Although we don’t like to talk about it, we all have dirty laundry. How do you deal with that in a Shiny Tiny? The simplest answer is – laundromat! Tah-Dah! A washer and dryer take up lots of room, at least a full-size one. Stacking sets really help on saving square footage compared to side by sides and you gotta think that way when you live in under 999SF.
So here’s how it breaks down for us. I do the laundry and Sue folds and puts everything away. On the rare occasion she has time off of work, on laundry day (Tuesday), she will do the whole kit & kaboodle. That’s a serious treat for me and a pain in the arse for her. Thanks Hon! Oh, and for cooking dinner about 99% of the time too!
We spend about $10 a week at the laundromat, and it costs about $3.50 per round trip for gas but that doesn’t count my time. There are sometimes rugs or blankets and they add another load or two each month. So we spend about $50/month on laundry and $14/month on gas. That equates to about $768 per year. (I almost always multi-trip though and run other errands while out, but for the sake of argument, we’ll assume the gas is used only for the laundromat trip.) That’s a lot of money, but a washer and dryer are not cheap. Within two or three years we could pay for a stacking washer and dryer; not one of the high-end ones in metallic blue with all of the bells and whistles, but there are other considerations. Actually I would love this metallic blue one just for the color, not the price or size. Even the most basic washers now, have heavy, normal, and delicate cycles and who really needs more than that anyway?
Let’s look at the pros and cons of going to the Laundromat vs. Owning a Washer/Dryer
At the laundromat-
Pros
-Laundromat Yoga (you gotta click that pic and read the story) Luv it!
– Everything washed and dried within two hours a week or less.
– Large enough units for blankets and rugs
– You get to meet new and wonderful people
– You’re supporting a local business
– No water, energy cost, or upkeep on your own washer and dryer.
– I get Wi-Fi there so I can work on my computer whilst washing the laundry
Cons
It takes time to drive there (about 25 minutes for me), but you can listen to some awesome Podcasts along the way and learn something
You get to meet not so wonderful people, guzzling soda and eating junk food out of the laundromat vending machines, while their morbidly obese children play scream-tag, and bang into you and your computer, while pushing each other in forbidden clown-car-laundry carts, out into the parking lot traffic. All of this goes apparently, completely unsupervised, while practicing Lord of the Flies style parenting! AAARRGHHHH!! That’s harsh, but we’ve all seen it and at the laundromat you get to be right in the center ring of the circus! I have stories.
Owning your own Washer/Dryer
Pros
– You could throw a load in and still go about your business without a second thought.
-Not wasting time or gas money driving to a laundromat
– Right in the comfort of your own home circus!
– You get to see that pretty 3 feet wide by 6 feet tall bright metallic blue washer and dryer! Sweet!
*I think this set up is in a Tiny Piney and not very functional – especially for ease of use and the grease a kitchen stove always seems to create.
(click the pic to see an article on Tiny House Talk)
Cons
– Spending money on water, utilities, and upkeep on your washer and dryer. If anything goes wrong with them you’re the one paying for it.
– In a Tiny, a full-size washer and dryer take up a lot of room, and the small ones may just not function well enough to really make them viable.
If I was going to redesign our house though, I would make certain to make room for a stacking washer and dryer. So as you start to see some of my Tiny Plans that will be coming out soon, you will see space for that. Could be in the kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom.
Where would you want your Washer and Dryer in your Tiny to work on your Dirty Laundry?
Cheers,
Ron
ron@shinytinymansion.com