. Westinghouse slant front laundromat machines, an extractor, bit Cissel dryers, but the washers really stunk. I finally thought we can do better than this, and went to Stevens, an appliance store there that has since gone out of business and got a Whirlpool portable it was like $450.00! It was great washer, and hung the wet clothes on a line we had over the fire escape to the building across the back. I felt like Alice Kramden. Those were good times.

 

[mixfinder]

Where do they come from

Nasty and elitist as it sounds, I have wondered if there is a reserve where the people who ride Greyhound, shop at Wal-Mart and use laundramats are sired.

 

[frigilux]

OK, so maybe I was thinking too big with the 4.4 cu. ft. LG or Duet. Don't know what you have allotted for laundry space. Do they have to be portables? I would imagine you're not carting that Miele around, at any rate. Does the dryer have to be portable? Or perhaps more important, do you have a 220 voltage outlet?

How about a classic 3.1 cu. ft. Frigidaire front-loader with front controls, and a matching dryer that can be stacked or put along side the washer (or in another room, for that matter). The washer can be had for around $550, the dryer less than that.

Togs and I have the rear-control version and will give them high marks for being workhorses. I had first-issue 1996 front-control version when I lived in a warehouse apartment, and they're still there, servicing three families.

If you don't have a 220 outlet, then we have to rethink.

Oh, and in the ongoing attempt at AW to place you, I'm listening to The Splendid Table and I think you're probably Lynne Rossetto Kasper. An Anglophilic Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

 

[frigilux]

Kelly: Many decent people travel by Greyhound, shop at Wal-Mart and use laundromats, mostly because that's what they can afford.

As for the asshole contingent who frequent the above-listed businesses, they are sired in the same building as S-Class-driving, McMansion-living, Nieman-Marcus shopping assholes.

 

[appnut]

From a yahoo article 9 things in your home that are making y

Nobody thinks of the washing machine as a germ magnet—that’s where clothes get clean, right? Not if you’re using a public machine, and especially if that machine uses water that’s not hot enough, says Tierno.

Here’s why: Lower temperatures can encourage the spread of germs. Researchers at the University of Arizona found that intestinal viruses such as hepatitis A can be easily transferred from underwear to other garments during the washing process. Even worse, some germs can lurk in public washing machines and find their way to your clothes.

What to do: Wash your underwear and towels separately, using bleach if possible, and wash all towels in water that’s at least 155 degrees, which will kill most germs. Not sure if your apartment’s water temperature is hot enough? Talk to the building manager.

ALSO REGARDING TOWELS

Sharing a bath towel with your man may be good for the environment, but it may be bad for your health, experts warn. MRSA, a drug-resistant form of staph—also known as the superbug—is frequently transmitted by skin-to-skin contact but also by sharing personal items like towels.

What to do: “While it may be tempting to share a towel with your guy, resist the urge,” says Susan C. Taylor, M.D., community editor for bewell.com. “I warn my patients that wet towels can be a breeding ground for germs, including MRSA, which can make you sick.”

After you or your man uses a towel, send it where it belongs: to the washing machine.

Did everyone note the last sentence after using a towel--so given our recent thread on towel washing, all of those using a towel multip9le times after bath or showe3r, EWWWWW and start washing them ALL in hot water!!!

 

[toggleswitch2]

IIRC commercial dryers get to 190*f, so one simply has to machine dry towels "bone dry" and they should no longer be a bio-hazard.

 

[frigilux]

This is why I always buy white bath and kitchen linens; everything gets a dose of liquid chlorine bleach.

 

[appnut]

Ya can't always dry everything else in your laundry basket at that high a temperature without shrinkage or damage.

 

[peterh770]

When the gas prices spiked a few years ago, many laundries dialed the drying temp back to 160-170 and increased the number of cooldown minutes.

 

[sudsmaster]

All the whites - undies, socks, kitchen towels, washcloths, etc... get lumped together for a ride in the Miele at 160F. Then they get hot air dried. After all that, I'm not too worried about cross contamination (esp since the detergent is STPP boosted). If it's an especially dirty load I'll boost the wash temp to 170F, but I've noticed that the elastic in the socks tends to suffer at that temp.

Bath towels (bath sheets, really) get washed separately at 130F in the Neptune, usually with a mild liquid. Then they usually get line dried and then go for a 30 minute or longer ride in the dryer without heat to fluff them up.

 

[vintagesearch]

and thats why and many more reasons why i have stopped usong the laundromat i line dry for the longest im saving my money my time and clothes and can do laundry in pjs and stay home. we have a better washer i enforce the parental units to take care of it too so we dont have to spend $$$$$$$$ doing laundry outside pr buy a crappy 2009 machine.i do it all at home comforters pillows everything and hang dried no stiff towels or anything like that and i go about my life laundromats are hellholes with washers and dryers lol.

 

[launderess]

Hot Laundromat Dryers

If some bright blub invented laundromat washing machines that spun faster/removed more water than current offerings, it wouldn't be necessary to bake one's laundry. Many of the items one took out of the SQ front loaders were just as wet after what was a rather long final spin as the worst top loader.

Rather like vintage dryers from that used high heat to roast one's laundry dry to compensate for the poor extraction of washing machines in those days.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Let's not forget that over-vigorous spinning adds creases and wrinkles and stresses/wears fabrics, and one doesn't want to have to spend a small fortune in a laundromat to have to go home and iron!

Laundromat machines have to last DECADES with little or no maintenance, and high speed spins are anathema to bearings, IIRC.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, no, if I'm not mistaken, the high speed isn't the problem with bearings. Automotive style bearings work very well and spin much faster and under heavier side and shock loads than front loader bearings. What kills washer bearings is when the seals fail and soapy water washes away all the lubrication (grease). Then the bearing - any bearing - will fail rapidly.