A Time-saving Secret Revealed

6/13/2007

(ARA) - It's no secret that laundry is one of the most dreaded household chores. When your laundry basket is overflowing and time is short, take a load to the local laundromat for their laundry drop-off service.

With a drop-off service, you can cut your laundry time down to five minutes. Simply drop off your wash at a nearby coin laundry and pick it up when it's finished. Ron Lane, owner of the Oasis Laundry in Sacramento, Calif. says drop-off services are popular. "You can save a lot of time with a wash-dry-fold service. Once my customers try it, they never go back to doing their own laundry. It's such a time-saver and perfect for anyone who is time-starved."

According to a recent poll, the Coin Laundry Association's members reported that 70 percent witnessed a significant increase in drop-off laundry business.

"For many, time has become a precious commodity and people are outsourcing laundry and other household chores in order to buy back their time," said Brian Wallace, president of the Coin Laundry Association.

Wallace adds that the average base charge for wash-dry-fold is 90 cents per pound and that one load of laundry typically weighs between 10 and 12 pounds.

"You can expect to spend about $20 for two loads of laundry," said Wallace. "That seems like a small amount of money to pay for a few more hours in your day. In fact, data from Procter & Gamble, a household cleaning product giant, estimates that the average American woman spends seven to nine hours a week on laundry."

The Coin Laundry Association provides the following tips on what to look for in a good laundry drop-off service:

* Talk to the store about your garments. If you like to have your clothes washed in a certain temperature, have your socks folded a particular way or have an allergy to a specific detergent, discuss this with the store. A qualified laundry service will customize to your needs.

* Look for knowledgeable attendants. A good laundromat should know how to care for an array of fabrics and use appropriate products.

* Ask about detergents used. Top-notch wash-dry-fold services use high quality, professional detergents, bleaches and softeners.

* Check out the pick-up and drop-off services. For an additional fee, many stores will pick up and drop off your laundry.

* Talk about stain removal. Address any spots or stains on your clothing and how you would like the store to remove it.

Fall is the perfect time to take your coats, wool blankets and sweaters to the Laundromat. With the expert assistance of laundry attendants and technologically efficient washers and dryers, a coin laundry will get the job done.

"Some fall washables are tricky to launder. To prevent shrinking your wool sweaters, take them to a Laundromat," said Lane. "A good self-service laundry will carefully follow the item manufacturer's care instructions and can properly care for them in their large, heavy duty machines. Save yourself the headache and have someone else do it for you." Courtesy of ARA Content