Light’n Your Load Laundromat

closed may 28^th 2014 lost lease

This laundromat does not have any hot water. If you can get your laundry clean in a cold water wash, this place is fine. But if you need a hot water wash for your laundry, go somewhere else.

Several years ago when I discovered this place in my neighborhood, I thought «What a gem of a laundry mat!» It was clean, had lots of washers (including 2 large and two medium/​large washers) and lots of dryers. AND, the best part — it was open until 11pm! Perfect for my schedule.
However, I have unfortunately seen a downward trend in it’s original appeal. Most notably and the reason I am compelled to write this review (in the hopes that the owners recognize this problem), the cleaner (s) coming to clean the laundry mat at 10pm. When they clean the floors and lint containers, dirt and lint fly through the air and land on my clean clothes. Now when I see them come, I rush to pack up my clothes in hopes to escape the dust/​dirt storm. I have had the situation that I get home and unpack my laundry only to find it with a layer of dirt and/​or lint. It defeats the purpose of doing laundry and spending the money and time (an even more precious commodity for me) only to have to wash my unworn clothes again at a later date. More often than not, I have to pull my clothes from the dryer still damp and hang them at home to avoid the issue.
I have tried speaking with the cleaner (s) in the past and again tonight about the dirt and lint problem. Tonight, the cleaner kept saying that she «cleans at 10pm and it closes at 11pm.» There was a language barrier and I don’t think she quite understood what I was saying. I don’t fault her for coming in at 10pm if that is the time that she is instructed to come. Yet, I think that the owners should reevaluate what being open until 11pm means. You don’t go to a department store and have the janitorial staff vacuuming and cleaning the dressing rooms and hallways an hour before closing — they START AFTER the shop is closed.
From reading past reviews, I see that I am not the only person who finds this a problem. Steve L. made the same comment in January 2012. I definitely know that it has been happening before then — I just could not take it anymore without expressing my unhappiness of a well run business gone bad.

Its a laundry mat — it has washers and driers not much else to say about this one.

I like going to this location to do my laundry. Having had my own washer/​dryer in my unit for the last 30 years… doing laundry in the city has been very interesting. This location is clean and the equipment is newer than the rest in this neighorhood. I like it that they open at 7am to 11pm. They have three different sizes of washing machine which helps doing particular loading of wash!

Clean, quiet and open late. Perfect!
Minus one star only for no outlets. No biggie for locals, I’m sure, but as a traveler stopping in to do a couple loads of laundry, it would have been nice.

I like this place so much I usually bypass the closest laundromat and walk up the Clay Street hill to get to it. They have three sizes of washing machines: regular, medium and large. They also have 2 change machines on the side wall and the back wall is mostly dryers. Mel, the owner, is usually around cleaning or reloading the coin machines. The first time I was there he walked me through how to use the largest machine for all my bedding. He also recommended using 3 quarters per dryer because usually that was enough to dry everything. Near the front door you can find various magazines to help pass the time. Definitely worth trying!

A very clean and quiet place, wifi is available, machines are properly working, what’s not to like?

I used to like this laundromat a lot… until something went wrong with their dryers. It’s not a good idea to wash anything white in this place because the dryers will stain your clothes with black streaks. The worst part is you cannot wash those marks off. This place had ruined many good white shirts of mine and I cannot do anything about them. I thought it was just a one time thing, so I gave it another shot, but boy was I wrong. The same thing happened… I might just try it once more because I have nowhere else to go, and hopefully this won’t happen again.

$ 2.25 to wash (or $ 3 for the industrial sized washers), $ 0.75-$ 1 to dry.
Clean equipment, well-​lit, clean interior, good stock of current magazines, and a very easy walk from my apartment.
Not one, but TWO change machines. 4 stars for never having to hoard quarters again.

Ok, first I thought, «really write a review about a laundromat?» but yea! FIrst of all the guy whom owns the place, Mel, is so helpful and the place has great washers and dryers. I rarely write reviews, mostly I just read them and make decisions accordingly but this place deserves a «two fluff and folds up»…errr whatever. if you’re in this neighborhood go clean your draw’ers there. 8)

Doing laundry in the city can be an adventure– luckily this laundromat takes some of the guess work out of said adventure. The fact that this place is a «flat» walk from my apt. is an even bigger bonus when living on SF hills.
The owner takes care of the place, and it shows. He brings in fresh flowers, keeps recent magazines on stock, and the place is always clean. I mean other Laundromat’s in the area are pretty scummy, and I just can’t come to terms with cleaning clothes in a dirty laundromat. Just seems wrong.
As long as you avoid the inevitable person who is taking up 4 dryers at once, this is the best of the best when it comes to the joy of doing laundry.

A remake of a classic Bill Wither’s song, to clean the red-​wine spill on my white-​shirt suffered at the Unilocal Christmas Party.
«When I wake up in the morning, my Unilocal
And the spill on my white-​shirt hurts my eyes
And something without warning, Unilocal
Bears heavy on my mind
Then I look at you (my white-​shirt)
And the world of Unilocal alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A LAUNDRY day
… laundry day, laundry day, laundry day …
When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else pour wine on me
Always seems to know the way
Then I look at you
And the world’s alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A laundry day
… laundry day, laundry day, laundry day …
When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else poured red-​wine on me
Always seems to know the way
Then I look at you
And the world’s alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A laundry day
… laundry day, laundry day, laundry day …»
My $ 5.00 infamous red-​wine white-​shirt is getting whiter, but may take at least a couple more washes.

Four stars for having cool, modern equipment that’s always in fine working order and for being responsive to lost-​bills-​in-​the-​changer complaints. You’ll have your money back in a business day or two if the changer eats your ratty ten dollar bill. Paper towels on hand. Recycling bin. Really, you wouldn’t expect amenities and service like that. Everything else about the experience is horrid. Horrid hordes of people doing laundry at the same time as me, horrid parading around with soiled clothing all over the place, horrid trips up and down the hill spilling undergarments all over the sidewalk, horrid waits for dryers, horrid having to pull strangers’ recently soiled clothes and undies out of the dryers because they decided to just leave them there for hours on end when the place is clearly always busy, horrid, horrid, horrid, horrid laundry. There are usually some good magazines to read, though.

At my last laundromat, someone was held up at knifepoint. For quarters.
So yeah, I WOULD say that a clean, safe, and freshly-​tuliped facility is a lot better.