Davidson’s Laundry

I haven’t been in recently, but it appears that the owners have changed – or at least gotten the memo and changed their name and replaced the paint-​peeling eyesore that their sign was. New sign, new name. Same old laundromat? Only time will tell.

Not closed — but maybe it ought to be. Place is G-​E-​T-​O. Half the machines are broken and there’s no heat inside. The floor is filthy so anything you drop in the transfer from a machine to your bag/​cart will need to be re-​washed. Don’t waste your money on the dryers — they’re merely quarter disposal units that warm up your wet clothes.

Argh! Wish they had posted that they’d be closed during the «snow emergency» today. I left my laundry in there last night.

Open till 10:00, which is a big plus to me because I like to relax a bit when I get home from work before heading out to do errands like laundry. Clean and well lit, with a line of chairs for those of us who prefer to sit and wait for our laundry to finish. The change machine was broken but there was someone working to get change from. The vending machine was empty and unplugged, so bring any drinks or snacks you might want. I went in on a Thursday evening and it was empty in there, so there was no wait. The location in Union Square is a plus for the convenience of restaurant and shops in the area, but a minus for how annoying it can be to try and find a parking space close to it.

I’ve used both the self-​service option and the drop-​off options so this will be a review of both.
Pros:
Location: It’s across the street from the coffeshop Bloc 11 so I usually go across the street and grab a latte and surf the web, etc. while I wait for my laundry to go through the wash cycle, then run across the street to put it in the dryer. I find it’s way more pleasant than sitting in the laundromat for an hour and a half (or walking the block and a half back to my apartment and then coming out again).
Affordable drop-​off service — it’s about 95 cents per pound and since I’ve started sometimes treating myself to this service, I’m beginning to get totally spoiled by the luxury of dropping off my clothes in the morning and picking them up after work and seeing them clean and neatly folded in a bag.
Also, the laundry attendant is super friendly. Also, she’s very thorough and very honest — one time when I picked up my laundry, she had a twenty dollar bill waiting for me (I had apparently forgotten to empty my jeans pockets before bringing them to the laundry — she not only checked the pockets before putting my clothes in the washer, but was also decent enough to give it back to me :)
Cons: Hours seem slightly irregular — they’re often closed before the time that’s posted on the door and when they make changes to the hours (like suddenly starting to close on Sundays or closing for a minor holiday), they don’t seem to give much notice, so there have been a few times that me or my roommate have lugged our clothing down three flights of stairs and walked a block and a half only to have to bring a large sack of dirty clothes back to the apartment because they were closed.
Several of the washers are usually broken. I haven’t experience long wait times but that’s probably because I don’t go during peak hours. And it does give the place a very run-​down feel.

Speaking only for their cleaning/​mending services… Broken pockets sewn for free with dry cleaning purchase (coat, $ 10). Zippers replaced by hand for $ 20. Four days to a like-​new coat? Excellent.

It was quite crowded in there when I went, only leaving me to the huge industrial sized washer. The upside is that I think I may use the huge industrial sized washer every time from now on. I fit four loads in one washer, which ended up being cheaper than four washers anyway. A lot of washers and dryers were out of order, but they were being actively fixed.
Big plus: lots of TIME and Sports Illustrated magazines from 2006 available to read. I read up on the pre-​death Anna Nicole Smith gossip while waiting for my clothes to dry.