Doncha think it's a little high??? (ranty)

[HotelMinion]

So I haven't been to the laundromat in a long while. Usually I wash my clothes in a washtub in my bathroom (no washing machine hookups) since it's just me, it's not much. My building does have a laundry, but it's only one machine for 12 families of 5 and I've seen them throw their kids' poopy diapers in there and their soccer cleats and so the machine smells horrible. And so I don't use them.
However blankets and other big items like towels are extremely hard to wash and dry, so I take those to the laundromat. The last time I was there, it was $2.00 to wash and $2.00 to dry, and now it's $7 to wash and $7 to dry. WTF?!?!?! How come it got so damn high? There's a service that washes and dries for you, and they charge $20 per blanket! With $20 I could BUY myself another blanket! I mean really? I figured that they weren't going to get far with those prices but they were full of customers! I mean busting out the door, line wrapping around customers! I got the hell of there and decided that I would wash my blanket and dry it in the building machine (the dryer smells better than the washer). The lady who worked at the 'mat was really rude too, she yelled at me when she found out that I wasn't going to use her services. So why the, if my math is correct, 350% price hike???

[Food Lady]

You could dry clean it for the same price, probably. Wow.

[WishfulSpirit]

TIme to find another laundromat methinks. Sorry they jacked up the price so much. Pretty soon management will be yelling at the peons about loosing business.

Have you seen those foot-powered washers? Might be a good idea for towels. If you dry them on a shower bar with a low fan blowing, or on a line near an open window on a breezy day, they don't get all crunchy.

[EricKei]

My guess would be a lack of competition, possibly from any other local laundromats shutting down. Only reason I can think of for them keeping that level of business with those prices is a lack of options for the customers. E.g. perhaps much of their clientele lacks access to reliable transportation/funds to use it. Kinda like how the "discount" grocery stores in the less affluent areas of cities almost always cost MORE than those in wealthy areas (because the people with money are more easily able to drive a little further for a good deal).

As for their justification for the $20 washing fee (which is at least double what it is here) -- Those places generally charge by the pound, based on the WET weight of the items. Blankets tend to absorb water really well, so...

[Cecily]

Years ago, my brother had a small portable washing machine that hooked up to the kitchen sink. It was on wheels, so he kept it in a closet and trundled it out once a week for wash day. It didn't do big loads but had no troubles with blankets. Everything was line dried, inside in winter, outside in summer.

They have some on Amazon or just Google it. At $14.00 for a wash and dry cycle, it will pay for itself pretty fast.