How Much Is a Laundry Service and Is It Worth It?

Laundry services can be a lifesaver for those who don’t own a washing machine, are short on time, or simply despise doing laundry. But how much does a laundry service cost? And is it worth it?

How Much Is a Laundry Service?

Doing laundry outside your home will cost you around $6.20 per load on average. The cost of laundry service greatly depends on your location and the type of service you need.

What Do Laundry Services Include and What’s the Cost of These Services?

Now let’s check out what you may get if you decide to let someone else deal with your laundry and how much this will set you back.

1. Laundry services typically include washing, drying, and folding/hanging your clothes on a hanger.

Some places might offer additional features such as ironing, mending, or stain removal for an extra fee.

2. There are several types of laundry services.

They include:

Full service—your clothes are washed, dried, and folded by somebody else;
Self-service—you wash and dry your clothes at a laundromat on your own.

Some laundry services also offer flexibility in terms of dropping off/picking up your laundry, so you can choose between:

A drop-off service—you can drop off your dirty laundry at a laundromat and come back to pick it up when it’s clean;
A pickup/delivery service—you can schedule someone to pick up your dirty laundry from your home, work, etc., and deliver it back to you.

Naturally, laundry pricing differs greatly for every category.

3. Washing your clothes at a laundromat will cost you $2.50–$10.00 per load, depending on your location.

The national average currently amounts to $6.20 per load. Using a dryer at a laundromat may cost you an additional 25¢ every 6–8 minutes at some places.

4. The average cost of wash and fold laundry service ranges between $1.00 and $3.00 per pound.

Needless to say, the exact cost of laundry service will largely depend on your location.

You should also bear in mind that most laundry by the pound services have a set minimum of clothes you need to wash, so your grand total will always be well over $1–$3 in the end.

5. Hotel laundry services cost about five times more than laundromat services.

There’s nothing more convenient than washing dirty laundry in your hotel while traveling. However, the steep laundry prices make this a luxury, especially in the Western world.

Hotels typically charge between $30–$50 per load — over five times higher than $6, which is the amount an average laundromat would charge.

Conclusion

Now that you know all there is to know about the price of laundry services, you can make an informed decision about whether doing laundry at home is worth your time and money.

One thing is for sure — whichever laundry service you decide to use, your clothes will be clean and fresh without you even breaking a sweat.

FAQ

How much does it cost to run a load of laundry?

Doing laundry at home will cost you about $2–$3 per load (this doesn’t include the cost of installing and maintaining your washer and dryer).

On the other hand, doing so at a laundromat will set you back by about $6 per load on average ($2.5–$10.00, depending on your location).

How do you calculate your laundry cost?

If you want to calculate exactly how much it’ll cost you to do your laundry at a laundromat, this is how to do it:

Multiply the price of laundry services per pound by the weight of your dirty laundry (don’t forget that most laundry services have a set minimum of laundry (e.g., 8 lbs) you should wash). And don’t forget to add a dryer’s fee (if there is one) to the amount.

If you want to calculate how much it’ll cost you to do your laundry at home, you’ll have to find out how much electricity your washer and dryer spend per load. Then, you should multiply this number by the price of electricity per kWh in your area.

Don’t forget to add detergent and water usage to the bill.

How much does it cost to run a dryer for 1 hour?

Since the average price of electricity in residential areas amounts to 15.46¢ per kWh, and electric dryers spend 1.8 kWh to 5 kWh per run, you may expect to spend 27.83¢ to 77.3¢ per load.

Drying clothes in a gas dryer typically costs less than drying clothes in an electric dryer, so you could have expected to spend about 15¢ to 25¢ per load up to recently. Currently, the price could be a little higher due to the surges in the prices of natural gas.