Payless Cleaners

This place should be called «clean less». Price is like everywhere else, but the quality of work is very low. The lady is very rude and unprofessional. All the good reviews are left by her friends.

I’ve been using them ever since we’ve moved into the neighborhood some 17 years ago. I get all my dry cleaning done here, and Joyce has done numerous small and not so small sewing jobs for me. She is scrupulously honest and will always point out when something doesn’t make sense and won’t work out, even if it means she makes less money in the process. She is clearly more interested in establishing a long-​term trusting relationship than in making a quick buck, which is why she has so many loyal old customers. And she remembers everyone’s little quirks, such as the fact that I bring a bag for my trousers so as not to have to recycle the hanger and plastic bag. She patiently folds my trousers and puts them carefully in my bag, and while she probably thinks that I’m a little nuts, she still smiles indulgently. One of the treasures of our funky little neighbor hood.

Joyce saved me from wearing a dress that was too big to a wedding. I don’t live in the Outer Richmond anymore, but when no one else would alter my dress with 24 hours notice, I knew I needed to make the drive out to see her. Sure enough, she altered it perfectly and the price was much less than a new dress. Thank you!

Payless Cleaners has been my go-​to spot for dry cleaning for a few years now… even before I moved over to Outer Richmond. Joyce is a sweetheart and I trust her. Once, I honestly thought that my most favorite jacket was ruined for good, but Joyce brought it back to life. Reasonable prices. Quick turnaround. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
Closed on Sundays.

I have been going here for years. After moving across town I primarily use Payless for alterations. One of my favorite things about Payless is Joyce. She is a practical seamstress. She will tell you; yes I can do but not worth it. then proceed to make alternate suggestions. I appreciate her thrifty and practical nature — and of course her work is quality.

When I think about dry cleaning and San Francisco, one image pops up in my mind: that seminal scene from «Invasion of the Body Snatchers» (*).
I am talking about the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman. The very best of the bunch, you know. As you might remember, the movie stars Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Carwright, and Leonard Nimoy.
So, at one point, Donald Sutherlund drops his clothing off at the Dry Cleaners. We see him walking along Grant Avenue, past the Four Seasons Restaurant. He enters the store and something very disturbing happens. The dry cleaning man is telling Donald that his wife looks like his wife «but she’s not my wife, she’s not my wife, you know?».Alright, there is nothing extraordinary, no special effects, no gore, nathing… But the sense of uneasiness and uncanny that I felt watching that scene still haunts me today, after all those years (30!).
Well, the good news is that I never feel uneasy dropping off my shirts at Joyce’s place. Possibly because we are talking about the Richmond and not Chinatown. That is: the Body Snatchers have not arrived yet — they are probably intimidated by John Carpenter’s Fog. Who knows? We are safe. For now.
Joyce, the lovely lady who is in charge of this store is kind, efficient, and ultra-​fast. I’ve been coming here for more than three years, and I never encountered the slightest problem. In a sense, she adopted me. Often she sounds like my mom: «Oh, you’re too skinny, eat something!» or «don’t dry clean a t-​shirt, save your money!» (but it’s a Diesel t-​shirt!) or «you should not be washing this shirt so often!» (full disclosure: like creative supreme mad man Donald Draper, I have a stock of identical white shirts in my drawer, what can I do?, I like consistency!).
Joyce has saved countless pieces of clothing, including: a G-​Star white shirt with so many coffee stains that it turned brown; a jacket with Rorschach-​like burgundy patterns (mostly, Nero d’Avola and Amarone, good years, too), and bed sheets with, huh, some compromising marks. No question asked.
Bottom line: Payless Cleaners will clean anything, including your dirty conscience.
* Mental note: if I were living in New York, I would probably think of «American Psycho»… Why do I have to constantly rely on popular culture to make sense of ‘reality’? I need professional help…

Never again. Had a minor stain on the shoulder area of one of my favorite sweaters that I took in, and when I received it, the sweater looked fine, except for that one area… it looked like it’d been scrubbed harshly, leaving little lint balls, and the area looking matted. There’s also a $ 10 minimum for credit cards. What a downer.