# Laundry Costs



## WateraDrop (Nov 16, 2008)

I'm wondering if you guys could give me some input.

My landlord wants to charge us $20 a month on top of rent to use the washer and dryer in the apartment. Compared to using the machines in residence when I lived on campus, this is clearly more expensive.

My question is: how much does an average person spend on laundry per month (In both laundromat and home laundry situations) and is $20 a month too expensive?


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

My wife and I were trying to figure it out the other day, as I was sick and tired of having to go to the laundromat. The average dryer costs about $.25 in electricity to dry 1 load; a washing machine costs about $.10-$.15 per load in water and electricity. We are spending about $80-100 month at the laundromat, for the two of us and our 4 kids. I'd say $20 a month sounds reasonable- as long as you don't have to pay for the machine if it breaks down.


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## WateraDrop (Nov 16, 2008)

Well let's say I need to do one load of whites and one load of colours and then two dry cycles at the most. For one month, would $20 be expensive? This is assuming I do laundry once a week.

Also, this is $20 per person and the landlord is including detergent. I said I didn't want his detergent and had my own but he said just don't bring it. I want to bargain it down but he's being stubborn on this.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Landlord sounds like a cheap skate. Sounds like a bad situation to me I would call the housing board or someone that can put an end to this foolishness. If you were getting laundry for free before. or if this is a new rule after you moved in. 

Some of these "People" are just about the money. I think it's a cultural thing


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## WateraDrop (Nov 16, 2008)

Bottomline: he's cheap as all get out. 

I told him about dorm laundry costs and he's said if I don't want to pay the $20, just take it home and wash it. Being a student and going into my third year, I don't think I'll have time just to go home for laundry. 

On the lines of cheapness, he doesn't even let us touch the thermostat. I just moved in on Wednesday and the apartment itself is "new" in that it was just renovated so the rule is new I guess. 

The building includes water and gas in its pricing or whatever so that's covered but he has to pay for electricity I think. Naturally, since he's being like this, I have all of my electronics on 24 hours a day and my minifridge in my room is set to the coldest setting. Enviro-guilt = yes. Revenge = ..hmm. Lol.

In any case, I'm reading on some site called isthatlegal.ca to check what the tenancy act in Ontario might say about this.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

I remember those days and $20 is a lot if you're only doing laundry once per week.

I suggest you just wash random things everyday... lol joking

Options:
1) Find out the rules and fight it (takes time)
2) Bring it home to wash
3) Bring it to a friends place to wash
4) Split it with your friends and they can wash their cloths at your place

Just some suggestions


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Fish_Man said:


> I remember those days and $20 is a lot if you're only doing laundry once per week.
> 
> I suggest you just wash random things everything... lol joking
> 
> ...


I love the 4th suggestion. (open your own Laundry mat)


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

$20 a month is probably reasonable if you have to do laundry once a week, two loads each time, plus use a dryer. That and haul your clothes to the laundromat, wait for two loads to wash and to dry, and take it all home.

As for the thermostat, that sucks. But you can always just get a space heater for your room, especially if you're not paying for hydro.


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## buffalo (Mar 6, 2010)

The landlord would be better off to say u are paying for a portion of the electricity bill; and as a plus you can use the laundry


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## ryno1974 (Dec 6, 2009)

TBemba said:


> Landlord sounds like a cheap skate. Sounds like a bad situation to me I would call the housing board or someone that can put an end to this foolishness. If you were getting laundry for free before. or if this is a new rule after you moved in.
> 
> Some of these "People" are just about the money. I think it's a cultural thing


Your kidding right? Why else would he be doing it besides the money? Is he a registered charity?

Its called capitalism. Deal with it.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

ryno1974 said:


> Your kidding right? Why else would he be doing it besides the money? Is he a registered charity?
> 
> Its called capitalism. Deal with it.


You must be kidding, If you want an extra 20$ for use of laundry you should have just included it in the price of rent. Charging ppl for the use of extras is low class IMO. I would be looking for another place ASAP because whats next is this Landlord/Slumlord going to be charging for how many time you flush the toilet.


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## buffalo (Mar 6, 2010)

pay per toilet flush lol. Worse limited toilet flushes


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## ryno1974 (Dec 6, 2009)

TBemba said:


> You must be kidding, If you want an extra 20$ for use of laundry you should have just included it in the price of rent. Charging ppl for the use of extras is low class IMO. I would be looking for another place ASAP because whats next is this Landlord/Slumlord going to be charging for how many time you flush the toilet.


Lots of things are not included in the price of rent. You are making this guy out to be a demon when all he is doing is running a business. Is that the best way to do it? Maybe, maybe not, I am not in his line of work. But the laundry is not free, so someone has to pay for it.

I would say the user would be a pretty good guess as to who should be responsible................


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*laundry*

id call the ontario rent tribunal , see what there opinion is .
go to laundramat one month and see what it actually costs u 
if its cheaper , screw him if its in your favour pay it . in my opinion he should of just included it in the price of the rent , , this is just like the damn 5 cents we pay per bags , just in clude it in the price i dont want to know i am payin for a damn bag.
feel it out , u don t need the hassle 
sometimes its just not worth it 
good luck 
tom


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2010)

tom g said:


> this is just like the damn 5 cents we pay per bags , just in clude it in the price i dont want to know i am payin for a damn bag.
> feel it out , u don t need the hassle
> sometimes its just not worth it
> good luck
> tom


this is off topic of the original post of course, but...

many people choose not to take a bag... why should it be included in the price when the whole point is get people to bring their own bags or ask for paper bags. It wasn't the stores that decided this fee


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*bags*

yah i know i was just tryin to make a point that i would not be offended if it was burried in the price , why cant stores switch to paper bags , hmmmmmm
u relize a portion of the five cents goes right into the owners pocket , ohh well i was not tryin to switch the topic my pet peeve sorry if i changed the subject ,that was not my intent .
tom


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

yes, being a landlord is all about money. you pay for their mortgage, their taxes, the bills. sounds kinda shady though, the way he has it set up. why have laundry available in the unit and not apply whatever fee right into the rent? makes no sense to me. next thing you know he'll be charging you an air breathing fee. also, its not legal to add extra expenses for things that were described as included after the fact and you have to have access to heat controls in most conditions unless it is a building run on hotwater heat where the whole building is set to one temp which has to be tolerable, as in warm enough or warmer than necessary so you can open a window do adjust the temp yourself. i would probably look for a different place.


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## darb (Mar 29, 2010)

I have never lived in a rental unit where use of a washer and dryer was included with my rent, would perhaps expect it if it was in suite and was included in the rental contract. But for $20 a month or $5 per week including detergent for the use of unlimited on site laundry machines ..... hands down a no brainer.

try lugging all your laundry out every week, or paying 2 or 3 dollars per machine like it is in some rental buildings and you will maybe realize the bigger picture.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

TBemba said:


> I love the 4th suggestion. (open your own Laundry mat)


I was about to suggest the #4 suggestion. I've never used a laundro...wait.. ok I did before but I faintly foggy remember it as I was on vacation and I think ti was something like $2 in quarters back in the day.

I say if you do the $20/month option rally up some friends in a similar siutation and split the cost of the laundry or say add a $1 on top of it after you split it down amongst X friends as you are the holder of the account so you can cover your detergent costs and not really raking in a profit.

I'm not sure how it goes if the laundromat is monitored by the landlord. If so then I think it would mean you'll have to be the one loading and unloading the laundry if you're under the 'eye'. Just tell friends theyh ave to fold it themselves.

BTW Where the heck are you? I've not used a landromat in decades and I sure would like to get some sleeping bags cleaned out and I heard that front loaders are best for that with least or no damage. I own a top loader so I know the agitator may wrap some thingsa round.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

darb said:


> I have never lived in a rental unit where use of a washer and dryer was included with my rent, would perhaps expect it if it was in suite and was included in the rental contract. But for $20 a month or $5 per week including detergent for the use of unlimited on site laundry machines ..... hands down a no brainer.
> 
> try lugging all your laundry out every week, or paying 2 or 3 dollars per machine like it is in some rental buildings and you will maybe realize the bigger picture.


Yah if it's closer to home it'll always cost more. Think like hotels and the stores in side it. If you go out of your way a few blocks to some grocery/snack store you can get the stuff way cheaper but it is at a cost of time/travel. You could make a fitness thing out of it by biking or walking/lugging it via a folding cart and get some fitness out of it while listening to an audio book to make it more productive.  Just saying 

Depends on what clothing you wear it may/may not be worth it for that extra $20/month. I can understand the landlord being a business person and you are paying thier mortgage and such but on the other hand I feel for the students and try to help out students when I can to save money. Heck, we all could save a lot more money. Come to think of it... we should have a tip sharing thread on how to save money.

If you wear fast drying clothing then just wash it then hang dry it. In the summer you'll get an evaporative effect to help cool the place down. Pending how fast you want your favorite garment and material say like jeans could take a day to dry out. You can save on fabric softener by using vinegar. If you have heavy clothing then it may be worth the trip out to the laundromat once in a while like jeans and such but if you have lighter materials (ie. twill pants) and wear something like underarmor leggings under it you have a warm setup with two thin garments of clothing which can dry faster then a pair of jeans. Let me find that washing machine thing I saw a while ago.

.....

I remember seeing this in the news a few times ago.

http://www.laundry-alternative.com/ I'd likely stick to 1-2 pairs of jeans on the safe side as jeans + water = lots of weight.

The spinner.
http://www.laundry-alternative.com/products/Mini_Countertop_Spin_Dryer.html

Portable, light, easy to move around and can pass to the next person if/when you stop moving from place to place later.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

As someone already said, it's business. If laundry use wasn't in the original contract to rent, then it's legit for the landlord to charge for it. It's up to you to decide if the $20/mt is worth it. From way back in the apartment days, it cost a few $ for each run of washer or dryer in the apt. building basement (no detergent included). So $20/mt doesn't sound too far off, even if it was just the use of the machines without detergent.

And sucking up the power is just bad karma....and a waste.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I have only three apts in our side of the building and we share a washer and dryer. Its a dollar to wash and a dollar to dry. I do about three loads a week.

so I pay about 24 bucks and I don't even have the damn things in my apt. LOL I gotta drag my laundry up three flights since we have no elevator. We do pay hydro.

My old place was 2.00 to wash and 1.50 to dry. So there it was costing us almost 40 dollars to wash and dry and it was also shared between 10 apts. We didn't pay hydro.

I think my situation now is a lot more reasonable, I have a little one so dragging loads out to the local mat doesn't really work much for me anymore.

There is also the issue of peak times. I know I could bring my stuff to my moms, but I would only be able to do it during the day which is a big nono. It would cost so much to do that. ya know?

It just depends on what seems more fair to you. He could have hid it in your rent, or what have you. I wish I had a washer and dryer actually in my apt. That would be sweet, I would also be able to use it a lot more often and would probably use more than my 20 dollar cost.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

At my old apt, it was $2 per wash and $1.50 per dryer load. I did an average of 5 washer loads and 2 dryer loads every 2 weeks. That's $10 washing and $4 drying every 2 weeks, or $28 per month. (That's to use the machines -- detergent/softener extra).

It is rude and possibly not legal for him to charge an extra fee for the laundry if it wasn't already in the contract. However, it is probably less expensive than the laundromat, and certainly less effort if the machines are well maintained, accessible, etc.

By charging a flat rate like this instead of per-use fees, it might also backfire on the landlord. Once people have to pay the flat rate, they might use the washing machines at every opportunity with the reasoning that "hey, I'm already paying for it."

I wonder how it will turn out. . .


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## WateraDrop (Nov 16, 2008)

Thanks a lot for the input guys. We eventually settled on $3 per a 2-hour "turn" where you would have unlimited usage of both washer and dryer during the two hours. He's restricting it to after 9pm only though but since he's not in like, every day, no one is really sticking by that rule anyway lol.


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## missindifferent (Jun 25, 2010)

WateraDrop said:


> Thanks a lot for the input guys. We eventually settled on $3 per a 2-hour "turn" where you would have unlimited usage of both washer and dryer during the two hours. He's restricting it to after 9pm only though but since he's not in like, every day, no one is really sticking by that rule anyway lol.


He's pretty insane... I was going to suggest that if you're going to pay the $20, to wash before 9pm so it costs him double! lol


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