Tips for Doing Laundry at a Laundromat Once Your in the Laundry Facility
Once you are at the laundry facility there are some things that you will want to consider doing when you are washing and drying your clothes.
Measure What One Load Is
To help you gage exactly how much laundry will equal one load the first time that do laundry fill a washer with dry clothes, then add the clothes into an empty laundry basket or bag to see what amount that equals one load.
Label Your Belonging You Leave Behind
If you plan to leave anything in the laundry room while your clothes are washing and drying, put your name on it.
Keep Track of Time
When you go to start a load of laundry make sure you have a watch or something that will tell you the time, like a cell phone or blackberry, if the laundry room doesn’t have a clock. That way you will be able to keep better track of the time if you leave the laundry room of when you need to go back to switch your clothes from the washer to the dryer or to get them out of the dryer.
Always Clean the Lint Trap
Since you don’t know if the last person who used the dryer, and sometimes washer, cleaned the lint trap you should always check the lint trap before and after you dry your clothes, or in the case of a washer that has a lint trap before and after you wash your clothes.
Check the Washer and Dryer
You never know what the last person had in the washer or dryer. Some one could leave a tube of lipstick in their pocket and then it gets left in the dryer or washer. Make sure before you add your clothes that the washer and dryer that you are using are empty. Mind that you get all of your laundry out of the washer and dryer too.
Make Sure the Tops of the Washer and Dryer are Clean
Before you set something on top of the washer and dryer make sure the surface is not sticky from someone setting their liquid laundry soap bottle on it.
Use a Sign When You Soak
If you need to soak something and it is permitted in the laundry facility, make sure that you tape a sign on top of the washer asking people to not start the washer or to lift the lid.
Fluff Wet Clothes and Wait to Hit Start On the Dryer
Before you start the dryer make sure the clothes are all in there, the timer starts even if the door is not shut. Fluff, give the article of clothing a quick jerk before you place it in the dryer, the clothes that you add to the dryer to help them dry throughly.
Bag Your Clothes When It Rains
Don’t despair if you need to take your washed and dried clothes out in the rain, bag them in a garbage bag to ensure that they do not get wet.
Time the Washer and Dryers Without Timers
If you are using a washer or dryer that does not have a timer, time how long it takes for your clothes to get done washing and dried to manage your time better. Once you know you will never have to time them again because the amount of time will be the same.
You may decide to stay in the laundry facility the duration of the time that it takes for you to wash and dry all of your dirty clothes or you may decide to leave the laundromat while your clothes are washing and return to switch them to the dryer when the time comes and possibly leave again until it is time to take them out of the dryer. You may decide to fold everything while you are at the laundromat or you may decide to do that at home, which ever you prefer will be what will work best.
