Choosing a Laundromat: A How-To Guide

Maybe you are new to town or visiting family or on vacation and are looking for a clean laundromat…, but not necessarily the closest one.  I mean just because the closest one is the most convenient, it doesn’t mean that it is the one that we actually want to do our laundry at. We are all looking for a CLEAN and COMFORTABLE place to do our laundry, so when choosing a laundromat, how can we pick a “winner” the first time instead of walking in and out of several laundromats until we find one that is suitable? Well, let me give you a few tips since I have visited several of them around the country and can really appreciate a clean, well-maintained laundromat.

First of all, we would recommend getting online and looking for laundromats with good reviews nearby.  Just because a laundromat pops up in the top three Laundromats near me, that doesn’t mean that they have the best ratings or that they are even the closest.  Take the time to scroll down and look for more options and find the ones with the best ratings and read their customers’ reviews. In the reviews, look at what the majority of customers are saying.  Do they say that it is clean, family-friendly, efficient, money saving, helpful, etc.? Look at the poor reviews, too, and see if that tends to be the trend for the business or simply an outlying review.  Also, see how many reviews the business has.  Five reviews versus twenty-five reviews can show how strongly customers feel about a business whether it be good or bad.   The laundromats with the best reviews might not be the closest to you, but a few extra minutes of driving time might make all of the difference for you.  If you are concerned about a laundromat being busy at a certain time, simply checking on Google can show you when the busiest and slowest times at the laundromat are.

When you finally arrive at the laundromat you selected, you are probably looking for one thing. Is it clean? Is the floor clean, are the machines clean, is the bathroom clean?  These are all things that you should look for and are standards that The Dutchman’s Laundry strives to maintain. No one wants to put their laundry in a dirty washer and we do our best to always ensure that the machines are clean. While sometimes the weather or other customers (who don’t follow our Laundromat Etiquette guidelines) can affect the cleanliness of the laundromat, we do our best to always keep it clean and ready for new customers.  If you have a concern about a machine, please, talk to the attendant and they can get it taken care of for you.  We want you to have a wonderful experience at The Dutchman’s Laundry!

Another thing to look for when stepping into a laundromat for the first time is to look at the machines.  Are they newer machines?  You might be thinking, “Who cares if they are new or not? I just want them to clean my clothes!”  The newer the machine is, the more efficient it is.  The newer washers spin out faster, resulting in less drying time, meaning you get to save your time and money!  Newer machines also could mean bigger machines.  The Dutchman’s offers washers that can do up to eight loads at one time!  It also has variously sized dryers that can dry multiple loads at once.  These big machines are time and money savers since customers don’t have to pay for multiple individual loads or wait for each machine to finish. If you don’t want to have to visit a laundromat to see its machines, check online to see if the laundromat has a website to view their machines on.  The Dutchman’s has an area on our website that you can view our machines on at www.thedutchmanslaundry.com.

When checking out a laundromat look around to see if they have a security system and an attendant.  The security system is there to help keep you and your belongings safe.  It is helpful in deterring bad behavior and can help you feel more safe and comfortable.  The attendant can also help you feel safe, as well, and can help you with any questions that you might have.

If your whole family will be coming along to the laundromat with you, look for a laundromat that offers a variety of helpful amenities that will make your family’s stay more enjoyable.  A children’s play area is one amenity that can make or break your opinion of a laundromat. It is a big help in keeping the younger children entertained while you get the laundry folded and taken care of.  Cable TV is also something that laundromats are offering to help the time pass faster and so you don’t have to miss out on your favorite game.  More and more laundromats are also providing free WIFI for their customers.  This is helpful for those who might have school work or business to get caught up on or if you simply just want to catch up on social media.

A laundry drop off service is something that you might want to consider looking for and can be a valuable convenience to you.  This is helpful if you don’t have the time to do your laundry or if you just plain old don’t like doing laundry. Wash, dry, and fold service is becoming a more popular option for busy families and couples to help with the weekly workload.

Where can you find that perfect laundromat with all of these wonderful amenities and machines, you ask?  Why at The Dutchman’s Laundry, of course! We are excited to offer each of these convenient amenities for all of our customers to make it a wonderful experience at The Dutchman’s Laundry. So many families have appreciated the variety of amenities that we offer which have made their laundry day much more enjoyable. Rather than having laundry be a big, dreaded chore, many families have been able to relax a bit while doing laundry… even with the kids in tow!