Sylvia’s Stitch & Suds

Sylvia is a really cool, and has an amiable personalility; and, I had high hopes for the place. I was calling places in August a few days before a trip about my cat peeing on my sleeping bag. I recall the conversation, and I recall asking her if they could dry clean a down sleeping bag, and that I needed it within 36 hours. Sylvia said «Of course We are a laundry mat, that’s what we do.» When I came to pick it up, it was folded nicely in a plastic bag, and I put it in the trunk assuming everything was fine. Later that evening, I found it smelled TERRIBLY of mold and mildew to the point it couldn’t even be used. When I brought it back, responsibility was passed off from one person to the next, people turning on each other. When I finally came back to see if they got the smell out, it was still present. They said they would call me when it was ready. They never did or offer compensation for the expensive sl doing bag.

Very clean machines which do a good job. I’ve never had alterations done here but Sylvia is adorable.

I won’t do my laundry anywhere else. Sylvia is a super cool lady with a great sense of humor. The timers on the washers are not accurate (take about 5 min longer than shown) but the large dryers work great. There’s no problem parking out front unlike other fan laundromats.
I had her do some alterations on a suit. She was done in less than two weeks and the work was great.

Dropped off three blazers that required altered sleeves on 4÷11÷15. Silvia said she was really busy and couldn’t get them to me several weeks. I call her mid-​May since she said she’d have them done by then. She said she hadn’t done them and it would take another two weeks. After two weeks I leave her several voicemails to see if they were done. No answer. I end up going by her shop and she said she still didn’t do them and it would take her a couple days. Again, left voicemails to check in and no reply. I go back to the shop and she said she’d have them done by Saturday. Showed up today since she said they would be done yesterday and the guy watching over the place found them untouched. I told him I’d just take them since it was obvious she wouldn’t get to then any time soon. She is unresponsive on the phone, especially when she hasn’t done the work. It’s obvious she’s busy and I had no problems with her the past two times I had her alter formal dresses but this was a ridiculous experience. Nice lady but has some issues with actually completing the work. I wasted a lot of time, and now over two months later, I am left in the same spot with unaltered jackets. Not sure why she kept putting off my alterations but the fact she never replied to my messages baffled me, especially since she set the deadlines herself.

This is a dry cleaning review — I’ve noticed most of the reviews are for the laundry part of this place. I dropped some clothes off and was told that they should all be ready by a certain date. Show up on that date and they didn’t have my shirts, which I really needed for work. It was pretty inconvenient to go again, but I finally made it back and got them — but shouldn’t have had to make two trips. Sylvia was very nice and apologetic, and they came out clean enough, but that experience was enough to make me find a different dry cleaner.

Had a men’s suit tailored. The price was very reasonable, the job was completed ahead of the predicted date, and the quality of the work was solid. Will absolutely return.

The laundromat that was there before Sylvia took over looked sketchy and felt very unsafe. Since Sylvia has been there it’s been great. I come every week and it’s an awesome place for laundry, dry cleaning, and alterations. Comfortable seating area, with many magazines and books, and wifi. On one occasion Sylvia made alterations on a dress that was improperly altered by another person, and within two days I had my newly fixed dress back.

Sylvia’s is the BEST for alterations, dry-​cleaning, coin laundry… All of it! They are very talented and professional, and give a true neighborhood feel to every visit

Sylvia is a beast at sewing, but she’s rumpelstiltskin’s sister.
I can’t remember the fairy tale that well though I remember that SOB rumpelstiltskin was a royal pain in the butt. Sylvia has the ability to sit down and produce gold out of old worn out clothes. She’s a friggin maverick and I have no problem with that, EXCEPT that she had my shirt and my lady’s dress for MONTHS.
We took in out clothes to have them taken in and we ended up being taken in. I had clothes altered by her in the past and got my clothes back exactly how I wanted, in a reasonable amount of time and done so at a reasonable price, so why wouldn’t I expect the same result every-​time. Oh ho ho ho, no. I came in 4 times with 4 different dates to come in and pick up a shirt that needed taken in and a dress that needed fabric added and she procrastinated me to death. I died, and now and back with a poor review.
I think she’s great at what she does, just not in any reasonable amount of time.

I went to this place and took 3 loads of laundry. I spent 48.00 (in a check) and when I got the clothes back they were not clean and had detergent still caked on them! I will NEVER go back! They dont take credit but they take cash and a check!!! sketchy. Bye bye sylvia.

Street parking, but if you go during the day, it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s kind of a hot mess when you go to the alterations side. Maybe I’m just too OCD about this, but there seemed to be no sense of organization on where the clothes went.
the service.
So I came here to get my jeans hemmed since I’m such a shorty. I read the reviews and decided to give this place a try. She made me try on the jeans and marked where to do the alterations. She gives me a ticket and I can’t get back to my jeans for a little over a week. No big hurry for me so that’s fine. I come back to pick up my jeans and it’s lost in the various piles. It takes sometime for her to find the bag that has my jeans. I pay $ 17.50 (no credit cards accepted) for her to chop off the extra bit of jeans. I think the price is ridiculous! Luckily, she did a good enough job on my jeans that I can’t complain on the quality.
Bottom line: overpriced, a bit of hassle to deal with. I’d find elsewhere to go.

I should have read the review from one of the ladies and taken heed before going to this horrid place. I took 2 sports coats to get dry cleaned, one of them needed tailoring first. She told me to come back after a week (kind of a long time since the alteration was just a simple adjustment on the waist). I took my son with me to drop off the clothes and she informed me that I needed to teach my son my native language. I brushed that off because I just took it as her wanting to impart her elderly wisdom though it was pretty offensive for her to assume I wasn’t parenting my child to know his culture. A week passes by and when I arrive to pick up my items, she tells me that my items aren’t ready. Shocked, I asked «it takes a week for dry cleaning?» Her response was «I dropped it off yesterday.» Really?! I came back the next day and no apologies, no customer service at all. Terrible and rude individual. I’ll find some other place that values their customers and is able to deliver services as promised according to their timeline. Otherwise, if you like rude ladies who take their time to alter and dry clean as they see fit (while imparting parenting advice as they see necessary) this may be the right place for you! I’m never going back here.

A quick update to my previous and more extensive review…
I recently took a formal dress to Sylvia’s for alterations on a deadline (so unlike me!!). Sylvia not only finished the work on time, she did a beautiful job. The alterations included (1) taking up the sleeves to completely change the neckline of the dress from a drab and out dated off-​the-​shoulder to a boatneck (this was pretty difficult as the neckline is also scalloped!) and (2) hemming the bottom. Not only did Sylvia do a fantastic job with the complicated neckline alterations (you can’t tell it was altered), she also hemmed the dress such that it was slightly lower in the front than in the back so as to give me a longer looking length but still allow me to walk/​dance easily.
I got complements on my unique dress all night long! I love this lady.

Only used Sylvia’s for laundry (done myself) but the place can’t really be beat. Clean, machines are rarely if ever broken and there are lots of them. Caliente is just steps away so you can put clothes in and grab a beverage or soothe a hangover and pop back to dry them in a snap. Great place, good location, always very friendly.

she is AMAZING! basically, i called her up one morning in a last minute crunch and she was able to hem my dress SAME day! she was so sweet and willing to do whatever it took for me to get it done (and done the right way too!) i went at 930am and by 6pm I had my dress looking exactly how I wanted and ready for me to wear! IT turned out perfect and I will definitely go back. I recommend everyone to go see Sylvia!

Unilocal should really have a zero star option. Let me tell you a story. I buy two awesome jackets from the J. Crew Warehouse sale that came into town in January earlier this year. They just needed some alterations around the waist. I read reviews and searched online for places that I could take my jackets to, and Sylvia’s seemed like a good choice. Other places were overcharging and the place I found a bargain at seemed a little shady and untrustworthy. When I walked into Sylvia’s, she greeted me very warmly and assured me she could get the job done. I distinctly remember her saying, «Oh, you went to the place on Broad? The problem with them is that they are too lazy to do the work. I can do this no problem.»
Well, I came in the first week of February, and she told me she wouldn’t be able to have it done for two weeks because she had a lot of tailorings lined up (she pointed to the mass of clothes on her sewing tables). I took it as a sign that people really liked her and were lining up to get tailoring done by her, but I should have taken it as a sign that she doesn’t keep her word on when she’ll have things done. I was a little disappointed, but agreed and payed my $ 47 to her. Two weeks pass by, and I get no call from her. I decide to stop by without calling first, and when she saw me she looked like she wanted to avoid confrontation with me so that she wouldn’t have to tell me she hadn’t even started on my jackets. I honestly wish I took them back at this point in time. I was stupid not to. She told me she was sorry, and that she would have them done by the end of the week. I decided to give her another chance because I didn’t want to be rude and was hesitant to ask for my money back. Worst decision ever. Long story short, it took her 2 more weeks to «finish» the job — but when I say finish, I mean RUIN my jackets. The sewing was crooked, and on one of them she didn’t even finishing tailoring the hem all the way down, so now there is a weird puffing of fabric sticking out in the back. That was a waste of my $ 50 jackets and the $ 47 for a horrible job.
If you’re gonna go here, I’d suggest tailoring something you don’t really care about first to see if she can get that done. If you’re not going to go here, pat yourself on the back for a decision well made.

I’ve been a few times since my earlier review. About alterations, some price info. might be useful to people. I had some dresses taken in (loose at the waist/​loose overall). They cost $ 15-​$ 25 each. Not totally sure what the difference was, since it definitely wasn’t in relation to how much thread was used/​how many inches of fabric were being adjusted. She spent the same time pinning me. $ 20 seems pretty reasonable to me for a nice item (i.e., $ 300−400+ item).

Wonderful! Sylvia does Great work, on time, AND her prices are reasonable! She is a seamstress to be trusted with your gorgeous dresses! Highly recommend her!

this place is great. I went there to get a dress altered and sylvia not only did a great job, but she was so accommodating. I had a dress rip at a local dry cleaners two days before going out of town for a wedding, and she was able to fix it for me immediately. She was so nice and did an amazing job on such short notice. I will be going here for any alteration from now on and I would certainly recommend this place to anyone. Don’t think twice about giving her your business, you will not be let down.

Sylvia’s Stitch & Suds is the best laundromat I’ve ever been to in my entire life, and I’ve been to laundromats where you can eat or have coffee in the other room while your wait for your laundry. We’ve been going to Sylvia’s for a while now, and from day one the owner and her employees/​family have been nothing but nice to us. Anytime we need a little Spray & Wash on our clothes, Sylvia is right there. She once said to my partner, «That’s what I am here for.» Once the dryer didn’t dry our clothes, and she had 100 percent no problem giving our money back without any question. If I could go down the list of all the wonderful encounters I’ve had with Sylvia and her staff, I would never finish writing this review. She’s the epitome of a perfect small business woman. I love her! And she always has the best stories– she’s such a conversationalist.
She offers everything from dry cleaning to drop-​off laundry service. We’ve had a few of our garments altered by her, and each time she’s done a fantastic job. (The first time we brought a pair of pants to her we were short on cash because we didn’t know she was cash only, and she didn’t even think twice about it. She said it was not a problem. That’s how amazing Sylvia is.)
On top of everything, the colors inside of Sylvia’s suds are green and yellow– two colors that majestically make you happy. We won’t stop going to Sylvia until we move from Richmond or die.