September 15, 2017
by Laundry Expert
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Laundry Room Staging Tips for Home Sellers Part 1

When one is a homeowner there comes a time when selling your current home may become necessary. When getting the home ready for potential buyers the laundry room can be an area you overlook. This is one area that can, however, be an asset to your home. A great, bright place to do the laundry is attractive to potential home buyers. The next couple of blog posts will look at how to stage your home’s laundry area and make it as attractive as possible.

Laundry Room Staging Tips | Coin Laundry Raleigh NC

Most of us will do at least 400 loads of laundry on an average every year. That’s a lot of laundry! If you look at advertisements for homes in your area you will find that laundry rooms or areas are a big deal. Buyers of a new home want a laundry room. Most also want to be able to do the laundry in their home. Making this room functional and attractive will help sell your home.

In today’s home buyers market location of the laundry room is also important to potential buyers. The following are the preferred areas:

  • A laundry room near the bedrooms is preferred 37%.
  • A laundry room off or close to the kitchen is preferred 20%
  • A laundry in the basement is preferred 17%
  • A laundry in the garage out of sight is preferred 12%

It is important that the laundry itself is separate and workable. This helps prevent the noise from the washer and dryer and to also keep the dirty clothes out of sight. The laundry space needs to have lots of storage and a place to organize the laundry. Some added features that are attractive to potential buyers are a laundry sink large enough to not only soak clothes but wash the dog and clean up tools used around the house. If it includes a mudroom, closet for outer clothing, and a place for crafts it is even more inviting.

No matter where the laundry room is located you will want to make it specifically for laundry. The area should be as clean as possible. Take extra time to clean up your washer and dryer. We often neglect them but buyers will be certain to notice. Clean them inside as well. Washers will sometimes develop a smell. There are some commercial cleaners available to help with this. Take care of stray lint that gets around the room as well.

If it needs it a fresh coat of paint goes a long way toward brightening things up. Even in a basement, this can help a lot. New light fixtures that can handle extra wattage will help lighten and brighten as well. Add a nice curtain if there is no door. Use a great looking blind on the window that allows lots of light. A bookshelf, cabinet or other shelving will add storage. Pictures and plants will also make things more attractive.

Most of all make certain you do not have your own laundry going while your home is being viewed. Put all of your laundries away. Vacuum or sweep the floors and give them a mopping if needed. Be sure to come back for our next post with more on how to stage your laundry room.

Laundry Express | Coin Laundry Raleigh NC

If you find yourself in need of a laundry “catch up” Laundry Express can help. We offer all kinds of laundry services to get you caught up and on to other things. We offer the best coin laundry in Raleigh NC!

 

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September 5, 2017
by Laundry Expert
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Fall Laundry Tips

Summer is coming to a quick close. Temperatures are dropping and school is getting back in full swing. Our routines will get back to a hectic busy schedule. Sports for fall will pick up. Homework will be normal again. Before we know it the holidays will be upon us. One of the things that will also increase will be the laundry. School clothes, uniforms. and work clothes can multiply pretty quick this time of year. It will be easy to get overwhelmed with a laundry pile that seems to grow bigger and bigger every day. This post will offer up some really great tips for getting that fall laundry more in control. This should help you gain control and keep it. Stop by our coin laundry in Raleigh NC to do larger loads all at once!

Fall Laundry Tips | Coin Laundry Raleigh NC

This is a good time to put some storage boxes in your laundry area. As you do the summer laundry you can begin the process of putting away your warmer season items as they are laundered. Swimsuits, beach towels, shorts, and light shirts can all begin to be put away until next spring. This will help reduce the amount of items needing to be laundered or that are just taking up much-needed space. Once your storage container is full make certain it gets put away promptly. Leaving them in your laundry room will make things chaotic and cluttered.

As the weather begins to cool you will want to check blankets, quilts, and other bed linens to see if they need a wash or can be freshened up in the dryer. Make sure to launder them only in cold water and be careful of hot dryer temperatures. This is also a great time to establish a schedule for laundering sheets. Pick a day that is not a normal laundry day so that they can be washed, dried, and placed back on the bed immediately.

Get the entire family involved by establishing a stain station in the laundry room. Making certain stains are treated as soon as possible will save your clothing. Teach all members of the family how to treat stains and keep the stain treatment area stocked and ready to go.

One thing you will want to do is set a laundry routine and stick to it. This will vary from family to family depending on how many are under one roof. The best advice is a load a day all the way through from wash, dry, and fold. Teach all family members to do their own laundry and assign them a day.

Another thing to consider is your current washer and dryer. How old are they? If you have a large family your machines may be struggling to keep up as well. Newer machine takes less time to do a cycle and can save you lots of laundry time as well. Newer models offer steam cleaning, larger capacity, and are energy efficient. This will save you money as well.

Keeping your laundry area as organized as possible will also help with your laundry stresses. Being able to get to your washer and dryer and having a good area for sorting and folding will be a great help.

Coin Laundry Raleigh NC

If your bed linens and comforter’s need some attention come by and see us at Laundry Express. Most home machines cannot handle the bulk of these items but ours can! Come by and see us today.

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September 1, 2017
by Laundry Expert
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Is Laundry Making Your Allergy Issues Worse?

For many of us, one of the hardest things we deal with health wise is allergies. Allergies can affect all families, from the youngest to the oldest. Many allergies are outdoor related but much more are a result of indoor irritants. No matter the type you are dealing with, allergies can make you miserable. This post will look at how our laundry in Raleigh NC can play a huge part in our allergies and some great ways to reduce or eliminate some common problems.

Allergies and Laundry in Raleigh NC

Any allergist you consult will first tell you to control or eliminate dust mites to improve your allergies. The droppings of these impossible to see dust mites are a huge known allergen. The problem with dust mites is that they are all over the place in our homes. The love fibers and fabrics. The great news is that frequently washing items in hot water will help control them. Our bedrooms are the biggest place for these culprits to be. This means washing your bedding linens is really important. This will mean everything from quilts to your mattress pads. Keeping them clean and dust free will be a huge help in controlling allergies. Keeping pets out of this room will also be a huge help.

Molds and mildews are another allergy trigger for many people. The biggest way to combat this is to prevent it from being a problem. This means keeping your laundry room and closets clean and free of any moisture issues. This is especially important with allergies and asthma. Breathing problems can grow worse with the presence of molds and mildews. These culprits can also ruin your clothing and shoes and cause lots of damage to your walls. In the laundry room check for leaky hoses and washers. Make certain you repair any leaks immediately. Air circulation is also important in this room. Mold will begin to grow quickly if the air is not circulating properly. If you see an issue with growing mold take care of it as soon as possible.

Cleaning your washer and your dryer will also be a big help in reducing allergens in the home. The newer front loading washer is also a big culprit in mold and mildew. In these machines, the front door gasket can grow lots of mold and mildew if water is retained around or behind it. It is really important you clean this at least on a monthly basis. Laundry in Raleigh NC can get that same moldy smell if it is not properly cleaned at least monthly. In the dryer fabric softener can also build up so give it a cleaning as well.

In today’s market, many laundry products come formulated to help with allergens. Detergents, fabric softeners, and your dryer sheets can all be bought with reducing allergens in mind. Look for products that are fragrance-free and dye free. This will reduce your chance of having irritants on your clothing after washing. A really good way to make sure there are no irritants is to make your own laundry products. Use natural ingredients such as white distilled vinegar and baking soda.

Once you have been outside the home doing yard work bring those clothes straight into the laundry room. Wash them separately from other laundry. This will keep any irritants off your other clothes. Shower off as well and you won’t expose yourself or others to any pollen you may bring in with you as well.

Laundry Express is the triangles best state of the art laundromat. We can help you solve all of your laundry issues. Come by and check out our laundry services today!

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August 25, 2017
by Laundry Expert
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Making Laundry Simple for Large Families, Part Two

Last blog post we began the discussion of doing Laundry in a large family. By large we mean 6 or more members. In this size family, laundry can become chaos pretty quickly if a well-established routine is not in place. A large family may not be 2 parents and small children always. In today’s world, there may be for all kinds of reasons multi-generational family unit living under one roof. This is all the more reason for getting a routine in place and adhering to it all the time.  We will continue with some tips and tricks for doing just that in this larger family scenario.

Raleigh Laundromat Talks Laundry for Large Families!

  • We touched on limiting the amount of clothing items each family member has as a way to control the laundry. This tip is helpful no matter the size of the family. A good rule is that each child has clothing to do them for 5 days straight. Underwear and socks for 7 days. If your child is one that gets dirty and needs a second change of clothes in a day then you will need to adjust accordingly. Some children are neater and can wear a pair of jeans more than once others, well, not so much. Many Moms find that boys can have a pile of clean clothes that are 2-3 times the size of a daughter or vice versa. This will take some tweaking as you go along.
  • This applies to the adults in the family as well. Streamlining your wardrobe can be a great thing. A minimalized closet means you can get dressed quicker, always have laundry done, and save time as well. A good rule of thumb is 4 pair of pants, jeans, or skirts. 5 shirts, t-shirts, or blouses. 2-3 dresses or suits. 3 Pair of shoes, a belt, and any other accessories you need.
  • Sticking to a “uniform” of types of clothing and colors will make laundry easier. If you have all colors and no whites everything can be washed together. Some will still choose to wash towels and linens separate but note that it is not a necessity if they are colored. It is a help however if it will make folding and putting away easier.
  • Another important thing to remember when it comes to laundry is that some items do not need to be washed every time they are worn.  Jeans are one of these items. Most of them can be worn repeatedly before needing a go in the wash. Shirts can also be re-hung if not soiled or stained and re-worn. Of course, PJ’s and lounge wear can be worn several days with no washing.
  • Different seasons will also bring different types of laundry. Summer may mean more laundry due to outdoor stains and sweat. Winter brings sweats and outerwear that can be worn much longer before washing.
  • If you have an overload of laundry, consider visiting the local Raleigh laundromat! You can get it all done at once!

The biggest key in a larger family is to teach everyone how the laundry routine will work and then remind…remind…remind. Pretty soon they will get it and things will be much smoother. The mountain of laundry will become a controllable task and you will be free from the stress. It also means you will have more free time to enjoy your family with no entire weekends devoted to laundry issues or catch up.

Laundry Express | Raleigh Laundromat

Our Raleigh laundromat offers many laundry services designed to help you with all your laundry needs. We offer a state of the art laundromat facility to help you catch up your laundry quickly and get you back to having fun with your family. Come visit us today!

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August 20, 2017
by Laundry Expert
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Making Laundry Simple for Larger Families

We all struggle sometimes with our laundry. It’s one of those never ending chores we love to hate. For many of us, we are a family of four persons. Dad, Mom, 2 kids. This is the average size family in America today. On the other side of that average are large family’s. A large family has at least 2 adults and 4 or more children. This would be enough to make most of us cringe but in fact in a generation past these large families were the norm. The biggest question we all have is how on earth do you get things done with that large of a family? The answer is, well, “simple”. The more simple your routine the better. This post will help larger families simplify their laundry routine. It will also put to rest the fear of how on earth will I ever get done with the laundry in Raleigh NC?

Large Families and Laundry Raleigh NC

Something for larger families to keep in mind is that it is possible to do less laundry than a smaller sized family! How? Well, the key will be in these few huge tips we are offering up.

  • One big key is to begin the laundry first thing every morning. As soon as you are up and awake put in the first load of laundry. If your children are taught to bring their dirties to the laundry room this will be easy. As you go about your morning routine listen for the buzzer on the washer and promptly boot the wash to the dryer. If the load is linens and towels you can fold as you cook dinner later. Doing this will become routine. After the laundry is sorted and folded each child can be responsible for collecting their own folded laundry and putting it away.
  • When it comes to sorting for washing a great tip from larger family moms is just don’t do it. Many say that they never buy whites, period. This means most of your clothing can be washed together eliminating a time consuming step. It also means that laundry can go straight into the washer so there is no need for hampers. This is a no-brainer since once the washer is full you can simply start it the next morning. In a larger family it is almost guaranteed to be full by days end. This applies to towels as well. Your routine becomes Wash-Dry-Fold-Put Away. Every single morning.
  • One really important way larger families cope with endless laundry is to limit the amount of clothing items each family member has. This can be used in any size family but becomes really important in a larger family. Our next blog post will give some really great tips for paring down the amount of clothing each family member needs. This will not only help keep things more organized but will also eliminate some of the laundries your family has to do weekly.

Be sure to check out our next blog post for more tips and tricks for doing the laundry in a larger family. We are sure that by using these ideas your laundry will be caught up in no time.

Laundry Raleigh NC

If you find yourself overwhelmed with laundry and just need to catch up Laundry Express can help! We have a wash-dry-fold service that allows you to drop off and pick up later in the day. Come by and check out our laundry facility today!

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