Campbell Laundry and Cleaners

1800 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., Tucson, AZ 85719

  

     So, the spouse needed to scrub his scrubs, and we selected a laundromat nearer the Bookman's on Grant. This was no fly-by-night operation; everything was clean & tidy.

      The laundromat itself has as neighbors a Chinese place, a Japanese place, a Mexican place, and a sandwich place. You'll never starve doing the didies here! There's also a nail salon just in case you're feeling super-diva while the drips are drying. That's not even the end of it. There's a TV, which was on CNN when we were there. There's wireless, unless the lady in the seat at the end of the (bolted down) cast-metal garden chairs was using her own hub to do accounts receivable. There is also a GREAT BIG SIGN touting the solar heated awesomeness of them. Good business strategy- there are yoga studios around here too. Heh.

The Laundry:

The spouse was happy with the wash, and said that even though the dryers were only 7 minutes a quarter (pbbt!), they were an efficient seven minutes. However, it took him $1.75 worth of minutes (he only did one load, mind), so I say these dryers are where these kids make their money. Yay America!

Pluses:

• No shortage of distractions for those who do not contemplate the infinite as the laundry spins... and tumbles... and falls... and spins....and...  
• The atmosphere was very businesslike and goal-oriented. 
• Zero shrieking baby factor at the time. That's a fun. 

Minuses:

• This is more of a disclaimer, since the spouse was the one having sudsy-time, and I cannot speak to the results on my personal wardrobe maintenance routines and habits. However, I will say that I would wash my own clothes there, based on what I've seen, and that's more than the last two got. 

Pantano Wash & Dry Cleaning

7621 E Speedway Blv, Tucson AZ 

 We were wanting to go to Bookman's on Speedway one Saturday, but we had all this pesky laundry to do. So, we did the thing with the google, and selected Pantano Wash and Dry Cleaning as the closest candidate to our destination. We called first, to make sure there were machines, and that it wasn't just a service. Vaguely reassured in a language I could not identify, we headed off. While things were sudsing, we explored Tuesday Morning, which is like Job Lots if Job Lots did 600 count Egyptian cotton sheets for $89 instead of $299. There are good kitchen bargains for the low-budget crofters such as ourselves, and the spouse had fun digging through discontinued and quirky novelty electronics. Worth a browse, but dangerous if you have cash in hand.

The Laundry:

The wash was fine, no problem. The bummer came when we got back from Bookman's; we realized that our stuff wasn't dry yet. We'd put in a dollar, thinking we got 15 minutes per quarter, but no, it was 10. What's more, the dryers were wussy, and annoying. Wussy=barely warm, and annoying= our stuff was still wet, and we had to hang around for two or three more quarters per load. By now my patience with humanity was wearing thin anyway, so this was a not-fun.

We left with damp towels.

In the End: 

Pft. If I go back there it will be for coffee mugs at that clearance store, not to do my didies.

Pluses:

• I found a new store.
• Picking your laundromat around other stuff you have to do isn't the worst idea ever.

Minuses:

• Location: this sucker is hella far & gone on the East-side, yo.
• I was pissed about the dryers.

U-Wash EZ Coin Wash

This laundromat, located a door north of Tucson Yoga, is small, and has the charm of so many of the scruffy buildings in the area. Locals often walk or bike their laundry over, and there's always people watching to be had. If you don't like staring at chicks in yoga gear, mixed with a smattering of hippies in socks-n-sandals, you can always watch the self-inflicted sidewalk dramas of the blood bank clients across the street.
Laundry Quality:
While the dryers are cheap (a quarter gets you 15 minutes) and rather wicked hot (watch your delicates!), this laundromat suffers from a bit of the stinky in its water. When they were ripping up downtown, did they perchance nick a pipe? I have it from a denizen that she can often smell a "sulfur-y, sewer-y" smell if it's damp under the 4th Ave bridge, and that same smell comes through in the water here.   
In the end,
I probably won't wash there again, since even Downy Extra Stinky dryer sheets didn't eliminate the nose-wrinkle, even after the clothes cooled down from the nuclear-powered dryers.

Pluses:

• You could do a yoga class for 6 bucks while doing laundry. They're pretty good. 
• Shot in the Dark Cafe is a seven minute walk away, and they're pretty damn good too.

Minuses:

• The stinky water thing.
• "Charming & scruffy" can be seen as "run-down and grimy" if you're not in the mood.