Yep, it's been a very long time....since I've had to use the laundromat! Somehow, I thought a laundromat would be updated by now. Not really. Here's the story.
A couple weeks ago, when we were at the beach, I decided that I wanted to see if I could get some stains out of a king comforter. My cleaner had told me she tried, but I was skeptical that she did. I thought I could do better. She thought it was red wine stains. It sort of looked like wine, but I think it's Hawaiian Tropic--you know, that brown oil?
I discovered that there was a laundromat nearby. Off I went.
It was a pretty nice place, newer and clean. But things really hadn't changed at all. It just got more expensive in 50 years. Back in the day, it cost 35 cents to wash and 10 cents for each 10 minutes to dry. One thing hasn't changed--which really surprised me. You still have to have actual coins! Had I known, I would have brought my poker money! Not only do you have to have coins, you actually have to have cash to put in the change machine. Surely they should be able to accept credit or debit cards by now. But no. Luckily, I always carry cash. That's a lot of quarters. And then I had to buy some detergent--$3.00--basically a dollar a pod. The gal told me that the big machines took 3 pods. I can't believe I forgot to bring that! But I remembered the spray and wash! I just never gave it a thought. I went to the large machines in the front of the store. Do you know how long it takes to feed 42 quarters in to the machine?--$10.50 to wash.As it turned out, I could have used the regular machine. They are all bigger than regular, home machines.It was $3.50 for 25 minutes to dry. It wasn't completely dry, but I had already been there an hour and was ready to go. When I got home, I laid it over the dining room table for a day to let it air dry.
No, the stains did not come out. Was it worth spending $17.00 to wash it? Absolutely! Now I know for sure that it was actually cleaned!
And, you will be happy to know that I resisted the urge to run a yardstick under the machine looking for errant quarters! As kids, we were able to buy a lot of candy that way. Also, we always checked the coin return on the pay phone there too!
Truth be told, I didn't really resist. I just didn't have a yardstick! Another thing I forgot!
Oh, thanks for the primer on what I need to take to the laundromat when I take our comforters in. I have quite a stash of quarters, so that's no problem. But I am dreading it nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I dropped one off for the cleaners personnel to launder it, they got the edge caught in the door and ripped the edging off of it for about 6 inches. I should have made them replace it, but I was able to repair it somewhat. It is on the guest bed on the side no one really sees, so I just live with it. Finding pretty comforters to replace them is not easy either. So much of the newer stuff looks cheap. So wish me luck taking my master bedroom comforter in.