Laundry doesn’t ever stop — which can be unfortunate when there’s a pandemic. 

So you’re in a bind, and we get it. You want to stay healthy, but you need to visit the laundromat. You can only re-wear those pants so many times (and you hopefully aren’t re-wearing underwear!), and you can’t put off laundry forever. What do you do?

With everything that’s going on, and no end in sight for the coronavirus, we wanted to help you plan a safe trip to your laundromat. While no solution is perfect, we can all do our part to help flatten the curve and minimize the risk of transmitting the virus to our friends and neighbors. 

We hope this post gives you some helpful information and a bit of reassurance during a troubling time. 

Check To See What Your Laundromat Is Doing

First off, before you head to your laundromat, it’s a good idea to see what precautions they’re taking to help keep people safe. If the answer is “none,” we recommend changing laundromats. 

Many laundromats, SpinXpress included, have increased the degree to which they clean their stores during these times. This includes regular disinfecting of all surfaces (especially in high traffic areas), observance of social distancing rules, and preference for minimal-contact (or no-contact) payment options. 

All of these, especially in tandem, can help decrease the risk of coronavirus in a laundromat, and you should be sure to follow these limitations as best you can when you visit. 

Consider Personal PPE

PPE, or Personal Protection Equipment (such as a mask or disposable gloves), is potentially in short supply these days, but if you have some handy it may be worth wearing it in a shared public space like a laundry. This is particularly useful if you’re in a “high risk” demographic. 

Of course, PPE or not, you should be washing your hands as much as you can!

Time Your Visits When Less People Will Be Around

If you want to avoid other people as much as you can during this time, consider scheduling your laundry run at times when there are less likely to be more people out. This includes early mornings, later at night (for 24-hour service locations), or during work hours when work-from-home professionals aren’t doing their laundry. 

Of course, your laundromat may also offer a specific time gap for higher-risk customers as well, so it’s worth checking with them to make sure before you go. 

Wash Your Clothes A Little Warmer

If you usually wash your clothes with cold water, you may want to consider opting for warmer water according to the CDC. The warmer water — and higher temperature dryer settings — can help kill bacteria on your clothes and minimize the risk of further transmission. Just make sure you avoid wearing your delicate clothes for a while!

Skip The Shaking

It’s usually recommended to shake out your clothes in-between washing and drying, and then again before folding. But these days, you may want to skip that step. 

Why? Because coronavirus is mostly transmitted through air particles, and shaking out your clothes can distribute air particles (and anything on them) pretty far. So for the sake of your neighbors, skip the shaking. 

Have a “Clean” Bag and A “Dirty” Bag

Last but not least, we recommend using a “dirty” bag and a “clean” bag for all of your clothes — which is a great practice anyways! This can help you ensure that all of your clean clothes stay that way, and will help ensure that you don’t accidentally get any of the bacteria you just eliminated back on your clothes. 

Conclusion 

Again, nothing is perfect, but if we all do our part then hopefully life can return to a more normal state in no time!