Why I Take My Laundry to the Laundromat Even Though I Own a Washer and Dryer

Yes, I have a washer and dryer at home.

And yes, I regularly load up all of my laundry, put it in the car, and drive it to the laundromat anyway. 😂

At first that sounds completely backwards. Why would I pay to use machines somewhere else when I already own them?

Because I’ve realized that sometimes convenience isn’t about doing something at home. It’s about getting it DONE.

And laundry at my house can take practically an entire day.

The Problem With Doing Laundry at Home

My washer takes around an hour to wash one load.

The dryer is even worse. A load can take close to two hours to completely dry.

That’s manageable when there’s one load.

But three or four?

Suddenly I’m moving laundry from machine to machine all day long. And because each load has to wait for the one before it, the entire process stretches on forever.

Technically, I’m doing laundry at home.

Practically, laundry has become the background activity of my entire day.

I got tired of it.

Then I Started Going to the Laundromat

The biggest advantage of a laundromat is something incredibly simple:

I can use multiple machines at the same time.

Instead of:

Wash load 1 → dry load 1 → wash load 2 → dry load 2…

I can throw everything into several washers at once.

Then everything goes into several dryers at once.

Last time, I washed all of our laundry in three washers for $17.

Even better, my laundromat has free dryers on Thursdays, so that’s officially become laundry day. 😂

What could have dragged on for most of the day at home was finished in less than two hours.

I’ll happily take that trade.

I Was Looking at the Wrong Kind of “Convenience”

I think we sometimes assume the most convenient option is automatically the one we can do without leaving the house.

But that’s not necessarily true.

Having a washer and dryer at home means I don’t have to leave.

The laundromat means I don’t have to spend all day doing laundry.

For me, time wins.

And there’s another benefit I didn’t expect: when I go to the laundromat, laundry becomes a contained task.

I go there.

I do the laundry.

I come home.

It’s finished.

There’s no forgotten load sitting in the washer. No clothes waiting in the dryer. No basket I’ve been stepping around for three days while promising myself I’ll fold it later.

Well…the folding part can still happen. I’m not claiming miracles here. 😂

Make the Waiting Time Useful—or Enjoyable

The other thing I’ve started thinking differently about is the time I’m actually at the laundromat.

I don’t have to treat it as wasted time.

I can bring my laptop and work, answer emails, plan content, read, listen to something, or just sit there with a coffee and enjoy not being responsible for anything except moving clothes when a machine beeps.

And once everything is in the machines, the machines are doing the work—not me.

That’s very different from losing an entire day at home because I constantly have to remember what stage four different loads of laundry are in.

Find the System That Works for Your Life

This isn’t me saying everyone should stop using their washer and dryer and start going to the laundromat.

If your home machines are fast and laundry doesn’t bother you, keep doing what works.

But if there’s something in your life that continually feels harder than it should, it might be worth asking:

Am I doing it this way because it’s actually the easiest way—or because it’s the way I think I’m supposed to do it?

Sometimes getting your life a little more sorted isn’t about becoming more disciplined or creating the perfect routine.

Sometimes you just need a better system.

And apparently, my better system involves three washing machines, free dryers on Thursdays, and getting the heck out of there in under two hours. 😂