What Is: Laundromat & Cleaning Services?
Laundromats and cleaning services are businesses that provide laundry facilities on either a self-service or full-service basis, and may also offer dry cleaning, mending, pressing, pick-up and delivery. The two most common types of laundromats (also called washaterias in the southwestern United States) are the self-service variety, where an attendant is stationed to make change, sell detergent and monitor the facility but the customers use the coin-operated machines to wash and dry their own laundry, and the full-service or "wash-n-fold" operation, where customers bring in their laundry to be washed, dried, folded or pressed and picked up or delivered at a predetermined time for a fee, generally calculated by the pound. Laundry and cleaning establishments may also offer dry cleaning, garment repair, and home pick-up and delivery services; these can be done either in-house or contracted out to other vendors. Laundromats and related businesses are subject to local codes and regulations.
