Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Cost of Doing Laundry

This post at Apartment Therapy elicited quite a few comments detailing how people do their laundry and how much they pay for it, up to $1.25 a load for a regular washer to $4.50 a load for a giant-size washer to $45 a week for drop off laundry service. I used to always drop off my laundry and $45 a week sounds like an awful lot to me-- I don't know if the poster is using the authorial "we" or referring to the laundry of a whole family, though, so perhaps they are getting a lot of clothes washed for that amount. I tend to spend less than $45 a month on laundry even including dry-cleaning.
This was my favorite comment:

A man named Bruce comes to pick up our laundry in his Lexus! It gets washed and returned, folded nicely and stinking of Bounce, for $40 every two weeks. There are two of us, so it's not so much money and well-worth it as far as I'm concerned. Even though my underpants occasionally disappear.
How much do you spend on doing laundry?

14 comments:

Sandi Lin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sandi Lin said...

The washer and dryer in my building are each $1.50 per load (I live in Boston). Recently I started line drying all my clothes, which cuts my laundry bills in half, saves energy, and reduces the time required (since our washers only take 30 minutes). The only time I use the dryer now is for my sheets. So, I think my monthly laundry bill is down to around $10.

English Major said...

I do drop my laundry off--I generally spend about $25-$35 every two weeks (depending on whether I do one big load or two small ones). Maybe it's cheaper in Harlem than wherever that commenter lives? (Or maybe they're speaking for a family of four or something--that's probably the most likely.)

Anonymous said...

Oof, we handled this question on our blog a few months ago. Since there are two of us we generally spend about $60/month, not including dry cleaning. With dry cleaning, that number goes up to about $100/month.

Anonymous said...

Ack, what I meant was $20/month on laundry, $50/month if you throw in dry cleaning.

Anonymous said...

I live in the Bay Area, and my laundry costs $1.50 for each wash or dry. The machines are pretty roomy front-loaders, and I get them full, so I estimate I do three loads every other week. I hang-dry some things, so I can sometimes consolidate 2 washers' worth into one dryer. I estimate I spend just under $20 per month on laundry, and I next-to-never dry clean. (one or two items in a year, max)

I'm not counting detergent costs in my calculations, and it's almost time to buy some again.

Anonymous said...

I live in boston and while I have my own washer and dryer now, I used to spend maybe $12 a month. Basically 2 loads every 2 weeks. $1.50 wash and dry. I think some people do too much laundry. I don't wash my pants until I actually think they're dirty. Same with lots of shirts. Underwear and undershirts - that's really all truly needs to be washed.

Anonymous said...

How timely! I recently moved and my apt. complex has a whopping 4 small washers and normal-sized dryers...with noting that i decided to do a drop off service for the first time in my life. They charged by the pound and I had about 30 lbs, which equaled $21.00. There is a 7lb minimum for drop-off service at this particular location in Charlotte, NC.

Unknown said...

I just bought a HE washer and gas dryer, and there are rebates from the utility companies and Sears that I need to send out for. We do 1 load of laundry per day (2 adults, plus 1 baby in cloth diapers), so machines should pay for themselves in less than 2 years, compared to $3 to wash and dry a load at the laundromat. Setting up a clothesline is on my huge list of things to do soon (we just moved to a new place - before that I line-dryed whenever the weather was nice).

T'Pol said...

I have lived in the US for a few years back in the 1990s and I was shocked to find out that many apartments do not have washers (driers are not that popular in my country, so I really did not mind that). I had originally found it very uncomfortable to use laundry machines used by everyone. I used to operate two machines empty with a lot of chlorox first and then I would be comfortable washing my own stuff. After a while I got used to it. I am now living in my country. I have a washer in my apartment and have no place for a drier. I have this folding thing to dry my clothes on and it works just fine. My mom had given me the washer so, it is free. I basically spend money on detergent and electricity.

Tired of being broke said...

I spend around $15 per month. The washers in my building are $1.50 each, and I do laundry once every two to three weeks. Dry cleaning is something I rarely do.

DivineMsN said...

I really don't know how much we spend on laundry. Since my fiance and I bought out house we just factor the cost into our utility bill. I know that he used to spend about $40 a month for himself and his two kids when he used his apartment building's washer and dryer. I used to spend about $10 a month.

Anonymous said...

Bronx Chica...Laundry for me cost a whole $10 every 2 weeks. So I spend a whole $20 every month. Fall and winter time is more since it includes comforters, blankets, etc. to keep warm.

Inside the Philosophy Factory said...

For two of us, in a long month, about $35.00 to wash. We live in St. Paul, MN.

We are moving in August to someplace with a washer and dryer in the apartment. The nice thing about this place is that it pays for the water and the hot water. Our only laundry related bill will be electricity. Addtionally, the new place includes central AC along with heat as part of the deal... AND it cuts a total of 60 minutes driving time for me every day, so the extra 145.--/month for a much nicer place suddenly becomes a good deal.