Living without Laundry in Building?

Not having w/d in the unit would be a deal breaker for me. But that's just me. Your best bet is to send it out to a wash and fold service. Many will come to you home and pick up.

Maybe not when I was in my early 20s but today not having laundry would be a definite deal breaker (but then so would not having an elevator and most elevated buildings have laundry). Have you the northern edge of Hell's Kitchen? There seem to be more elevated buildings there that should have laundry.

Wash and fold deliveries are only convenient if you have a doorman and with no laundry I can be pretty sure their is no doorman either. On the other hand its cheaper if you take it yourself and drop off.

Such a shame, because I found this gorgeous brownstone for a great deal, but no laundry is a major inconvenience... I'd almost rather live in a 5th floor walkup with laundry. Makes me wonder what all these UWS people do for laundry when living in older brownstones.

Routine. Walsh and fold and shirts. Plan your days and stick to it. My dry cleaner has a key. Drops it inside the front door. But there's 3 years of tipping and Xmas bonuses to get that service!

drop off your laundry thats what pretty much everyone does, its almost as inexpensive as doing it yourself plus you save valuable hours of free time. Unless you like doing laundry in which case you can find a laundrymat I am sure.

I did wash and fold for about five years. It was easy (place was across the street) but don't expect them to use any special care. Hot water, minimal detergent, and high heat to dry. That's fine for a lot of things, but expect to make trips to the laundromat yourself for anything that won't tolerate the heat.

I live in a building with 2 kids and no laundry, when we moved in 9 years ago I thought it would be a deal breaker. Now I can't imagine doing my own laundry - it's worth a little extra expense. We realized we were essentially paying ourselves $5 an hour to wash and fold for hours every weekend. Now someone picks it up in the morning it and returns it at night. There are 2 places on our block, one does a terrible job and the other is fantastic, they take great care, never a problem and will front you the money if you are short on cash. Once you find good place and send it out, you'll never want to go back.

a shared washer is full of germs, virus, and debris, can't imagine some barbarians can live with it in the 20th century, and now it's the 21st century already

Imagine sharing a washer with a grass mud horse.

I feel like wash and fold services are only convenient if they deliver, and delivery is only convenient if you have a doorman or someone to receive the laundry. And if you have a doorman, you probably have laundry in your building.

Also, why are people freaked out by the idea of sharing washer/dryers with people in their building but not with strangers who use wash and fold services?

Find out how close the nearest place is that you would be willing to use for laundry service. I pay $1/lb. for a cleaner across the street from the back entrance of my building. It is about as far away as the walk to the laundry room in my building. And for $1/lb., it costs me about $5 more to send out all my laundry than if I were to have washed it myself. 3 trips to the basement, detergents, folding, finding the time... that extra $5 is more than worth it to me to send out the washing. If the nearest place is 4 blocks away, though, and you have no doorman, then yeah it is a drag and may be a deal buster for you. Only you can decide these things obviously.

Laundry is such an issue in New York City and so many other cities around the country provide you with a washer and dryer in most apartments. I never understood why laundry isn't viewed as a necessity here and at a minimum, buildings should have laundry facilities for the residents in the building if not in the actual individual units themselves. But that's just my opinion. But it's really what you are comfortable with and what is convenient for you. I'm sure there are places where you can pick up your laundry on a Saturday and drop it off during the week early in the morning before you leave for work. Also it depends on how much laundry you have. Is it just one person or a family? Laundry for several people can add up quickly. Some people handwash some of their clothes and have it dry in their apartments. It's definitely an issue here for many people.

I suppose it is all about what you get used to and what your personal priorities are. I have a strong preference for having access to laundry in my unit - that was key in my recent living space choice. You get conveniece and time-savings when you send it out, but you pay more and your clothes wear out faster. If living in a an area that doesn't commonly have in-building laundry is important to you, then you have to make some trade-offs. But as many here have said - it's a very personal kind of decision.

If you have a wash and fold place...it is so much more convenient. I am too cheap to use it myself but i asked some of my tenants if they wanted me to install washer/dryer in their apartments or in the basement and the universal response was "NAY" since the wash and fold places were so convenient, affordable.

When I moved here from Dallas three years ago, I thought it was going to be a huge deal not to have laundry. I briefly lived in a building with laundry in the basement, before moving to a building with no laundry. Honestly, sending out wash-and-fold is the best thing ever. I pay 95 cents a pound, I call the guy before work to come pick up and then he delivers once I get home in the evening. The time savings is exponential to me, versus sitting at a laundromat or even doing the laundry myself in the apartment.

not doable

Well - there's always this:

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/index.php/the-wonderwash.html

Now whoever could've imagined a more efficient repurposing of a Costco-sized mayonaisse jar?!?

In all seriousness: Something to consider, & you'd be in no violation of anything whatsoever.

Good Luck!

It's exponential.

"a shared washer is full of germs, virus, and debris, can't imagine some barbarians can live with it in the 20th century, and now it's the 21st century already"

Can't imagine going to a hotel and sleeping in a shared bed full of germs, virus, and debris, some barbarians can live with it in the 20th century, and now it's the 21st century already. LOL!!

one of my rental walk-ups have laundry and they all rent quite easily

Sorry, NONE of my rental walk-ups have laundry and they all rent quite easily

"I live in a building with 2 kids and no laundry, when we moved in 9 years ago I thought it would be a deal breaker. Now I can't imagine doing my own laundry - it's worth a little extra expense. We realized we were essentially paying ourselves $5 an hour to wash and fold for hours every weekend. Now someone picks it up in the morning it and returns it at night. There are 2 places on our block, one does a terrible job and the other is fantastic, they take great care, never a problem and will front you the money if you are short on cash. Once you find good place and send it out, you'll never want to go back."

***

You must have either found the extremely rare gem of a service that knows how to do laundry properly (unlikely), or you have extremely low standards.

@Jim

"you sound like such a spoiled pussy. what you do is find a wash and fold place, they pick it up and drop it off and they bill your credit card."

'Spoiled' would be someone so rich that they can pay those prices. I have a washer in my apartment and it's no hassle at all to toss in some detergent and press the Start button, and then go get the stuff an hour later when it's done. And that's about 15 pounds of laundry. It takes 20 minutes, tops, to hang two people's stuff on the clothesline. Paying $1 per pound is just silly.

The negative is that we have no dryer or balcony so we have to hang stuff inside the room, which takes up a lot of space. If you don't have a balcony and value additional apartment space more than money, maybe I could see sending it out.

"I have a washer in my apartment and it's no hassle at all to toss in some detergent and press the Start button, and then go get the stuff an hour later when it's done. And that's about 15 pounds of laundry. It takes 20 minutes, tops, to hang two people's stuff on the clothesline. Paying $1 per pound is just silly."

Maybe it's "silly" for people who already have their own washers and dryers in their apartments.

Not so much for people who don't even have laundry in their BUILDINGS.

Wiivile, I wouldn't worry too much about this; the hipster's trademark of semi clean clothes are starting to catch on with the mainstream anyway.

This trend has launched a number of new so-called "semi-cleaning" establishments across the metropolitan area, most notably in Williamsburg.

Skidmarks of Bedford Avenue (skidbedave.my/mocha/undies.com) is largly considered to be the one who capitalized on this trend, charging very reasonable prices for very obvious reasons.

They'll even further soil a garment at the customer's request, in the event they feel their clothes are too clean, for a nominal charge.

Don't know where you stand on this issue, but if you're amenable to this, it's a service well worth considering.

"Maybe it's "silly" for people who already have their own washers and dryers in their apartments.

Not so much for people who don't even have laundry in their BUILDINGS."

If your building doesn't even have one, you should go to a laundromat. Even in Manhattan it's got to be less than a dollar a pound.

At that point, for many people (who don't really care about how thoroughly and properly their laundry is cleaned), having to schlep to the laundromat now becomes a serious cost item time-wise.

For most New Yorkers, their time is worth much more than the $20 they'll spend on the drop-off service.

Triple_Zero

1 day ago

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@Jim

"you sound like such a spoiled pussy. what you do is find a wash and fold place, they pick it up and drop it off and they bill your credit card."

'Spoiled' would be someone so rich that they can pay those prices. I have a washer in my apartment and it's no hassle at all to toss in some detergent and press the Start button, and then go get the stuff an hour later when it's done. And that's about 15 pounds of laundry. It takes 20 minutes, tops, to hang two people's stuff on the clothesline. Paying $1 per pound is just silly.

The negative is that we have no dryer or balcony so we have to hang stuff inside the room, which takes up a lot of space. If you don't have a balcony and value additional apartment space more than money, maybe I could see sending it out.

wait.

wait.

you hang your fucking laundry up IN your apartment?

you live in an apartment that has a washer, but no dryer?

YOU HANG YOUR FUCKING LAUNDRY UP IN YOUR APARTMENT?!?!?!?!?!?

If the cost of wash and fold is seriously too rich for you (about $30-$40 per week for a my family of 3) then you are living on the wrong island.

I lived a long time without and it will take you 10 mins a week and $20 to drop it off. It s not the end of the world!

It sucks.. Sucks even more when you pay for it and it isn't provided. Sending it out isn't bad but they don't spot so you have to spot first and then send it in. I don't think sending it out is bad - I did this when I had laundry back when I was a young lass - lol - but now I can't do an emergency laundry or anything like that for my kid because our laundry has been broken since Sandy.

If you have kids it's a no go. If no kids probably not a deal-breaker if you can do a drop off service.

I can't believe that after all Jom Hores has done for the illegal alien - the "marriage" cover story, free residence at the rental apartment in Sutton Place, access to Oliver People's glasses, Metrocard for the 2nd Ave bus, the anchor baby, etc., that she still charges $30-$40 to do his laundry.

I survived an apartment that was a four flight walkup with no laundry in the building. And the nearest laundromat and/or drop-off for wash-and-fold (WF) was a couple of blocks away. I made sure my next apartment had laundry in the basement and an elevator. However, I got hooked on wash-and-fold. You might want to consider proximity of wash-and-fold service when you look at any apartment (just as you might other necessities like a grocery store). You will have to shop around a bit and check reviews (yelp, etc) to find a good one.

Have my own washer/dryer in apt, and Im the only one in my building (grandfathered). Have laundry machines in our basement, and I still drop off and pick up a block away.
It costs nearly the same without all that sorting and folding.
No...brainer

I own Todd Layne Cleaners on the Upper East Side at 242 East 77th Street. We have a Laundromat to do your own laundry or most of our customers have us do it for them. We have a menu of detergents, stain fighters, fabric protectors and scent infusions. Hang or Air Drying is available for gym clothes/delicates and we can also select your water and dryer temperature. We try to do it the way that you would do it yourself...a lazy person's dream.