Carlin’s Laundromat

I come here on Sunday mornings, and there are always plenty of machines. A few machines are usually out of service, but they are always labeled. I can see how it would be frustrating to put your clothes into a machine that you didn’t know was broken, but this has never happened to me at Carlin’s. The laundry cards are easy to load with cash (no credit card), and there is a Chase bank across the street if I forget to have cash on me. I usually spend around $ 10 washing and drying 2 loads of laundry. The dryers do have actual temperature settings that are accurate (low, medium, high) and can be set in increments of 15 minutes. I’m always done in about an hour, and I hang out at the café while I’m waiting. They have great coffee and salads. I actually enjoy doing laundry here!

Awful, just awful customer service. I had my clothing in one of their dryers for well over 45min only to discover it was not emitting any heat. When I went next door to the café to tell the girl at the counter, she told me she would meet me over there to help. 10 minutes later after already putting my wet clothes into another dryer I’m met with a horrible attitude from the girl, her name was Maria, about how I should have known she could only put money into the dryer for me and not provide a cash refund. When I asked her why she did not inform me when I talked to her before, she said it was because «she was busy.» After many questions about who else I could talk to, while she was blatantly not giving me any eye contact with a bad attitude, I was finally told her boss is around «sometimes in the morning.»
Do yourself a favor, walk an extra block or two and don’t come here.

I am not sure where the negative reviews where doing their laundry, but it could not have been Carlin’s. I gambled on the good reviews and ran the 2 miles and was glad I did. I needed some laundry doing mid road trip and the place was immaculate and very reasonable. The machines are card operated so take notes but you need quarters for the detergent. I just popped next door to the café and got change and a nice coffee.
I might even be back again before I leave SF.

On the one hand, the facilities are generally kept clean.
On the other, it’s pricey for self-​service laundry and the general state of the washers and dryers leaves much to be desired. A multitude of machines are always out of order. Today, over half the «triple load» machines were out of order, with one missing an entire door. Many times, the card readers don’t work and as other reviewers have noted, the dryers don’t always get hot (a pleasant surprise when they are just about to close).
Get with the program Carlin and keep your machines up to date.

This place is THE WORST. First time I went, I discovered the dryer I used was busted *after* the first cycle, so I moved my clothes to a second working dryer that crapped out halfway through. Three drying cycles = three times too long.
I gave the place a second go today and will NEVER be back. The machines only take special cards that you have to load with cash, and the dryer I used this morning kept telling me to reinsert it, which I did, until it said I had insufficient funds, which was not true. I then discovered that it had deducted all my cash WITHOUT adding any time to the dryer. That’s a neat trick, eh?
If you have any trouble at the laundromat you have to report it to the girls who work next door, who would much rather argue with you and roll their eyes than help you out.
If I could give the place zero stars, I would.

This place pretty much sucks. At any time between 4 and way more washers and dryers are out of order. And the ones that work don’t always work.
I just put a load of darks in one washer, a load of whites in another washer at the exact same time and now one has 12’minutes left and is on the first rinse while the other has 5 minutes left and is on the final rinse.
So far this laundromat owes me $ 13.50 in washes that stopped mid wash, ate my money or dryers that didn’t work and ate my money. They won’t give you a refund. They’ll pay for your next wash but that is when the café worker isn’t busy and I’m not waiting to start my laundry until they feel like making it over.
If there was any place else close by I’d never step foot in this piece of crap again

Sadly this place going down hill fast. Vast number of machines out of order, no coins, only use card machine, both were down on a Sunday. Place is dirty and they increased the fees on all machines. Not worth the trouble.

Horrible! I’ve been coming here for 5 years without incident. Today I’m doin laundry and notice one of my machines is still soapy and blinking some odd code. I walk into the café and ask one of the ladies what does it mean when it the machine is blinking a code and she said «oh you put too much soap there is nothing I can do we can’t give your money back and if my boss were here he would tell you the same thing». Ok. I never asked for my money back. I asked what the blinking code meant. And she had an awful attitude from that point on. I then asked okay so what do I do so that I can take my clothes out and put into another machine and with attitude told me push the red button. That’s all. She didn’t come to assist or offer assistance. Mind you there was no one in the café and one other worker there should anyone come in. The reason im annoyed is because I’ve been coming here for 5 years, you would think they would treat loyal and regular customers with a little respect.

My clothes were stolen from the one of the dryers here today. I guess it’s my own fault for leaving my clothes unattended (though they had only been done drying for about half an hour). I guess it goes to show no matter how expensive or clean a place is, a laundromat is still a laundromat.

Nice and clean, more upscale then other Laundromats in the area. I like being able to grab an overpriced sandwich from the café while I wait for my laundry to do its thing.

Clean, lots of machines (in a variety of sizes), open late.
Paying: like the other reviews say, the machines operate by electronic card like an arcade. The machine to put money on cards is in the middle of the store, and is cash (bills) only. There is an ATM in the store, and a Chase ATM across the street. However, the laundry soap dispenser is *coins only*. D’oh! I had to get change from the convenience store nearby.
Waiting: I went on a Wednesday night. Plenty of machines available, and enough seats. There’s a TV in once corner playing network sitcoms. It shares the wifi with the adjacent café. I read a book. No frills.
Pros:
— Clean. There was an attendant working and cleaning the place the whole time I was there.
— Open late
— Gets the job done
Cons:
— Adjacent café closes early.
— Laundry soap vending machine was out of nearly everything. Consider bringing your own. Now my clothes smell like cheap air freshener.
Overall:
I wish it were closer to my house

this is by far the best laundering experience i’ve had in the 10+ years i’ve lived in SF. new machines, clean facility, fair prices, free wi-​fi, attached café, plenty of washers/​dryers, no threatening walk-​in psychos. i like they do cards instead of cash, and there is an ATM on site if you need to get some funds.
my clothes come out clean, the temperature settings actually work, and the dryers actually dry. and i love that the washers spin as much water out of my clothes as possible, which cuts down on drying time. i’m in and out in an hour no matter how much i have to do.

PROS
Very clean
Great service

Most of the machines reek of the cheap Ariel detergent sold throughout the Mission. I do a sniff test before I use the machines because 8 out of 10 users over-​soap and guess where that ends up: on the floor and back on everyone’s laundry. And yes, it has happened to me, so I had to re-​wash my clothes to get rid of the scent.
And, what happened to Elizabeth, who gave a rat’s a** about: cleaning the place; keeping everyone coming in off the street to use the restrooms (not customers); AND keeping the machines clean? This place has lost its charm and it’s not cheap.
Tips for everyone:
— this is not a playground so watch your little ones
— watch for the kids who like to jam things into the card machine – their parents don’t and the left one tends to have a delay kicking your card back out
— people, we are cleaning our clothes so how about keeping food off the table and if you spill something please clean it up
— less is more… more soap in the machine = more soap left behind on your (and our) clothes and in the pipes (think backwash and allergies…‘nough said)
— people with big families or big wash loads: the single people need space to do their thing too… let’s share the space… you can move over instead of moving someone else’s things
Why do I still come here? It’s at least maintained and doesn’t have mold visibly growing in the machines like the one down the block… yet.
Getting off my soapbox now.

Bottom line: clean laundromat with new machines but you pay for it.
The staff does a pretty good job cleaning up and leaving signs when a machine isn’t working. There is a flat screen tv but not much seating if you want to watch it. Not a ton of counter space but I never had any problems finding room to fold. Last wash at 9pm and the machines use a reloadable card.
$ 2.50 small load
$ 3.75 medium load
$ 5.00 large load
$ 0.70 15 min dry

this place rules.
it is ALWAYS clean.
the machines are very efficient.
less soap + less drying time = happy customer

they have changed my mind… service has improved and the bonus for every 20 $ works… it is now the only laundry mat i go to… I apologize for my rash early review… you have changed my mind

Facilities were clean, appliances brand spankin’ new. Washer got clothes clean quickly and dryer worked very well without burning clothes. Only had to do 1 ½ cycles on medium (30 min total) to finish a big load of heavy clothes. Café was nice, but not attached to the laundry portion, not as if you can sit and watch your clothes while you snack.

+ rigggghht around the corner (i feel like i keep settling down at laundromats closer and closer to my apartment)
+ finally! a laundromat with free wifi AND a café in the same establishment!
+ it never seems too busy — i always get the washer and dryers i want without any wait.
+ flat screen tv.
+ definitely clean.
+ staff always available.
+ nice, large locked bathroom.
+ «free» dollar for every $ 20.
— sit on benches? michael’s right; there’s not too much comfortable seating available. but, it makes do, and if you find it really bad, go have a seat at the café next door.
— the washer we use is huge. it’s also $ 8.00 with hot water.
— i keep losing my money cards! i’ve bought three of them in the past three visits. shucks. so much for my «free» dollar.

This place is brand new, having opened sometime in October. As you’d expect, it’s fresh looking, clean, and has all-​new washers and dryers. As you’d also expect, you’re going to have to pay extra to go to a place this nice.
The machines take laundry cards, not cash. The cards are free and can be re-​used, but there’s no way to get change from the machine. If you only have a $ 10 bill, you can only get a $ 10 card. If you buy a $ 20 card, however, you get a FREE DOLLAR (I’ve never been so excited inside a laundromat before).
The inside features restrooms, an ATM, and a reasonably-​sized flat-​screen TV on the wall, which wasn’t working yet. Personally I hope it stays broken, because reading while the TV blathers on is hard. There’s also going to be a coffee shop which is connected (and presumably has the same owner) but it’s still being built. The whole time I was inside, there was a very nice attendant on duty. I’ve only been there once, so I’m not sure if someone is always there or not.
It’s open from 6am-​10pm and signs say the last wash is at 9pm.
The washing machines come in three sizes: double load, triple load, and «maxi» load (which is about 4.5 loads according to the manufacturer’s website). The prices are
Double load: $ 2.40 /​$ 2.50 /​$ 2.60 (hot /​warm /​cold)
Triple load: $ 3.65 /​$ 3.75 /​$ 3.85
Maxi load: $ 4.75 /​$ 5.00 /​$ 5.25
Like I said, it’s expensive. There’s also an option to get an additional three minutes of washing time. On the double load, this cost 25 cents. I’m not sure about the other sizes. The double load takes 23 minutes (or 26 if you splurge).
There are two sizes of dryers. The smaller one is a triple-​load and costs 70 cents for 15 minutes. The larger one handles about 5.5 loads costs $ 1 for 15 minutes.
Aside from the cost, the only other complaint I have about this place is that it needs more seating. There are two park benches, which are pretty comfortable, and then two wall benches, which are not. I suppose once the coffee shop opens up most people will hang out there. Still, this is now my closest laundromat (and I had to buy a $ 20 card) so I’m sure I’ll go back.