Knowing how to use a laundromat is a powerful tool to get the most out of your laundromat experience 

Tips when using a Washer at a Laundromat

• Avoid overloading washers.  Overloaded washers will not do a good job in washing and extracting water from your laundry.
• Avoid using an undersized washer for your laundry, especially quilts. 
• Avoid using the permanent press/delicate washer settings whenever possible.  The cold, warm, and hot washer settings offer the maximum water extraction time.
• Pouring a small amount of detergent for the PRE-WASH allows the detergent to attack stains/dirt in its purest form because the washer uses less water during this cycle.
• If you poured too much detergent and the front washer glass is covered with suds, use a fabric softener to break up the suds.  Otherwise the excessive suds will suppress the vigorous tumbling action needed to release stains and dirt from your laundry.
• Our washers dispenses your soap automatically.  If you forgot to pour the soap in the beginning just pour it and use water to drain it manually into the wash.
• If the laundromat is busy please stay until the washer has finished so that you can move it out of the washer to the dryers.  If you are not in the area when the washer has finished and another customer needs the washer the attendant on duty will place your load in a laundry cart.

Tips when using a Dryer at a Laundromat

• Avoid over drying your clothing.  This waste gas, your money, and shortens the life of your laundry.
• Avoid overloading the dryer.  The dryer needs space to allow the air to blow through your laundry.
• Do not allow your laundry to form the shape of a ball, which will cause wet spots.  Your laundry should tumble and fall down loosely in the dryer to get the maximum dryer utilization.  This tip does not apply to High Spin Laundry.  Our dryers ability to reverse the drum prevents the "ball" effect.
• Expect to use more money drying your load if you used your own washer
• Expect to use more money drying your load during winter months and heavy rainy days
• Our Electrolux H Series High Spin Washers (sizes 30 lbs thru 80 lbs) will remove more water from a laundry load than any other washer in the market so if you are using our services first start the dryer with two to three quarters(depending on the size of the dryer) then check to see if you need to add another quarter.  That way you will save time and money in drying and help us keep the cost of using the natural gas to heat up these dryers down.  For example, using the smaller dryer and depending on what you are drying our customers have reported using as little as two quarters and most have used just three quarters to dry their load.  

How does a washer clean my laundry?

Laundromat washers depend on the tumbling action of the laundry to release the dirt while detergents aid in releasing stubborn stains and dirt.  The effectiveness of a wash depends on the following factors:  

• A washer that is overloaded with laundry to a point where the laundry has little movement to tumble WILL NOT remove stains/dirt effectively.  The splish-splash effect that tumbling causes is what releases the stain/dirt. 
• Adding too much detergent is wasteful and will not result in cleaner cloths.  In fact, the more detergent one uses the more likely detergent residue will stay on the laundry despite the rinses.  This residue is further glued on to the laundry during the drying cycle.  It is later released to the skin via perspiration, which many result in skin allergies.  The main reason why regular detergents are not recommended for washing baby cloths is because of this risk.
• If during the wash cycle the whole front glass door is covered with suds the customer used too much detergent.  Using a fabric softener such as DOWNY can cut this condition.  Excessive suds should be avoided since the objective is to have the laundry tumble down vigorously, not allow the suds to “float” the laundry down.  The less of a vigorous tumbling action the less effective the wash in removing stains and dirt.
• Setting the temperature controls to DELICATE or PERMANENT PRESS should only apply to very delicate clothing.  The washer agitates less under these settings and the water extraction mode for these settings is only one minute compared to four minutes for the COLD, HOT, and WARM cycles.  Thus laundry such as jeans, quilts, and heavy water absorbing material will not receive the required tumbling action effect to loosen and remove the stains/dirt.  In addition, it will take much longer to dry this type of laundry, resulting in wasteful money and gas resources.
• All our washers start with a PRE-WASH cycle.  Most customers do not pour detergent during this cycle.  However, it is a good idea to do so.  During this cycle the washer uses less water.  That means the detergent can attack the stain/dirt in its purest form.  Since the PRE-WASH uses little water always use less detergent in this cycle.

How does a dryer dry my laundry?

Laundromat dryers utilize natural gas to fuel a hot flame which in turn is blown against the laundry that is rotating in a tumbler.  The air needed to operate the dryers comes from the outside air.  Air blown through the dryers is then redirected back outside of the building.  It is this exhaust air that removes the water from the laundry in the form of steam.  The screened windows you see on the exterior side of our Laundromat are where the air comes in and the aluminum ductwork you see is where the hot air comes out. 

The time it takes to dry laundry depends on the following factors:

AIR

Since the dryer depends on air coming from the outside of a building,

• The colder the air, the longer it will take the dryer to reach the temperature it needs to turn the water to steam.  That is why laundry will take longer to dry in cold hard winters than in hot dry summers.
• Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air.  Air has high humidity during rainy days.  Thus, the more humid the air is the longer it wills the laundry to dry since the dryer will need to dry the humid air along with the laundry as well. 

WATER

The more water a laundry retains after wash, the longer it will take to dry the laundry.

• Thus, towels, jeans, quilts, and blankets, for example, because of the nature of the material, retain more water after a wash and thus will require more dramatic time to dry them. 
• Jeans are notorious in the amount of time it takes to dry.  At times when feasible it is best to use the dryer to start the drying process then hang them outside under the sun to complete the drying.
• The extraction ability of home washers cannot match those of commercial washers so drying laundry washed in a home washer will take longer than those washed with a commercial washer. 
• If a washer is overloaded do not expect it to do a thorough job in extracting the water.  Thus, using an undersized washer for quilts will not extract the water as efficiently as a larger sized washer. 
• Commercial washers subject the laundry to four minutes of extraction time for hot, warm, and cold settings.  However, for permanent press and delicate settings the washers subjects the laundry to only one minute of extraction.  Thus, unless the customer has very fine clothing, use the warm, cold, or hot water settings to maximize the water extraction.  Don’t expect using a delicate or permanent press setting to thoroughly extract water from jeans or quilts within one minute. 

USAGE

Overloading a dryer will not allow the air to blow through the laundry, which is the trick to drying the laundry.

Also, maintain an eye on the laundry in the dryer.  The laundry should tumble and “fall” loosely in the dryer.  If the laundry tumbles and forms a “ball” the inner portion of the laundry will not get the hot air it needs to dry.  This causes wet spots to occur.  Quilts are especially susceptible to forming into mass balls.  Using a fabric softener sheet, such as BOUNCE, in the dryer will help minimize this centrifugal aftereffect.

When a dryer reaches the cooling phase it turns off the hot flame and blows unheated air to cool down the laundry before removal.  Review the laundry before the cooling phase in the event more quarters are needed to complete the drying cycle.  Otherwise, the dryer will take some time to restart the hot flame to reach the temperature to continue the drying process.

Adding too many quarters is not only wasteful, but also shortens the life of your laundry.