Taking your clothes to Maytag Laundry and Tanning is a good life choice. The attendants are friendly and helpful, and the room is well lit, well organized, nicely decorated and brightly colored. Since all the machines go through a deep cleaning each night, they all work well and are mold- and mildew-free, so your clothes get really clean.

In Maytag Laundry and Tanning, there are twenty commercial washers that can wash one load of clothes at a time and cost $2 per cycle, six maxi-loaders that wash the equivalent of four loads at once and cost $4.25 per cycle, and two mega-load washers that wash the equivalent of six loads at once and cost $5.50 per cycle. There are twenty small commercial dryers that are slightly larger than those in Grinnell residence hall laundry rooms and five large commercial dryers that are enormous. The cost of drying for both types is $.25 for six minutes. There are also two tanning beds, if you happen to be seeking the T in GTL.

The large capacity, high efficiency washing machines get clothes spotless without the damage of a top-loading machine. They also finish a cycle in less than fifteen minutes. The time per cycle of their commercial grade top-loading machines is comparable to that of the machines in residence hall laundry rooms. The dryers usually take thirty minutes to dry a load, even in the large commercial dryers that can accommodate a lot more clothes than the normal sized dryers can.

There is also little to no competition for the machines at Maytag. They have an adequate number of both washers and dryers to fulfill the needs of a busy clientele. The turnaround is fairly fast, so even if you have to wait, which is unlikely, it isn’t for long.

Though the Laundromat is two miles away from campus and it takes time to pack up your laundry and get there, the time to wash and dry is much less than it takes to launder clothes in the residence hall laundry rooms, and your clothes end up much cleaner. However, you will probably need a car to get there since laundry can be heavy. Once you’re there, though, it is well worth the effort.

The laundromat offers some great amenities besides laundry. There is free wireless internet, arcade games, television, a change dispenser, a soap, bleach and softener dispenser, magazines, clean counters on which to fold your clothes, tables at which to relax, drop-off and ironing services and a student discount rate for college students.

The drop-off service is great for students with busy schedules. For a certain rate, students can drop off their laundry and they can pick it up that same day, at which point it will have been washed, dried and folded for them. The Laundromat provides all of the necessary materials, including soap and softener.

Luckily for students, the discount rate is significant. They offer $.50 off a cycle for the one-load machines, so instead of paying $2, Grinnell students pay just $1.50 a load. If students drop off their laundry, they pay $.79/pound rather than the full $.99/pound rate.

The free wireless internet and tables are conducive to doing homework while waiting for a laundry cycle to finish, and the Laundromat offers a relaxed and quiet atmosphere. In addition, Maytag will soon be offering a laptop bar that will host ten users, complete with outlets for each person.

Darren Saunders, a Maytag customer, says he does his laundry there because it’s clean, quiet and he doesn’t have fight for machines. He also likes the security of having an attendant present to watch over the Laundromat.

“Even if you have to step out to run some errands, you know your laundry is safe,” he said.

This location has been open for about seventeen years and under its current owners for nearly six of those. Historically, it hasn’t received much business from the College. Recently, Ashley Rubendall, the manager of the Laundromat, has been trying to advertise more at the college to increase business.

“I think that if college students knew more about the services we offer, they would want to take advantage of them,” she said.

The Laundromat is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and is located at 805 West Street, right next to Fareway.