Drop off laundry

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Started 1 year ago by charmed2482
Latest reply from Rozzie
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Anita
Member

I've never heard of this service before, but it sounds like a brilliant idea if laundry is a chore you hate, or if you have to resort to a laundromat.

I share your hatred of laundromats and I've always made a point of only living in buildings with a laundry room. Boyfriend and I take turns doing laundry about once a week -- whenever the hamper's getting full, whoever has time to stick around the house for 2 hours does it -- but when he does laundry, I still sort everything first to make sure none of my delicates get bleached etc. As long as it's convenient, I don't mind doing laundry, plus I usually spend the time in between cleaning up around the house and playing with the cats, which is always nice :)

Posted 1 year ago #
HelofaMess
Member

ps... as we live overseas I don't work (can't on my visa) AND we have a lovely woman who comes in 3 days a week and does all the cleaning, ironing and washing. As I went to boarding school before and all shirts went to the school laundry to be ironed and then moved here and always had help I've never ironed a shirt in my life... my husband is SCANDALIZED! lol! It's a tough life but someone has to do it and I'm happy to take one for the team ;-)

Posted 1 year ago #
mdfloyd
Member

I used a laundry service before I bought my house. When I bought my house I also bought a washer and dryer, thrilled beyond belief I'd never have to worry about dragging my clothes back and forth.

But as time goes on and those times I get really busy with projects I will revert to going back to the laundry service. It's wonderful to drop it off, and come back that day or the next and all the laundry is clean, dry, folded, and hung.

I have to look for someone to clean my house -- I did have a young college woman who came over once or twice a month for several years and I loved not having to worry about mopping floors or swabbing out cobwebs. But after she graduated and got married, for some reason she gave up cleaning houses for other people. ;-)

Posted 1 year ago #
charmed2482
Member

I don't iron either. My boyfriend has one and a ironing board but he only gets it out when he needs to dress up for something nice. I have never owned my own iron and my mom hating ironing with a passion, so she learned how to fold things and shake them out when they came out of the dryer so they didn't need to be ironed. we had one in the house but it almost never got used. I remember my dad used to get on me about wearing wrinkled clothes, and he would make me iron them. I don't know why it even matters if your clothes are a little wrinkled. They usually just wrinkle when you wear them anyway. I just try to buy things that don't need to be ironed all the time. I almost never dress up for anything so I don't iron anything and haven't since I was a teenager when my dad used to make me iron my clothes if I was at his house and what I was wearing was wrinkled.

If I had a bigger place I would hire someone to do some of the cleaning, but its small enough, and I've uncluttered enough I don't really need to. Its easy for me to keep the kitchen clean, and we have no kids or pets. I had a huge apartment before moving here and I was really thinking of getting someone to do the floors and the bathroom every couple of weeks b/c I hated those two jobs.

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

I only iron my dh's work shirts, he has to look smart at work. I actually quite enjoy ironing, but only if it's about 10 shirts at a time so I can get into a rhythm with it, I can listen to a podcast at the same time and sip a glass of wine and slip into a meditative mode :) Plus it's only once a fortnight! My mum used to iron EVERYTHING and she hated it and always had a huge ironing pile on the go so she used to pay me to do it, probably why I don't mind it now. However, life is too short to iron most stuff, I have friends who iron T-shirts and children's underwear and stuff and you think 'uh?' They must spend hours doing it, no-one is EVER going to know if your kid's undies are wrinkled and it's just a complete waste of time and energy! Ooh, I just remembered once when I was a teenager I bought this lovely shirt which was that crinkly fabric. My mum ironed it, and it was never the same again! More crinkly fabric-ed shirts, that's what we need in life...

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

I iron less than once every 6 months! If my husband wants something ironed, he does it himself. When I was married to my first husband back in the dark ages we took his work/dress shirts to a laundry. Neither one of us wanted to iron them. :) My sister on the other hand, who's house is always a total disaster, loves to iron! When her kids were little she ironed all their clothes. She ironed pillowcases, though she stopped short of ironing sheets.

My husband was very ill from 1999 through about 2003, and we had a cleaning service that whole time. I was very happy not to have to deal with keeping the house clean (and she'd do laundry too, at least the linens/towels) while trying to work and deal with his illness. I would have her still but she moved, and by then my husband was better and agreed that he would do more (since he had retired) and we'd save money. He does do a lot, and I don't feel the least bit guilty. He was born neat/tidy/uncluttered, and has finally learned that I wasn't.

Posted 1 year ago #
luxcat
Member

there is certainly no reason not to use a laundry service if you can afford it without affecting being able to pay for other basics (housing, food, insurance, emergency savings fund, etc). If you have all those things accounted for then go for it! I recently hired a housecleaner (god bless her soul) to come every other week. My frugal little heart had struggled against such an expenditure but the reality is that it frees me up to both work more effectively and enjoy free time more effectively and it worth every dime. Now I just have to put up with people who, when they find out somehow (I do not advertise it) say "OH you have a HOUSECLEANER" like you have to be a millionaire to have one. Is it an investment? Yes. Is it worth it? you bet your laundry basket it is.

PS... I don't iron either, we either avoid things that need it or work clothes go to the cleaners. life is too short. if I didn't work full time however I would be happy to do it.

Posted 1 year ago #
irishbell
Member

@lottielot- I bet if you took one day off and did only your studies and taking care of your kids, not anything else that you normally do on a daily basis, DH might come home and freak! You could say, well yes, maybe today I was LAZY!
I never had to resort to that for my DH but a few times I did go on strike to teach the kids a small lesson on taking someone for granted! :)

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

lol, irishbell, we have had days like that, still do sometimes :) When I went back to work when ds1 was small, dh promised to pull his weight and did...nothing. So I went on strike, I did none of his washing and none of his cooking, just stuff for ds1 and me. He soon started doing a bit more cooking and shopping, he realised he didn't want to have to do his own washing! My mum used to go on strike periodically, she'd have a complete meltdown and go to bed for a week. I think that was a bit extreme and probably related to her depression and to her perfectionism. She did everything for everyone in the house and hated people helping and doing things 'wrong', then she'd get overwhelmed and go into a huge sulk. I'm aiming for more of a team effort myself, I want my kids to have some independence and also to take a reasonable share of the housey stuff. So they empty the dishwasher, make themselves breakfast and sometimes lunch, they'll set the table, my ds1 will bring the washing in off the line, they will both put their clean laundry away occasionally, if we do a supermarket run they're in charge of buying things they like and the list of things I ask them to find, etc. I'm finding having a more organised house makes it easier to ask them to do things, although I still have to nag a lot! I think you're right, it's easy for kids to take all your work for granted, and there is no better lesson than them having to do it themselves :)

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

When I was younger, my parents had a pretty balanced way of sharing chores, and my dad was not shy of pulling his weight around the house. It helps that he'd lived on his own since age 14 and had to learn to cook, clean, iron and sew for himself. But as time went on he started doing less and less, and now hardly lifts a finger except to clean his own office, iron his shirts and occasionally cook for himself when my mom isn't around. I'm not a big fan of that attitude, and hoping the same won't happen to my boyfriend and me. Right now we're each doing our part, and neither of us minds picking up the slack if the other is overworked... I just hope it stays that way.

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

Anita, that's a good attitude to have, stick with it! Unfortunately, as time, jobs and (mainly) children intervene that sense of equality can fade pretty fast :) Falling into gender stereotypes seems like a pretty easy thing for many men to do...

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

My stepdad helped at home a lot, and since my mom had never had to anything as a child (her grandmother lived with them, plus she was an only child), she was determined that her children (me and my sister) wouldn't go into adulthood not knowing how to care for themselves and their home. BY elementary school we knew how to clean house, do laundry, dishes, and cook simple meals. THe cooking evolved into mostly me doing it all (as I enjoyed it) while my sister did more baking. My stepdad taught us how to grocery shop. First he'd take us with and tell us what he was doing, then he'd go with but let us take the lead, next he'd stay in the car, and when I was old enough to drive, he'd just hand me the keys and the money. Of course by then I was also doing the meal planning as well. This all stood me well when I lived on my own after university and when I eventually got married.

My husband cooks only a little (pours a mean bowl of cereal though! And, more importantly, can make coffee. :) ), but he cleans well, and can do laundry, though the matter of hanging thinks unwrinkled or taking them immediately from the dryer still hasn't sunk in. He does fold and put away, and I seldom complain. He also washes dishes, as he hates the dishwasher which I will use if he doesn't help with the washing up.

Posted 1 year ago #
misskittin
Member

This thread is hilarious to me because my parents owned a laundromat with one of these services. I spent most of my childhood at the laundromat and did a good amount of work there. Don't worry about washing your own underwear either..we are in such a hurry to do things and see SO MUCH laundry there really is no big deal with a little underwear. Unless there's skidmarks in your skivvies in which case we are grossed out. Yes..this happened more than you would think lol...

Posted 1 year ago #
charmed2482
Member

My boyfriend does pull his weight for the most part, he cleaned up after himself, which is good b/c I refuse to clean up his stuff. Most of the time he does his own laundry too. i feel bad and feel like I should do more b/c he works full time and i don't. I didn't have classes this summer so I told him I would help with his laundry. But I have classes now and don't have as much time. School is the reason I don't work full time, and it was his idea that I work part time so I wouldn't have to be in school forever taking once class at a time. He's not a super messy person so I'm grateful for that, and he does more cooking sometimes. He also doesn't really complain when i get overwhelmed with schoolwork and don't get dishes done or other stuff that I normally do, so its really not to bad. He just has this thing about wasting money. But then sometimes he will tell me "its your money do whatever you want", but then when I do he complains. Mostly I just ignore it and do whatever I want anyway, b/c its my money and he told me I didn't have to pay rent since I was only working part time and don't make much, I pay my car insurance, was paying for school for a year from savings and i buy most of the food for us.

I'm not about to feel guilty for having someone do my laundry though, I don't care. I didn't think i would use it more than once when I first went, but now that i see how easy it was and how much time it saved me i'm gonna keep going back.

the main reason i didn't want to take my underwear is b/c the particular guy that was there, that also did my laundry kinda creeps me out. He was staring at my chest one day when I made the mistake of wearing a lowcut shirt to the laundry mat and had to get some change from him. and I don't know who works when so i decided I'd rather not take them down there. Sometimes there is a women working, or this other guy that don't creep me out at all, but the other guys does and he happened to be there. Its super easy to wash those at home in my wonder wash and then hang them on my drying rack so i don't mind doing that. I'm gonna let them do my socks and other stuff next time though, I did those at home to and it took longer than i thought it would.

if I still had pets, I would totally hire someone to help me clean.

Posted 1 year ago #
AJ
Member

Come to Hong Kong - all the laundries are drop off! (Well, I think there was one self-service one but I don't know whether it's still around.)

The majority of folks here don't have the room and/or can't afford a washing machine, and so drop-off laundries are everywhere.

For those with a bit more money/space, they employ live-in full-time domestic helpers, usually from the Philippines and Indonesia. The mandatory minimum wage for such helpers is less than US$500 a month, which might not seem much but I believe it's the highest in the region.

Posted 1 year ago #
djk
Member

just had DH call a local place to find out if they would take pressing only (wash and dry on the rack at home, they iron) and they do indeed. He does his own pressing, and sometimes mine, but all those natural fabrics I wear get underused because I find ironing a useless, pointless, boring task.

Tomorrow, a few things will be dropped off as a trial. Ironing is a waste of time unless it is fun for you. If I can pay someone...geez, it feels like Christmas!

Posted 1 year ago #
chacha1
Member

djk, my folks are retired and my mom STILL irons Dad's shirts! She complains, but I think she must like it just a little bit. 'Cause I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less.

Me? No. Even the shirts that should be ironed most often aren't. Enjoy your early Xmas present (the pressing service)!

Posted 1 year ago #
Rozzie
Member

Hey, if it's something you can afford, and you don't want to do laundry, then go ahead and drop it off!

Do remember that they may use a harsher detergent than you would, and that clothes may be dried at a hotter temperature for a longer time than you would dry them. You may see a bit of a reduced lifespan on the clothes (and some shrinking or color fade) if this is the case.

Posted 1 year ago #

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