I rent, but when I moved in I still paid to replace the washer with a washer-dryer. I spend less than 5 minutes a month on washing clothes. (I have multiple laundry baskets so they're pre-sorted)
If something needs ironing I either don't buy it in the first place, or I have it dry cleaned just to get in ironed.
I use a laundry service to pick up my laundry, do it for me, and drop it off. (I wouldn't pay for it if I had a machine in my apartment, but I don't, so this is the tradeoff.)
I'm glad the cost of laundry isn't included in my rent, because I'd just be paying extra.
I did the laundromat thing for four years in grad school, then ten years in various units with in-house washer and dryer, and then back to a laundromat for the last six years. It was undeniably convenient to be able to wash something on a moment's notice or at night or whatever, but I have to say I really like the fact that for a 2-3 hour investment of time every 3-4 weeks, I can get my laundry all done, at once, because the laundromat lets me work massively in parallel. And because I'm running it all in parallel, I can sort the loads differently for wash and dry: for washing, sort by colour, and for drying, by fabric delicacy (jeans can take high heat, anything with elastic stays on medium or low, etc etc). My landlord has said it's fine for me to buy a washer/dryer (there is a hookup in the basement) but I've found I'm really not in any rush to do so.
I pay $60-$70/month to have my laundry done. They do a better job than I would, and I value my time highly. Plus the capex of a washer/drier, and the opex of detergents and dryer sheets, and I think I'm coming out well ahead...
When I was living alone as a bachelor, I crunched the numbers and decided it was kind of stupid to do my own laundry rather than drop it off at the laundromat for their wash-and-fold service.
Doing a load of laundry coin-op would cost me about $2/$3 a load. Plus the cost of detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. And the aggravation of going to a grungy, depressing laundromat, waiting around for the washer to run, running the dryer several times because things wouldn't get dry, and then folding it all and lugging my baskets home.
When I was in an apartment that did have hookups, but no laundry machines, buying a basic washer and dryer ran about $1000, unless I found some ticking time bomb of a used set on Craigslist. And then there is the water and electricity costs. Not to mention the hassle of either abandoning them or having to drag them off somewhere else when I moved.
In contrast, I could drop off a huge barracks bag full of laundry at the laundromat once every two weeks, and they would weigh it up, charge me a dollar a pound, then I'd go off to work and pick it up at the end of the day, perfectly washed and expertly folded. Just in the amount of time saved at drudgery, it was worth it, besides the fact that they did a far, far better job than I would do myself.
If you have your own washer/dryer, you could also just spend a few minutes doing the laundry while you still work or play or do whatever you want.
Also, there's more to life than money, although I understand how one could become obsessed with it if people making $100+/hour can't afford a place with their own washer/dryer in-unit.
As a counter argument: I live in a small NYC apartment with a washing machine but no dryer. I wash my clothes and then hang them in the bathroom to dry. It’s inconvenient but it works year-round and my clothes get dry.
A coworker of mine originated from NYC. They didn't have any space for a washing machine or dryer in their apartment. No one did. According to him, there were several dozen laundry services that they could use, super cheap. All they had to do was put the bag of laundry outside the door in the morning, and next morning would be bag of folded laundry. To me, this sounded like heaven, but it was just common for him.
For less populated areas, this seems like an extension of housecleaning services. I've known a few people that have someone come in, maybe just once a week to clean. Some have laundry done then, others just want the cleaning. Granted, since they would be using your washer/dryer, there is a limit as to how much laundry they can do in a day. Manageable with 1-2 people, but 3 or more, each with their week's worth of laundry could really add up the dryer time.
I wash my clothes in the washing machine, then hang them to dry, that's all there is to it. It takes time (about a day) and some space for the clothes hanger in a rather small apartment, but that doesn't bother me.
I'm a nomad and I converted a lot of my wardrobe to wool with brands like Wool and Prince and Unbound. I can wear a shirt for a long time before it needs dry cleaning.
I find dry cleaning to be cheap compared to the time I would spend doing laundry activities.
Ironing an expensive dress shirt with a rusty iron at an Airbnb is not something I want to entertain.
I haven't found a good solution for workout clothes though so I usually stay in an Airbnb with at least a washer.
I have some city dwelling friends who rely on laundromats that will do the wash dry and fold service for them, that sounds pretty awesome and it’s not all that expensive even apparently. If I went back to a basic apartment I’d be doing that.
Laundry. Collect it, wash it, dry it, fold it, steam/iron it (if necessary), put it away. I don't want to cummicate, coordinate, deliver, or pick-up. Just make it happen once a week and I'd pay a few hundred dollars a month.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's balanced out by having to spend more time shopping for clothes because all those repeated trips through the washer and dryer wear them out more quickly.
A while back we got fed up with our apartment's laundry facilities, and switched to one of those Haier portable washer units, drying on a clothesline, and washing less often. At this point I'm almost annoyed with how much longer my clothing is lasting, because I'm ready for some new colors.
You make it sound as if washing and ironing is a massive chore.
Let's say you have 5 shirts a week. Step 1: When you do your white wash, throw in the shirts. Hang them up afterwards. Incremental cost: 2 minutes of your time... Step 2: When you do ironing, incremental cost of 5 shirts @ 3 minutes per shirt is 15 minutes... Probably less that your two trips to the dry cleaner. Plus, nil $ cost, no plastic wrapping to throw away, no use of dry cleaning chemicals.
I have observed that the more money people have they either: 1) have their own washer/dryer and/or 2) have more expendable cash to have their clothes dry-cleaned. Also they tend to value their time vs. money enough to pay the premium vs. go to a laundrymat.
This has sorta changed since I sometimes use those laundry-cleaning startups, but I definitely don't have a laundry machine in my apartment in Manhattan. There's a laundry room in the basement of my building, but that's been non-functional for about a month, so I sometimes trek a block to the laundromat for my regular laundry.
If something needs ironing I either don't buy it in the first place, or I have it dry cleaned just to get in ironed.
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