Wash and fold, done properly
Drop your laundry at the counter and collect it washed, dried and folded. It is weighed and priced before anything starts, so you know what it costs before you leave.
What will your bag weigh?
The honest problem with per-pound pricing is that almost nobody can estimate their own bag. These are dry-weight guides - not our measurements, and every household differs - but they get you close enough to know the number before you arrive.
| What you are bringing | Roughly | At $1.50/lb |
|---|---|---|
| A week for one person | 10-14 lb | $15-$21 |
| A week for two, plus towels | 15-20 lb | $23-$30 |
| A family week | 25-35 lb | $38-$53 |
| A full standard laundry basket | 12-18 lb | $18-$27 |
| Two beds of bedding plus bath towels | 16-20 lb | $24-$30 |
| Item | Roughly | Item | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirt | 0.3-0.5 lb | Bath towel | 1.0-1.5 lb |
| Dress shirt | 0.5-0.9 lb | Bed sheet, queen | 1.5-2.2 lb |
| Jeans | 1.3-1.8 lb | Duvet cover, double | ~2.5 lb |
| Sweater or hoodie | 0.9-1.8 lb | Pair of socks | ~0.1 lb |
How wash and fold is priced by the pound
$1.50 per pound with a 10 lb minimum. The bag goes on the counter scale in front of you and you are given the price before any machine is started - not an estimate, and not a surprise at collection.
The minimum is the thing to understand. It is the commonest source of disappointment with any per-pound service. If your laundry does not fill a bag, you pay the minimum for a small load and conclude the service is expensive - when the real problem is that a bulk price was used for a small job. Wait until you have a full bag, or use the machines yourself.
Every other rate we charge is on the pricing page, and the services page compares this against doing it yourself.
What a wash and fold order includes
Included
Washing, drying and folding, bagged and ready to put away. Sensible sorting - colours separated, anything you flag kept apart. Stain treatment where we spot it, at no extra charge. Your preferences kept on file once you have told us. The same machines we use for everything else; nothing goes anywhere but our own floor.
Not included
Ironing is not offered - folded means folded. Sorting is standard, not bespoke. Repairs are not included - a loose button comes back as it went in. Hanging is not standard. Stain removal is best effort; anything already through a hot dryer is set.
What to put in the bag, and what to leave out
Everyday washable clothing and household textiles. Shirts, trousers, underwear, socks, t-shirts, jeans, pyjamas, towels, sheets, pillowcases, tea towels. Anything you would ordinarily put through a normal wash at home belongs in it.
What stays out is anything that needs a decision made about it: items with a care label restricting the method, anything with unusual fastenings or embellishment, anything you have been treating a stain on, anything valuable, and anything you would be genuinely upset to lose. A bulk service processes bags rather than garments - which is what makes it efficient and also why the exceptions belong elsewhere.
Two practical things. Put socks and anything small in a mesh bag so they stay together. And check pockets properly - a pen through somebody else's wash is a worse outcome than through your own.
How your laundry is handled
Once the bag is weighed it is sorted - colours separated, anything you have flagged kept apart, anything that looks like it needs different treatment set aside. Then it is washed on the machines on our floor, the same ones anyone can use for self-service.
Drying is done properly rather than quickly. That sounds obvious and it is the step most likely to be rushed anywhere, because a dryer emptied ten minutes early frees a machine. A load that comes back to you slightly damp will smell within a day, so we would rather hold something a little longer.
Tell us at the counter about anything that needs particular handling - a garment that must be cold, something that cannot be tumble dried, a new red item. Say it once and it goes on your record. Thirty seconds there prevents almost every complaint a laundry service can generate.
How long does wash and fold take?
Next day for most orders. Bring a bag in the morning and it is generally ready the following day.
Bedding and towels can take longer, because the drying is the constraint and we would rather hold a duvet cover an extra few hours than hand it back damp. Weekends are the busiest period, so a bag dropped on a Saturday afternoon may come back later than one dropped on a Tuesday morning - and dropping off earlier in the day makes more difference than anything else.
We give you the collection time when you drop off rather than quoting a standard and hoping. If you have a deadline, say so at the counter and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible.
Bedding and towels, the loads worth sending
These are what most people send and what the service suits best. A domestic machine takes most of a day to do a set of bedding properly, and the drying is what makes it a day rather than an afternoon.
A week of bedding for two beds plus towels is a straightforward bag here - sixteen to twenty pounds, by the guide above. Duvet covers, sheets, pillowcases and towels all go in together and come back folded.
The duvet or comforter itself is a different thing. That is priced per item under oversized and household rather than by weight, and it is worth doing two or three times a year rather than with the sheets.
Your first drop-off, step by step
Bring the bag in during opening hours. It goes on the scale, you are told the weight and the price, and you are asked whether anything needs special handling. Leave a name and a number and you are given a collection time. Come back and it is folded, bagged and ready.
Check it at the counter rather than at home - anything to raise is far easier to sort out there and then. There is no account to open, no minimum commitment and no obligation to come back.
Losing things
Individual items occasionally go astray in any bulk service, and a well-run operation counts, bags and labels to make it rare. You can reduce it further: mesh bag for socks, leave out anything irreplaceable, check the bag before you hand it over. If something does go missing, tell us promptly rather than a week later.
Whether it is worth the money
For some households it is not. If you have a working machine and time in your week, doing your own is the correct answer and we would rather say so. If you are unsure, try it once with the loads you least enjoy - bedding and towels - rather than your whole week. That answers the question cheaply, and our guide on whether wash and fold is worth it goes through the arithmetic properly.
Bring a bag in whenever suits
6043 W Addison St, open 6:30am to 10pm seven days, with free parking in front. No appointment, and you will know the price before anything starts. If you would rather not make the trip, we collect.