Lux Dry Cleaners

Happy to pay their expensive pricing, but because of their poor business practices we will never use them again. The owner (woman), was so rude to my husband when he pointed out they lost a jacket.
On the 4^th of January my husband went to pick up his clothes and they were closed. NO NOTE ON THE DOOR. My husband was so upset, he had to go buy a new suit. He even took a picture and showed her the next day and she insisted she had a note on the door. HUH? Really. How about a little customer services to of with those high prices.
The dry cleaners 2 doors down is awesome! Ladies name is Debbie.

Been here a few times, always had good luck. My stained clothes have turned out awesome each time! They are always so nice too! And the lady gives me tips on my small stains that I probably don’t need a dry cleaner for.

Lux is very expensive, but very good. My complaint, and it is a major one: Why don’t they call and remind you if your item has been there too long? I might leave something in late winter, forget to pick it up and wonder the next winter where it is. This would cost them nothing and would give them points for good service.
Susie, who must be one of the owners, is very friendly, but the man (maybe her husband?) is a grouch. A welcoming smile would help.
I only take my really good clothes there. The average stuff goes to Poly Clean in Redwood City

From the outside you would think this is a reasonably priced mom and pops show because there is nothing glamorous about the faded signs or ugly flooring. So you can imagine my surprise when they charged me $ 26 to dry clean ONE dress that cost not much more. I dropped my garment off on a Monday and had to haggle to pick it up on Friday. I may have had to take out a second mortgage if I asked for same day service.
I just finished watching the entire season of Weeds so I thought maybe this was more than just a dry cleaner. For good measure I checked all the pockets and inseams for hidden drugs in hopes that there was an explanation for the obscene cost… no such luck.
After reading other reviews I can confirm that prices are not listed anywhere in the store, nor do they write the cost on your ticket. I made the mistake of forgetting my wallet and asking if I could pay when I picked up my garment. In hindsight I should’ve been suspicious when I noticed the 85 carat diamond ring on the attendant (I’m assuming co-​owner). I guess ripping off your customers has paid off.

I have been going to Lux for over twenty years. I know they are expensive, but so are my clothes. I go there because the quality is unquestionable. My clothes come back looking like new, even if there is a difficult, hard-​to-​remove stain. Every now and then I have tried another cleaner. We frequently travel, so I have occasion to try other cleaners. The quality doesn’t compare. Recently, I spilled an entire cup of coffee (with cream) on a new pair of light colored pants. Without making any promises in advance, they returned them to me good as new.
I wouldn’t go anywhere else for my dry cleaning.
Wendy

Worst dry cleaner I have ever been to. Not only were the prices outrageous, but they returned one of my blouses with a tear in it. The owner had no explanation or suggestion for a remedy (I.e. reimbursing me for a replacement or repairing the tear). There was a strong language barrier, but I felt like he was trying to just get me to pay for the damaged shirt and leave.
Finally he agreed to not charge me the cleaning fee for the shirt they ruined, but I don’t feel this is enough when you return an expensive shirt in an unwearable condition.

$ 62 for two suit jackets and a pair of slacks. There were no stains on the items so nothing that would have required additional work and I did not ask for a rush or anything. I was trying to go to the cleaners on Chestnut with the good Unilocal reviews, but Lux is just a couple doors down and I went in here instead. I will not make this mistake again.
Some reviewers comment on the environmental aspects of Lux. There is a sign stating a $ 0.10 surcharge will be added due to environmental costs. This clearly does not account for these ridiculously high charges.

While I wasn’t thrilled with the cost ($ 55 for two dresses), I understand that as a woman working in Menlo Park who can afford tailor-​made dresses, I am subject to the «privileged white douche tax». I should have asked what it would cost when I dropped them off, or actually researched places near where I live in Redwood City. You know, with one of those apps that lets you browse reviews of businesses.
What gets my goat is that I, having never had anything dry cleaned before, provided my own hangers, thinking I was being helpful and reducing waste.
When I picked up my dresses, not only were they returned to me with flimsy wire Lux-​branded hangers, but the hangers have a very visible «Praise the LORD» on them.
They converted my clothes to Christianity without my consent. This really bothers me in a way I can’t articulate that well. I could perhaps express my feelings through wood-​burning if I still had my wooden hangers, now lost to some laundry conversion therapy camp.
I think next time I will go to a dry cleaner in redwood city that clearly states their prices, does not lose/​throw away things I leave in their care and does not make carrying my dry cleaning back to my 10 speed mountain bike any more than it has to be.

I have been going to Lux for ten years. They are expensive, but they also do the best laundering/​dry cleaning/​pressing that I’ve encountered in the Menlo Park area.
What rankles me is that they do not have set prices for their services. Certainly prices are not posted. One day, I’ll be charged $ 12.99 to dry clean a pair of pants. Another day, I’ll be charged $ 13.99 for the same pair.
I recently spoke to Suzi Lee, the co-​owner, about this. She said the prices charged depend on how much effort Lux believes is involved in cleaning the item at the time of cleaning — that some stains are harder to remove than others. So pricing is a game of Russian Roulette. You don’t know what you’re going to end up with. Her responses to me were also at times contradictory, and I don’t think it is a language issue. There a bit of duplicity there.
In short, Lux will charge, subjectively and variably, what they they think they can get away with. That said, the results are excellent. You do get what you pay for. I would just like an honest transaction each time.

I’ve never written an online review before, and I probably never will again, but I’d like to respond to the negative reviews below. I started using Lux when I walked into my previous dry cleaners, which had just changed hands, to find a customer with hundreds of dollars of permanently yellowed white shirts and the new owner giving *him* a hard time. The woman who recommended Lux to me maybe ten years ago told me, «I don’t take my husband’s clothes there because they’re expensive and he wouldn’t know the difference, but I take my own clothes there». I think that says it all. We’re talking about cleaning prices in Menlo Park, one of the most expensive places in the Bay Area, one of the most expensive places in the country. This isn’t Ohio. If there’s no price list on the wall, ask how much the cleaning will cost, as I did the first few times I used them, before you leave your clothes. I’ve had to ask them to re-​clean an item just once in the years I’ve used them. Aside from that one time, my clothes have always come back clean, perhaps because I have them cleaned while they’re still cleanable. No, the religious proselytizing on the hanger sleeves won’t win them many friends in this area but I don’t mind it because a) people are entitled to their own opinion, and b) it’s nice to know that some people still believe deeply enough in something to risk alienating their customers to make their belief known. Maybe their belief helps get them get through the long days they put in. Suzi leaves her home miles away at 4 AM so she can clean in the early morning hours, before the machinery heats the back of the shop into the high 90s. The last time I was there the man had a bad burn on the back of his hand from getting too close to the press. Yet despite the hours and hot hard work, both of them, especially Suzi, are unfailingly polite and do a great job.

Lux Cleaners uses environmental friendly methods and resources to clean the clothes. The clothes don’t come out chemical smelling like I just got a bad ’80’s perm. Prices may be a bit on the higher side, but this is Menlo Park. EVERYTHING is more expensive here. You also get what you pay for. If you want quality work and services, you sometimes have to pay that extra amount. I’ve had numerous items cleaned here for almost a decade — including my wedding dress! — and they always did a great job for me. They also do a nice job on the alterations– including a bridesmaid’s dress. I’ve taken my items to cheaper places, but I generally ended up paying more than my dry cleaning bill since sometimes my clothes would be ruined and they would have to be replaced. Overall, I’ve had good experience and I recommend Lux Cleaners for consistently providing great, quality service.

Will never use them again! Price was $ 49 for 4 items. One long sleeve cotton shirt, one short sleeve cotton shirt, one long sleeve wool sweater, one short sleeve wool sweater. None of the clothes were excessively dirty. Just normal wrinkles and fuzz after a couple of times of use. We did not see a price list on the wall, nor were we given as estimate. I never expected that it would be this outrageous. I suspect rent is high in this location, and the customer is bearing the brunt of it. How do they stay in business!

$ 49 for 2 shirts and 2 sweaters. Took a week.
We only went here because our usual cleaner, who offers the same environmentally-​friendly practices (without a disclaimer on the wall indicating this is the cause of the high prices, like Lux has) was unavailable for the holidays. They charge less than half for the same service and better quality.
There are other, better options in the area.

NEVER COMING BACK TO THIS PLACE! This place sucks! High prices, poor quality, bad customer service, long turnaround, and tons of attitude.
I came in to get to 2 pairs of pants hemmed, simple job, there was no lining, no cuffs, they didn’t have to measure me and pin the hem. It was just your average 5 minute alteration. When I dropped them off I was quoted 17.00 by a man (assuming the owner), which was much higher than I’m use to paying but I just needed to get them done so I sucked it up. Then I was told the SOONEST I could get them was a week later, I tried to negotiate and was shot down a week was the SOONEST. I should have left then.
So a WEEK later for 17.00 per pant I went to pick up my pants and was told they were 19.99 each by the woman who worked there, also maybe an owner, not 17.00 like I was told when I dropped them off. Tried to explain to her the situation and she could give a S*^$# that I was quoted a different price saying «pant s are $ 19.99, not $ 17, we don’t charge $ 17, we charge $ 19.99» (insert snooty attitude here). What ever happened to the customer is always right? And who charged $ 20 for a freaking hem. And to top it off, my pants weren’t even pressed!
Never trust a dry cleaner wearing designer duds and gives you attitude. I should have left when I heard they would be $ 17 and would require a week turnaround.
$ 12 for a hem is reasonable, $ 20 is not. When I had alterations done in SF they were $ 10, pressed and done in 3 – 4 days max.
NEVER COMING BACK TO THIS PLACE!
If there was a plus to the whole situation, they do use real hangers for pants (I’m assuming skirts too), rather than pinning them to hangers. But since they didn’t press their altered items they may as well have handed them to me rolled up in a bag :)
If anyone has an recommended alternations place in Menlo or Palo Alto send them my way.

The bill was $ 273 for 23 items: 6 mens shirts, 7 mens slacks, 2 hand stitched pillow covers, 3 womans silk blouses, 1 womans slacks, 2 dresses, 2 womans jackets. One of the dresses cost $ 33, the other $ 28. The slacks, the jackets, and the blouses cost $ 12.95 each. The mens shirts were cheaper at $ 2.75 each. Service took a week.
This was the first time I used Lux. I looked on the wall for a price list. Ms Lee (manager), greeted me and said, «That’s old. People here care more about quality than price.» So I gave them a try. Except for the shirts the prices were a shock to me, coming from Ohio.
The quality? Poor. My slacks ($ 12.95) came back shiny from the pressing, and with the spots I sent for them to remove. The shirts were also shiny and still had food spots. My wife’s slacks showed wrinkles at the crotch. Her jackets were OK, except for pocket pucker. Her custom made dress was OK, but she thought $ 32.95 too steep. We sent the embroidered pillow cases because they were stained, and they came back just that way.
Also, we were both put off by their proselytizing: The paper sleeves on the hangers all were marked with «Praise the Lord,» and Bible verses (with typos).
When I picked up the order, they gave me no itemized list showing what our items cost. I went back for it.
We’re not happy with Lux.
(I’ll be happy to have a recommendation for another dry cleaner nr Menlo Park. Thanks!)
Added ⁸⁄₀₉: After trying several others we are happy with PurpleTie in Redwood City. They pick up and deliver to Menlo and surrounds. See my review for them.