You meet the most interesting people at a laundromat

I've been spending a lot more time at my 123 Wash N Dry laundromat to work with our new Manager Scott.  The neighbors here are so interesting and occasionally, I get to meet first time visitors to SF just passing through who need to get their laundry done before their next destination.

I met M. who belongs to a knitting boutique group and designs outfits for this beautiful, long-haired Chihuahua; G. who is an Orthodox priest originally from Australia, and spent time in monasteries in Greece & SF, and is heading for London next week; M. who recently moved to downtown SF from So Lake Tahoe to enjoy more fine dining and LOVES the distinct 2-block neighborhoods the city offers; and C. who is a young, parent-less student at CSSF, runs on the XC team, and manages successful political campaigns for locally-elected officials.  And, that was all in the last 3 hours while running 
around re-decorating the place.  






             Joan
     
           123 Wash N Dry

Missing Person

Last Thursday I was checking all the washers and found a load of clothes that were not washed. I went ahead and washed & folded them but no one has claimed them.

Please call (415) 933-9222.

We don't want you out there running around naked.  
It's cold out there!








Joan


123 Wash N Dry

I Need a Maytag Repairman

Scott popped that ad into Craigslist and it produced results overnight.

 I  l-o-v-e  how fast that works!


Scott interviewed 3 and we may have a new one to help us do a better job of maintaining the machines by the end of this week.


Assembling a new team takes time but with Scott taking a leading role, it's making all the difference.


Joan


123 Wash N Dry

Hot Water & Other Rumors

Scott, our Manager called today to let me know that a very nice regular patron told him confidentially that there's a rumor that we turned off all the hot water to the washers.  Oh My!

Someone, as a practical joke, may have turned off a few of the connections but we absolutely did not purposely turn off any of the hot water. That would be sabotaging our own business.  

So on his first day, Scott had the added challenge of going around and checking that all the hot water hoses are turned to full hot.  

I do my clothes and my kids clothes at the laundromat so that I can test the machines and dryers and make sure everything is up to par. I had not noticed any problems with in the few washers I used over the last 3 months.  

I read your comments about the dryers not being hot enough and used my ThermoGun to verify the temperatures. Our repairman came in today to reset three dryer thermostats to the proper temperatures so that you can get your laundry dried at the expected temperature during the expected time frame.

For our dryers:

Hot is between 140-150 F degrees Permanent Press is 120-130 F degrees

It takes a little while for the temperature to rise to the final drying temperature when your clothes are saturated with water but if you think your dryer is too hot or too cold, ask Scott to check the temperature or write the dryer number on our trouble list or email me at 123WashNDry@gmail.com

Joan


123 Wash N Dry

Local Hero Francis Frees Family Trapped in Laundromat

Last Wednesday, our hero, Francis O., was walking past The Richmond area 123 Wash N Dry Laundromat when his attention caught the frantic cries of help from an out-of-town family locked in the laundromat. It was about 10:15 and the automatic doors had just closed, locking the family in for the rest of the night. Fearing overnight incarceration, the family produced nail files, screws, and other implements, and started removing the framework and electrical connections of the doors to extricate themselves.  Fortunately, Francis was quick-thinking and called the emergency number posted on the front door and the inside wall. I answered immediately and instructed them to push the green button and simultaneously push on the doors to open them.  The family was very thankful to Francis.


Last night Francis stopped by to meet me.     

THANK YOU, FRANCIS!

123 WASH n DRY HERO


123 Wash N Dry

Sock Gremlins

Have you lost a sock at the laundromat lately?


I have lost my share. However, in looking for mine, I also found about 5-6 singles belonging to a small child in the large front dryers. I placed them in the bin at the back.  


If you're the owner of the missing kid socks, please check the bin.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: if you notice a sock or two missing, check the lint trap. That's where most of them end up. On the 2 big dryers, we took the locks off so you can conveniently check the lint bin yourself. The door is attached with Velcro strips now so just give it a yank and it will pop open, or ask Scott to help you.


You can also take a pic of the remaining socks and email them to me at 123WashNdry@gmail.com  so I know what to look for and I will email you when the Sock Gremlin releases them.


Joan


123 Wash N Dry

New Full-time Staffing Coming Soon!

Moving forward, 123 Wash N Dry contracted with a new on-site manager. Scott will be starting in the next week and will be helping us restore the dry cleaning and wash & fold services.  He has lots of energy and great ideas!  I'm looking forward to working closely with him.  He lives on the block and will be scheduled for regular hours starting the first of the new year.

I fixed the 3 jammed coin drops on the dryers last Thursday. They were inoperative due to Chinese coins and nickels in the trough instead of US quarters.  We have 3 more dryers whose temperatures are not up to par. Those will be fixed soon--in the mean time, there are 20 other operable dryers available.


 If you have any other  problems, just email me at 123WashNdry@gmail.com or leave a message on my phone line (415) 251-7514.


I hope everyone had a great holiday this weekend. Happy New Year!

Joan


123 Wash N Dry

BIG FOOT-sized Folding Table -123 Wash N Dry- The Richmond

It's been about 3 months since we took over the hands-on operation of our laundromat on Geary. We were devastated when we returned on Sept 1st to find out that the the place we entrusted to the future buyers was gutted and ransacked. Anything of value was removed. We couldn't even lock the doors!  They took every pen and notepad, washers, vacuums, door lock timers, coin boxes, -- anything they could to destroy the value to us and you, our customer.  


It took us a few months to get moving forward again since they also left us with unpaid rent, insurance, and water bills.  So here we are a few months later, and starting to recover.


We've removed a lot of the window signage and had to cut out MoneyGram, Parking, & FedEx services due to not having a full-time attendant at this time.  Also, the dry cleaning is on hold.


Last week we were able to install a HUGE folding table to cover the sand pit left by the removal of our top-load washers.  I hope everyone will enjoy that.  I know I liked having the extra room when I did my laundry there last week.

I'll be in later this week to re-wallpaper the wall over that area and try to restore our neighborhood laundromat back to it's former condition.


Joan


123 Wash N Dry