Tolt Laundry — Local services in Carnation

My laundry room at home is out of commission for a few weeks so I needed to find a laundromat. The one nearest to me has poor reviews and the pics on the web look bad so I broadened my search and discovered Tolt Laundry Company. Based on the reviews, pics, and info on their website, I gave it a try yesterday. I am really happy I did!

I arrived in the early afternoon on a Saturday, expecting to have a hard time finding 3 washers and dryers available at the same time. Although there were a few people there with laundry in the works, I had no trouble finding 3 machines next to each other for washing and drying. There were a few machines out of order, which is to be expected when there are so many machines on site. Even with the ones out of order, there were plenty of available machines.

The place is pretty clean, all things considered. I didn’t feel like I needed to wipe down everything I touched. I did wipe down the counter I used to fold my clothes, but only because the granite countertops makes it difficult to see if there’s dust or lint accumulated and I didn’t want to roll the dice on that.

The owner came in while I was there. She checked all the machines, tidied up, said hello to customers, and talked with me for a bit. I can tell she wants customers to have a good experience when coming there.

Although I brought some quarters with me, I wasn’t sure if I had enough so I used the change machine there. It worked with no trouble at all. They even have a dispenser with complimentary plastic cups to hold the coins.

The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because the coin receivers in the machines are a little persnickety and I had to reinsert coins a few times in order to get them to drop down and be recognized. I’m a coin op laundry newbie so I wasn’t sure if I could open the dryer door while the machine was running and temporarily stop it to check on how dry the clothes were without the machine turning off and requiring more coins to start again. Some basic info like that posted conspicuously would have been nice. I did ask the owner about it while she was there and she said that you can open the dryers mid-cycle and check on your clothes without having to start all over again.

I’ll be going back again next weekend. Since the machines work so fast and the place is comfortable to be in while waiting, I don’t mind the short, scenic drive over to Carnation on a weekly basis until my laundry room at home...

I had a terrible experience here today. I came in and there was a couple there already doing their laundry. I put my clothes into $9 washers and a $7.75 washer. I put all my stuff in and everything and shut the door on for all three washers. I went to my quarters and there is a sign on the quarter machine that says temporarily out of service. The couple told me but they had just purchased quarters from it so the owner or manager came in and put this sign on there and didn't even bother telling anyone. I went to the grocery store here in Carnation and they were kind enough on a Sunday to let me purchase $30 worth of quarters. That was enough to get my clothes washed but now I have to take them wet and try to get them dried. The last thing I'd like to say is that on one of the $9 washers it stopped acknowledging my quarters after I had already put in $7 worth so I also had to put an extra dollar in to get the washer going. I tried the coin return...

Don't you just love those 12 seconds when the laundry or dishes are done?

Whoever said death and taxes were the only guarantees in life obviously never had to do laundry Laundry is the real "Neverending Story.” and I sure wish my bank account refilled as fast as my laundry basket. Sadly not only does that not happen, but the laundromat drains my account some more. This place is reasonably priced which helps. They also still use quarters instead of those cards that other laundromats use that almost guarantee that you have money left over on your account , but not enough for another load. Add to that that this place is also clean and even has a tiny play area to keep bored children occupied and it's a nice little place to do laundry. It is a little smaller, so you may need to wait for the bigger machines. Overall a decent place, that's why I...