Clean-X-Press

This is my local, so maybe I’m biased. Big machines, accommodating hours, and working changers all make this my go-​to laundromat. On the downside, this location seems to attract colorful characters who may be looking for change. Seems like they could really benefit from the presence of an attendant.

They’ve recently reopened after being closed for probably a few months.
They have a bunch of new, modern washers in various sizes. Prices seemed average or below other local laundrymats.
There’s a problem. The dryers appear to be the same and like before, many have out of service signs. In the past, even the supposedly working ones often had trouble getting warm.
Do you feel lucky? I don’t. I’m afraid I will have a problem drying.

3 out of every 4 machines is out of order, and the timer on the washers seems to have no connection to reality. Added my clothes for a wash and it said 40 minutes. I come back 40 minutes later to find it still saying 9 minutes. A half an hour later, it finally finishes. So for future reference, 40 minutes actually means 70 here.

This place is awful. I waited way too long to do my laundry (my fault) and was all excited to use one of their 6 load washers. The machine took my money just fine, but then proceeded to do absolutely nothing while the timer counted down and the front panel said «wash», «spin», «rinse» and «final spin». I figured, ‘ok, no big deal, I’ll just call the number and get my money back’. Well, the number has been disconnected. Who runs a business like this? This place needs to be shut down. Never again…

PROs:
+ Bigger washing machines seem to work ok & finish in less than 30 minutes/​load
+ Spacey, usually clean
CONs:
— 8 out of 8 $ 2.25 washing machines BROKEN
— 7 out of 11 $ 2.50 washing machines BROKEN
— 9 out of 18 dryers BROKEN
— $ 2.50 washing machines leave clothes soaking 8 out of 10 times & takes one hour
I’m guessing that the owners are keeping the broken machines instead of fixing them in hope that one day when all of them are finally broken they can switch over to becoming a museum. The day will arrive soon, so come now before you have to pay to see broken machines.

What a joke! 13 of the 18 normal washers are Out of Order. 2 of the 8 commercial washers are Out of Order. 6 of the 18 dryers are out of order. I should have seen the writing on the wall, but it’s only 1 block from my new place, so I thought I’d try it. Mistake. One of the machines I was using stopped working mid-​cycle and said it was Out of Order. No number to call, no way to get my money back. I won’t be back.

See my new video review of this place!!!

Pros:
======
a) liquor store next door
b) tons of good food near by
c) 24-​hour donut shop across the street. (Indeed, the neighborhood in general is very cool)
d) free parking, but if you have a car, there are a million better laundermats in the city.
e) not that many other options for a few blocks.
cons
====
a) nearly all of the washers and driers broken
b) the owner has just given up on maintaining the equipment, this has been the case for at least 5 years
c) the few machines not listed as «out of order», you have to be suspicious of, because they will probably take your money and not clean your laundry.
d) as others have stated: some of the malfunctioning washers will lock up and hold your laundry for ~60−90 minutes
*** please boycott this place so it goes out of business, and someone else takes it over, who actually cares about it !!! we really need a good laundermat at this central location ****

Dirty, broken machines, no one here to each over machines and I’ve seen people use the dryers to dry their dirty wet pants and no one is ever here during regular business hours to regulate. I have list over $ 10 here because of malfunctioning equipment.

I don’t know why people are complaining about the washing machines here.
Well, actually, I also have mixed experiences.
The washing machines stopped working after I walked away and so now I was afraid to not to stare the machine when I use it.
THERE ARE SIX LOAD JUMBO, real jumbo machines there. It claimed that it could handle 50 pounds of clothes. I used them to washed 4 comforters together all at once.
Myth about the machines here:
1. the $ 2.5÷2.75 machines come with a washing time of ⁵⁰⁄₆₀ minutes.
2. the $ 2.25 machine comes with 30mins
3. the $ 3.75 — $ 4.5 comes with 34 –42 minutes.
4. the $ 6.5 — $ 7.25 comes with 34 – 42 minutes.
I don’t know why people are complaining about it.
It’s dirty cheap with the REAL JUMBO MACHINES that takes up to 50 pounds of clothes. I used it to wash 4 comforters and they came out all right.
Doesn’t the extra 16 mins mean it washes cleaner?
YES, at any given time, 50% machines are broken, but I only use one machine, and there are around 10 machines that are working and so I’m fine. Besides, people told me they using the JUMBO machines (6 loads) is a time-​saving machine.
For the same size of the machine, the Cole/​Carl one charges $ 1 more and those machines broke on me too.
And STILL, NONE OF other laundromat comes with this sized washing machine.
I really don’t know what people are complaining about

Pros: working change machine, parking lot
Cons: homeless people nap and wash their clothes here, only about 20% of the machines work at any given time, the only chairs to sit in smell like pee, dryers don’t lock so anyone could take your stuff
Beware: It takes about 60 min when it says 34 min on the washer. Dryers also don’t have an accurate time on them

This place sucks! Everything is broken and has been for years. If you ask them when it’s going to get fixed you get a smile and a nod. I suppose their English is great when they want your money. And don’t even think there is hot water here.
AVOID!!!

Every time I come here, I kick myself and think, «Why are you so lazy? Just walk the extra couple blocks to Sunset Suds.» and I never do that. It’s right across the street from where I live. There are roughly 15 dryers, and there are always only 5 dryers that actually work.
Today there were 4 dryers that worked, on a busy Sunday. Someone had also used up every single available dryer to dry their clothes, leaving other people who wanted to use the dryers to have to wait 35+ minutes until the asshole who used up all the dryers was done being selfish.
One dryer had finished, and I straight up took whoever’s clothes had been sitting in the only available dryer and put them in a broken dryer, so they wouldn’t just be out sitting in the open for someone to steal.
BE NICE TO OTHER PEOPLE AND GET YOUR LAUNDRY OUT OF THE DRYER WHEN IT’S DONE. THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO EXIST IN THIS WORLD OTHER THAN YOU.

This review is for wash & fold service only, which is awesome, friendly and fast. We’re always greeted by the woman working the w&f service, and at this point she knows us by name (although we can’t say the same because we’re a-​holes who haven’t asked her her name :().
Granted I’ve seen what other’s have seen in that most machines are marked ‘out of service’, I’ve never had a problem with drop-​off w&f.
We go here every-​other week to get our laundry done, and we’re always happy with the results. It’s like the gift of clean underwear and bras folded and wrapped in blue paper.

One of the washing machines just ate $ 3.00 and is not working. Tried calling the phone number listed but it’s out of service. Literally half of the washers/​dryers are broken at any given time. The place is poorly kept. Don’t throw away your money here.

Do not go here if you have any other choice. Prices are pretty high and many of the machines are out of order or will just eat your quarters. Many of the machines have «out of order» stickers but don’t let the unmarked machines fool you. Chances are they are out of order as well. Nobody is ever on site so good luck getting a refund.

Perhaps a giant sign that says «Out of Order» should be posted on the front door here.
Literally half of the regular-​sized dryers are out of order. If the place is busy, be prepared to stake out a dryer when your clothes finish washing.
And don’t use the gigantic dryer, whatever you do. It’s tempting, I know, ’cause at first glance it looks like you can dry all your clothes at once, but know this: Your clothes will not be dry. At all. You will have paid to have your wet clothes roll around for a while. Don’t bother with the giant dryer.
The 6-​load mega-​washer costs $ 6.50, and all it did was pour about 10ml of water on the clothes and then malfunction and not do anything else for 25 minutes. Of course, since the door locks when you start the cycle, I couldn’t move my clothes until the timer ran out. Since I was only there to save the time I felt would have been wasted waiting for the smaller machines in my building, the time I wasted anyway was sorely missed.
Maybe if you’re not going to repair your decaying fleet of machines, you could at least leave a pen and a pad of paper so that when nobody’s working here on Sundays, we can leave «Out of Order» notes on the machines that backfire on us. I had to shoo two people away from the machine in question between the point where I was finally able to move my clothes, and when I left. For the final time.
Clean-​X-​Press, you’ve lost a customer, officially. I will not be coming back and I cannot in good conscience recommend this place to anyone else, either.

I just got home from doing my ONE load of laundry here. It took me 2 hours to get my ONE load of laundry done. I am extremely irritated. Why? Because ONE load of laundry should not take over an hour to complete. The wash itself took nearly 1 hour 15 minutes.
I used one of the smaller washers and paid $ 2.50 for a 35 minute wash. Once the wash started I walked down to Irving to grab some coffee and something to eat. Got back roughly 30 minutes later and there was still 15 minutes left in the wash… uh… ok? Fine.
I sit down and enjoy the rest of my coffee. After about 15 minutes I peek over at my wash. 5 minutes left and it goes into spin cycle. Awesome. Surf around my phone for a good 10 minutes or so and then go over to my laundry. 1 minute left on spin. *scratch head* ok…
A man came in and loaded his laundry and I looked at his time. 35 minutes. Ok. Surf on my phone again. I look up at the man’s laundry time and there’s 27 minutes left. My spin cycle SHOULD be done now, right? WRONG! When I looked, there was STILL 1 minute left and was STILL spinning. WTH?! Reluctantly I go sit down again…
Couple minutes go by. I look up at the man’s laundry and it says 24 minutes. I get up and look at my laundry… STILL 1 minute left. It’s been spinning with 1 minute left for 11 freaking minutes!!! At this point I am irritated and annoyed. There are no workers there so I’m left to just waiting. I pound on the washer at this point and pull at the door. Of course nothing happens because the door is locked. Then I try tugging at the door again and viola the spin finally ends and the door unlocks… 12 minutes LATER!!!
I’m usually very respectful of the washers I use but this was just complete bullshit. This wasn’t a 35 minute wash. My clothes were not soaking wet, which was nice but damn that was a long ass spin cycle! Then I had to wait another 30+ minutes for my clothes to dry.
UGH. I am not coming back again! There are way much better laundromats nearby and may be of inconvenience but DO IT. It’ll be worth your time. I mean imagine doing your laundry on a weekend with it being busy (I’ve never done my laundry here on a weekend so I don’t know how busy it gets) and you walk home so you don’t have to wait around because there are only 6 seats available… and someone takes your laundry out and plops it on one of the FEW counter tops they have? OH and many of their washers and dryers are «out of order»… go figure.
Just go elsewhere and don’t waste your time here.

Welcome to Kafka’s Laundromat.
Couple of Sundays ago, time to do laundry. So I carefully sort my clothes by colors and temps etc — and head down to the strangely named «Clean-​X-​Press.» Strangely named because it is generally not clean, in good repair, nor especially fast.
Load up my bright colors in the big boy next to the front window… add detergent. [Anyone else notice that water fills in the opposite order in the trays on top than the illustration suggests? But then that’s true for about half the machines in the place.] Set the machine for Cold, Delicates — and when upsold (as these machines do), I pay up to the «yes, I really want my clothes damp and not soaking wet upon completion» level. Seems strange that a machine would not spin to damp without paying extra, but again — this place is what it is. You either pay extra to spin dry wash, or you pay extra to dry your clothes from sopping vs damp.
Take my whites to a different machine, load it, kick it off — and get ready to leave. I check my watch so I’ll be on time — and stop by original washer to grab my bags.
I look in dismay, as the display that was Cold, Delicates now reads Hot, Whites. Because I have some (to me) pricey stuff in there, all of strong color. Or at least it was until now.
I go to change it, and it will not stray from its destructive setting.
So, I go to the attendant and ask for help. I’ll easily pay for another cycle — as long as $ 400 in clothes are not ruined.
She’s a nice lady — but despite (or because of) our language differences she keeps saying that she cannot do anything. I ask her if a small child was trapped inside — what would she do? She says she could not do anything.
Uh-​huh.
So, I ask her to call the owner so I can explain what I need.
She calls him on her cell, and hands me the phone.
I explain to the owner what the deal is, and why it’s important to save my clothes. His first response «we are not liable for damage to your clothes.» Followed by «get out, enjoy the sunny day.»
All I want, I ask — is that his attendant stop the cycle so I can get my clothes to a washer that remembers its setting. (Evidently this is an issue here — not only other Unilocal reviewers but the owner himself commented on the reliability issues with the machines’ settings.)
«It’s not possible to stop a machine once it’s running… can’t happen — physically impossible,» says the owner.
I call bullshit… and bring up the kid thing… «If a small child is trapped in your washer, are you telling me, Mr. Clean-​X-​Press that we are all gonna sit here, serve popcorn and watch the kid go through spin? Really? Really?»
So, that calls his bluff.
«Well, I could tell you — or her (the attendant) how to stop the cycle, but I’m not going to. She won’t understand and I don’t want the public knowing how to do that. That’s industry knowledge.»
Huh? As if I am going to be so lame as to start my life of crime — here — in a dirty, poorly-​maintained laundromat.
And that’s it. He hangs up. The attendant doesn’t know what to do… she’s scurrying about trying to stay busy. I go out of my way to tell her that she is a good person and while I’m not mad at her, she works for a person who does not seem either kind or professional. I don’t think she gets the message.
Needless to say, the hot + whites cycle is not good to dark knits. The colors were lighter, and the sizing was definitely smaller. [New plot idea for «The Biggest Loser» — wash your clothes here and then force you to lose the weight so you’ll fit in them.]
I go to the super giant dryer… it’s $ 0.25 for 3 minutes. [Used same dryer recently at an amazingly well-​run laundromat in Chicago at .$ 0.25 for 10 minutes… this place is obviously all about value and reliability.
Neat. You have to put in $.50 to start — and here’s a nugget — it starts counting down before it turns on. While watching my clothes dry, I notice that the very same dryer turns off its heat to «cool down» way before the cycle’s done. It doesn’t mention this anywhere — and you pay the same for the non-​heated time that you do for the heated time.
Questions that come up from this very disappointing experience:
Is there any inspection of coin-​operated machines to be sure that they do what they say they will? If not, why not? After all, gas pumps are inspected. And when a load of laundry can run to $ 7 — well — that’s a couple gallons of gas right there.
Based on the very distinct color of water that’s come out of some of these machines, are laundromats allowed to pool used water together and reuse the resulting grey water? Shouldn’t customers know if this is the case? It sounds both likely and creepy.
Who do you call with concerns like this? According to @SF311, the District Attorney’s Office. Really? Are things so quiet in the Bayview and Tenderloin that we have time to look into possible short-​changing and bad behavior of laundry machine operators?

Laundry is a momentous occasion for me… when I actually do it.
Anyone who knows me well — is fully aware of this.
And it’s not that I don’t enjoy the smell of sweet fresh laundered clothes. Cause I do. I adore it. In fact there’s few things that can top the feeling of warm –just out of the dryer sheets — late at night. Very few things…
But since I don’t have a washer and dryer — the luxury of that unreal smell is far and few between. Which is actually — sadly why I own a crazy amount of sheets and why I even bought this amazing «fresh laundry» scent from Bed Bath and Beyond awhile back. Which — I used to spray in heavy doses — all over my clothes and sheets every morning.
But Bed Bath and Beyond trips — are also few and far between — and so — with no more fresh laundry spray –or clean clothes — I realized I had reached a critical point.
Critical point = can’t see floor.
And so I reluctantly journeyed over to Clean X Press.
Only to find out — that they now have new ownership, a plethora of new machines, and, have had a slight face-​lift.
Exciting stuff. Laundry isn’t necessarily fun here — but it’s relatively easy — especially if you take advantage of their convenient parking lot and their glistening big black and silver load machines. Also — if no one’s around — go crazy with the dryers and if you’re able to snag 5 or 6 to dry your clothes — you’ll be done before you’ve finished your just microwaved Donut World apple fritter — (ever so lovely — situated — right across the street.)
Just be sure to watch your laundry here (there are definitely some characters lingering around) and don’t forget to savor that just cleaned smell…
which sadly never lasts long enough for me :(
***Oh but that being said — I must say that my clothing choices have become significantly more inspired and creative — since not having a washer and dryer. My Paul Newman and Don’t Worry, Be Happy shirts have had a plethora of exciting San Francisco adventures — thanks to postponed laundry day.

Today I overheard a fellow laundry-​doer say, «Everything here is ‘Out of order’», and he’s right. It is.
More than half the laundry machines and dryers are out, and I imagine it can get really crowded on busy days. At least, if anyone still comes to this place.
The change machine does not accept new bills. Like the place itself, it requires everything to be old and broken. One of the chain machines doesn’t work, and the other only works if it likes you.
Not all of the dryers work WELL. After a half an hour of drying your clothes, you still may have a damp load.
There are only three positive things I can say about this place:
1) LOCATION: It has parking (albeit, three spaces), and it’s near 9^th and Irving. Most importantly for me (which is why I have gone) it is 10 feet from the N Judah stop.
2) SAFETY: You can leave your clothes here without the fear of someone taking them.
3) WI FI: I’ve never used their free wi fi, but they advertise that they have it. That’s pretty rad.
And that’s it. You’ll notice that none of the positive things I mention have anything to do with actually DOING laundry.