I choose not to have a washer and dryer.

I suppose that I could have one, if I really wanted a pair… but I don’t. Even when I had them, I really didn’t want them. I always found that with children and all, I always seemed to be doing laundry. There was always a load or two to do, and wait and then fold and forget and have to fluff again or worse, someone would leave wet laundry in the washer for a couple days and it would get nasty and mildewy… I hated doing laundry one load at a time.

And once I learned what a mess that a washer with like 30 gallons of soapy water can make when it decides to leak all over. And a dryer that stopped working and almost caught on fire, that was fun.

I know, people will think… oh my gosh, laundrymats are expensive! Well, yes and no. First of all, I save my change. I almost always end up with about $10 in quarters without even thinking hard. Just do. I pop them in my laundry jar and they are ready to go.

And we seem to be able to go about 3 weeks before we’re down to the last weird outfit and then, it’s laundry day!

It costs us about $40 a month to do all our laundry. $10 or so comes from change. Another $20 gets taken out of the bank and turned into quarters. And $10 – $12 dollars is lunch for the three of us and a couple of pops. (So technically, I should say that laundry costs us about $30 a month.)

That’s about $400 a year.

It was hard to find much data, but I did find the following… most American families will do about 400 loads of wash a year. I know we’re probably not in that average because we do about 12-14 loads per visit and we do about 14 visits a year. That’s about 168 to 196 loads a year. Let’s just say 200 loads a year. 3 people, that’s not too bad.

Another place I found quoted that a load for electricty, gas, and soaps, etc., was $1.76 for the average homeowner. Now that does not include the cost of the machines. An average cost for a new machine is about $300 to $1700 (WOW! 1700 each? Wow.) Let’s just say, $500 each. That’s another $1000 for the first year, and then if you’re lucky they will last you a while.

I can do a load for $1.50 for the washer and then about $1.00 for drying. So $2.50 a load.

$500 a year. Against $352 if I owned the washer and dryer. Same amount of loads.

Sure, it’s probably cheaper to have them. But, here are the savings that I think should enter in to the equation.

First of all, it takes us 2 hours on the dot to get our 12-14 loads done, washed, dried AND folded.

12-14 loads at home would take like, oh 12-14 hours. WAY big savings of time there. And it’s all done, and finished and forgotten for another couple weeks. At home, it’s an ongoing saga, day after day it seems. Or you have to spend like ALL day doing it. Because you can only do one load at a time.

My time is valuable and I normally do graphic work for at least $20-$25 an hour billed. Or I’m working on my own products that will feed and provide for my family for years to come. So having an extra 10-12 hours a day, means some good amount of time and profit for me.

The girls like to bring their schoolwork and so we don’t loose any time out for that. And sometimes, we just sit and talk and laugh, have our lunch out and enjoy some pop and have a good time. We all chip in at folding time and make short order of the task. Many hands make light work.

The laundry is close by, clean, and has lots of room to fold and fluff your stuff. It’s just easy to get it done. And there’s good reading on the bulletin board…

And I don’t have to have a huge space in my small moby devoted to these mechanical beasts, and my utility bills stay low and I don’t have to maintain or buy, or fix them when they go down. (And they do. Eventually.) And I love that I can throw a quilt and a comforter and sheets and all into one of the big ones and it’s all done in 26 minutes. Well, washed… so I tend to do a better job of keeping big chores done.

So, that’s why I love the Laundrymat! Oh yeah, and I get to read magazines instead of buy them… and that’s a savings too! But most of all, I just love having it all done in just 2 hours. We just trot it home and hang it up and put it away and it’s done for another 3 weeks. Just lovely.

There are plenty of domestic chores that I love to do and take time with, craft and enjoy. But laundry is just not one of them. I’d rather not mess with it all the time, week in and week off. Heck one laundry we like even has free wi-fi! If I really wanted, I could bring my laptop and work there! But, naw, it’s just too much fun to step away from that stuff for a while and just hang out with my girls and do a little fluffing and folding and chatting!

TOWELS VS PAPER TOWELS UPDATE…..

Well, it’s been about two months now since I gave up on paper products, and primarily paper towels. (Not ALL Paper products… as bath tissue is just not something I want to make or whatever… that’s a little toooo nut and berry for me, thanks!)

Our inital towel investment is still hanging strong. It takes $2.50 a month to wash and dry them. Not bad when we were going through at least 4 or 5 rolls a month before, and even the cheapest towels are like $1.69 now. Sometimes I could get a 6 pack at the dollar store for about $5. But they were always pretty cheap towels and we would go through more, it seemed. It’s not a huge savings, but it’s a good feeling sort of thing. I know that the washing and drying takes resources… water, electricty, but I think in the end, that’s not as bad as paper pulp processing and the chemicals that are used as well as the tree resources just to be wasted and thrown in a landfill, that sort of thing.

I guess in the end, it’s a small thing, but then I think too, a small thing done by lots and lots of people can quickly become a much larger thing. And I just kind of like using them, instead of paper towels. They just work better.

We haven’t had any paper plates or cups or plastic wear either. That feel a lot better, too. And all of it adds up. I think it easily balances out the slight extra cost of using a laundrymat. I like good give and take scenarios. Good and fair trade off, if you ask me.

I wish I could get more consistant with the whole plastic bag thing. It’s really boiling down to me forgetting to take my bags in whenever I shop! Drives me nuts. I’m about 75-80% of the way there. I really need to make a little card for my car that says Got Bags? to remind myself to take the things in!!! Someday!!! I’d like to go a whole month without using or getting any plastic bags! That would feel good. Soon…. someday!!!

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