The following tips could come in handy when you're making your first visit to a coin laundry.

Pick a quiet time if you need to wash several types of laundry

If you'll need to wash several types of dirty laundry (such as lights, whites, darks and delicates), then you should pick a time when the coin laundry will probably be reasonably quiet. This is likely to be towards its closing time in the evening or shortly after it first opens.

One of the wonderful things about a coin laundry is that, if you go at the right time, you can wash several different types of laundry at once. However, you might not be able to do this if you go during its busy periods when most of the washing machines are occupied and there is only one free.

If this happens, you might have to wash a batch of laundry, wait for the cycle to finish and then keep doing this until you have washed each category of garments. If each cycle lasts an hour, this might result in you having to stay in the coin laundry for four hours. Conversely, if you pick a quiet time when most of the washing machines are available, you can put each group of garments into a machine, wash everything at the same time and be done with this task within an hour.

Bring more coins than you expect to need

It's also sensible to bring more coins than you expect to need. Much like when you start using any washing machine or dryer, it will take time to determine which of the washing machine cycles in this facility will work best for the laundry you need to wash and (in the case of the dryer) how long the clothes need to left in before they are fully dried.

As such, during your first visit, you might find that, for example, the quick cycle on the coin laundry's washing machine was not long enough to remove a tough stain on one of your shirts and that you need to put them in again and use a longer cycle. Similarly, you might find that your thick towels need an extra 20 minutes in the dryer, in addition to the 30 minutes you originally put them in for, in order to get them dry. Making sure that you have the extra coins needed for these additional washing and drying sessions will ensure that your clothes are stain-free, beautiful-smelling and completely dry when you leave.  

Use these tips next time you go to a coin laundry.