Self-service laundry on machines that work
Twenty-four washers and twenty dryers at 6043 W Addison St, from 20 pounds up to 80. Every machine is serviced and maintained, every price is posted, and there is someone on the floor if you need a hand.
Every washer and dryer, and what each one costs
The whole floor. Nothing is left off, and these are the prices you will pay at the machine.
| Machine | How many | Price | Cycle | What it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 lb | 8 | $3.75 | 30 min | One regular load - a week for one or two people |
| 30 lb | 6 | $4.75 | 30 min | Two loads at once, or a basket plus towels |
| 40 lb | 5 | $5.75 | 32 min | A family week, or a queen comforter |
| 60 lb | 3 | $7.50 | 35 min | A king comforter, or several loads together |
| 80 lb | 2 | $12.00 | 35 min | Rugs, sleeping bags, the biggest things you own |
| Machine | How many | Price | Pairs with | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 lb stack | 12 | $0.25 / 12 min | The 20 and 30 lb washers | |
| 45 lb | 6 | $0.25 / 12 min | The 40 lb washers | |
| 75 lb | 2 | $0.25 / 12 min | Comforters, rugs and the 60-80 lb loads | |
What does a self-service visit cost?
Two numbers, not one. The wash is the posted machine price. The dryer is bought in blocks of minutes on top, and for a normal load that adds a modest amount at $0.25 per 12 minutes - more for towels and denim, less for light cottons.
| A realistic visit | Wash | Dry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| One person, one basket | $3.75 | ~$0.75 | ~$4.50 |
| Two people, plus towels | $4.75 | ~$1.00 | ~$5.75 |
| A family week in one machine | $5.75 | ~$1.25 | ~$7.00 |
Using one large machine rather than several small ones generally comes to less overall and finishes in a single cycle. Every other price we charge is on the pricing page.
How to load a washer so it actually cleans
A washing machine cleans by tumbling - lifting the load, dropping it, and forcing water and detergent through the fabric as it moves. A drum packed to the top cannot do any of that. The water sits, the rinse never reaches the middle, and the load comes out soapy rather than clean.
Two thirds full, measured dry. It will look underfilled. It is not.
The second mistake is detergent. The measurement on the cap assumes a full, heavily soiled load in hard water, and most loads are none of those. Excess detergent cannot rinse out of thick fabric, and the residue is the commonest cause of stiff clothes and towels that smell wrong the moment they get wet.
Both are free to fix and both matter more than which machine you pick.
How long does a laundromat visit take?
Allow an hour and a half for a wash and a dry together. A wash cycle is thirty to thirty-five minutes depending on the machine, a dry is thirty to sixty depending on what is in it, and folding is ten if you do it here.
The way to compress that is to run everything at once. Five loads that would take five evenings at home take about ninety minutes here, because five machines run in parallel and there is no waiting for one cycle before the next begins. Take one large machine for the bulk and a smaller one for anything that needs separate treatment, then split the drying across two or three dryers so nothing is packed.
That is also why the large machines matter to households that own nothing bulky - a 40 or 60 pound washer is what lets a family do a full week in one visit rather than three.
Paying, and what is on the floor
How to pay a machine
Coins or a card at every machine, or the Cents app if you would rather carry neither. Choose the cycle, pay, and it starts. If nothing happens, check the door latched properly before assuming the machine took your money.
LINK at the counter
Illinois LINK cash benefits are taken at the counter. A coin-op machine cannot read a LINK card, so it is a counter transaction - wash and fold or drop-off - rather than a way to start a washer.
Tables, carts and seating
Folding tables with room to work, carts for moving wet loads between machines, seating so ninety minutes is not ninety minutes standing, and a restroom.
Somebody on the floor
Attended every hour we are open - 6:30am to 10pm, seven days. Not a camera and an intercom. Ask which machine to use; it is the most common question in the place.
The quietest times to use the laundromat
Weekend mornings are the peak, here as everywhere. A weekday evening or an early morning is quieter and you will have your pick of machines - including the large ones, which go first on a Saturday.
The last wash goes on at 9pm. That leaves an hour before we close at ten - enough for the wash and a short dry, but not enough for towels, bedding or anything bulky. If that is what you are bringing, come in by 8pm so the drying is not rushed.
Opening at 6:30 means a load before work is possible, and the early morning is the quietest hour of the day.
What the machines cannot wash
Almost everything domestic is fine. The exceptions are worth knowing before you make the trip: rugs and mats with a rubber, latex or foam backing, because the backing breaks up in a commercial drum and sheds into the machine and the drain; anything with paint, solvent or grease on it; solid memory foam; and anything the care label says should not be washed in water at all.
If you are not sure, bring it in and ask before putting money in a machine. We would far rather tell you at the counter than have you find out halfway through a cycle.
If a machine takes your money and does not start
Find the attendant. It gets restarted, moved or refunded on the spot - it is not something you need to solve and it is not something you have done wrong. If a machine stops with your laundry locked inside, do not force the door: a front-loader locks while there is water in the drum and releases once it drains.
Or drop it off and let us do it
If the ninety minutes is the problem rather than the machines, wash and fold is the same laundry done by somebody else - priced by the pound, weighed in front of you, usually back the next day. Plenty of people use the machines for their clothes and send bedding and towels through wash and fold, which is a sensible split rather than an either-or.
It is also the answer when the load is one you would rather not stand over - a week of bedding, a pile of towels, the catch-up wash after a fortnight of not getting to it.
Compare all three ways
Come in whenever suits
6043 W Addison St, open 6:30am to 10pm seven days, with free parking in front. Nothing to book and no busy time to avoid for a machine - turn up whenever it works for you.