How Does Renting a Washer and Dryer Compare to Laundry Mat?

It’s easy to take out the calculator and quickly come to the conclusion that renting a washer and dryer is a far better value than weekly trips to the laundry mat for the average family. At Quack Rentals, a washer and dryer set rents for $45.00 a month. If we assume a normal month has about 4 weeks, then that is $11.25 a week, for the convenience of a washer and dryer right in your own home. How does the laundromat compare to that? Well, each load of wash at the laundry mat usually costs somewhere between $2.00-$3.00 for a regular sized load and $3.00-$4.00 for oversized loads. Of course, costs vary according to the region and city your family lives in.

Now, let’s say you are a normal family of 4 that has men’s sized work clothes, women’s sized work clothes, a week’s worth of clothes for 2 kids, and then the assorted other things we use such as sport clothes, gym clothes, going-out clothes, etc. plus there are the towels, bed sheets, comforters, the dog’s bed, kitchen towels, and more. It’s safe to assume the normal family has in the very least 4 full loads of wash a week, if not much more. This is assuming 1 load of darks and jeans, 1 load of lights – socks, t-shirts, underwear, 1 load of colored t-shirts, tops, blouses, slacks, and 1 load of bath towels and miscellaneous items. This does not take into consideration that many people prefer to have fresh bed linens as often as once a week as well. If sheets are washed weekly as well, you are looking at closer to 7-8 loads of washing. For the sake of averages, let’s call it 6 loads a week.
At the very low end cost of $2.00 a load for washing, multiplied by the 6 loads, you are at $12.00, already more on JUST the washing part of the laundry at the laundrymat than you would have spent with a rental washer/dryer at your home.
Drying laundry can take another $1.50 to $3.00 a load as well. Add that up and now you are looking at a total of anywhere from $14 for the bare minimum amounts to upwards of $30-$40 for a full weeks worth of laundry at the laundrymat, including bed sheets, towels, etc. That is well over $100 a month to go through all the hassle of lugging the clothes to the car, getting them from the car inside the laundrymat, vying for a turn at the washer and dryer, then lugging all the clothing home again!

And guess what – that’s not all! How about the gas to drive to the laundrymat? And, if you are like many of us, you must do these things with the kids in tow as well. The folks that own the laundry mats are smart, they have cleverly stocked vending machines right in the laundry for you and your kids. So you may as well add several dollars worth of sodas, candy and chips to the bottom line. If it’s a weeknight you might not even have had time for dinner first – so what happens? You guessed it, a quick run through the drive through on the way to the laundry factors into the bottom line.
Oh, there is one other factor to count in. For those with no washer and dryer at home, it’s essential to have enough work clothes and school clothes to make it through the week. So that means extra added costs to own enough clothing to last it out.

So let’s look at the big picture. You don’t have a washer and dryer and you “think” you are saving by doing without. Yet, that once a week trip to the laundry mart has caused you to spend double the money at least, if not more, than having your own rental washer and dryer in your home and apartment. This simple mathematical fact doesn’t even take into account the huge time savings and ease of being able to toss in a load or two in the evenings or on the weekends, while you cook dinner, work on homework, or even watch television!

Do you need to think it over any more? Renting a washer and dryer, for just $45.00 a month, makes great economical sense, and will turn the dreaded chore of laundry into an easy to accomplish part of your home life. It’s smart to rent!