The Washing Well

I decided to give this place a try because it’s more convenient to me and they are slightly less expensive than other laundries. After loading up 2 of the large machines and 2 of the medium ones, I noticed that the door seals on the large machines were full of mold and algae! I took a look at the large machine that wasn’t in use and the seal would be very simple to clean, so I didn’t see that there was any good reason for them to be like that.
A bit later the owner came in and I asked him about it and was INFORMED that he cleans them once a week with bleach. When I suggested that maybe he should do it twice a week instead he basically told me to shut up.
There are a lot of other laundries in Tacoma… I don’t need my clothes to smell like mold or to have a lazy business owner treat me like that. It’s my money, I’ll just take it somewhere else.

The Washing Well is located at 5121 North Pearl in Ruston. It is about two blocks south of Point Defiance Park, just past 51^st Avenue, on the right. The side of their blue building is what is facing the street. Lengthwise, it stretches back away from the street and connects to a house — presumably the owners’ house. There are 8 big dryers, 9 traditional top-​loader washers, 6 medium front-​loader washers, and 3 large front-​loader washers. The bigger washers looked new, but on 11÷15÷11 a total of 8 out of those 18 washers were out of order. So, what would it serve you to drive all the way out to the northernmost point of the area to do your laundry in a room that isn’t much bigger than your apartment laundry? Think about this. The days of the 24-​hour laundries are gone, due to the crime in Tacoma. However, this little hideaway, which isn’t on the radar, is open more hours and days than any place in Pierce County that I could find. It is open from 6 in the morning until 11 at night, 365 days a year. Hey, the mega-​laundries with the fancy machines are closed on holidays! If you have to start your load late at night, or do your wash on a holiday, The Washing Well has a change machine, as well as vending machines for candy, pop and laundry supplies. If they could keep more machines in working order, I would give it a higher rating. Still, where else can you wash your clothes on Christmas Day?