For a busy family, doing the laundry yourself at a laundromat is the cheaper option in dollars, while drop-off wash and fold is the cheaper option in time. At Beaumont Laundromat, a 25 lb family week costs roughly $29.50 to do yourself (with our drying assumptions) or $62.50 dropped off, so the real question is what a couple of hours of your week is worth to you.
What are we comparing?
Beaumont Laundromat offers two ways to get a week of laundry done:
- Self-serve: you use the washers and dryers yourself, paying per wash load and per block of dryer time.
- Drop-off wash and fold: you bring the laundry in, it's washed, dried and folded for you, and you pay $2.50 per pound for regular clothes.
Both are at #107, 5303 Magasin Ave, Beaumont, AB T4X 1V8, and the store is open every day from 8 am to 7 pm. The prices below come straight from the pricing page. The time estimates do not come from the store. They're our own assumptions about how long an average person spends on each step, and you should swap in your own numbers.
How much does a family week cost to do yourself?
Let's use a realistic week for a family of four: about 25 lb of clothes, towels and sheets. That usually splits into one large load and one medium load.
Washing:
- Large washer (40 lb): $10.00
- Medium washer (30 lb): $7.50
Drying. Dryers are paid by time, so the cost depends on how long your loads need. For this example we're assuming the large load needs about 42 minutes in the 40 lb dryer, and the medium load about 40 minutes in the 30 lb dryer. Your loads may need more or less.
- 40 lb dryer at $1.00 per 6 minutes, about 42 minutes: $7.00
- 30 lb dryer at $1.00 per 8 minutes, about 40 minutes: $5.00
Self-serve total: about $29.50, plus your own detergent.
How much does the same week cost as wash and fold?
Drop-off is simpler to price: weight times the per-pound rate. 25 lb × $2.50 = $62.50.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Wash, dry and fold — regular clothes | $2.50 / lb |
| Coveralls, work clothes, comforters, blankets, duvets | Call for a price |
| Ironing | Call or WhatsApp for a quote |
| Pickup and delivery | Call or WhatsApp for a quote |
| Commercial and uniform laundry | Call or WhatsApp for a quote |
The difference for this example week is $33.00. That's what you pay to hand the work to someone else.
How much of your time does each option take?
This is where the comparison gets personal. The figures below are assumptions about your own time, not claims about the store or its machines. Cycle lengths vary by setting and load, and some people fold twice as fast as others.
Doing it yourself (our assumptions)
- Sorting and bagging at home: about 15 minutes
- Driving there and back: depends where you live; we'll assume 20 minutes total
- Loading washers and dryers, moving clothes across: about 15 minutes
- Waiting through the wash and dry cycles: we'll assume about 75 minutes
- Folding: about 30 minutes for a family week
That's roughly 2 hours 35 minutes of your day. You can use some of the waiting time for other things, but you do need to stay nearby.
Drop-off (our assumptions)
- Bagging at home: about 5 minutes (no need to sort)
- Driving to drop off and returning to collect: two trips, we'll assume 40 minutes total
- Putting folded clothes away: about 10 minutes
That's roughly 55 minutes, and none of it is spent waiting on a machine. If you don't want to make the trips at all, pickup and delivery is available by quote. Call or WhatsApp to confirm pickup at your address.
We haven't included turnaround here. Ask the store when your order will be ready when you drop it off.
Side-by-side comparison
| Self-serve | Drop-off wash and fold | |
|---|---|---|
| Example cost for a 25 lb week | $29.50 plus detergent | $62.50 |
| Your time (our assumption) | about 2 h 35 min | about 55 min |
| Trips to the store | one | two (or pickup by quote) |
| Sorting and folding | you | done for you |
| Control over settings | full | less; ask about any special care when you drop off |
| Best for | big loads, tight budgets, specific care | busy weeks, small to medium bags |
So what is an hour of my time worth here?
Using the example above, drop-off saves about 1 hour 40 minutes and costs $33.00 more. That works out to about $19.80 per hour saved.
If that number is less than what you'd happily pay to get an evening back, drop-off is worth it. If you'd rather keep the money and you don't mind a book at the laundromat, self-serve wins.
What changes the math?
- Smaller bags favour drop-off. A 10 lb bag is only $25.00, and you'd still spend nearly as long driving, waiting and folding for one small load.
- Very large loads favour self-serve. Self-serve is priced per load, so a packed large washer at $10.00 is good value per pound.
- Distance matters. If you're coming from Leduc, Nisku or Edmonton, two drop-off trips cost more time than one self-serve visit, unless you combine them with errands or use pickup.
- Bulky items are priced separately. Comforters, blankets, duvets, coveralls and work clothes are accepted through drop-off, but call for a price. Bed covers and pet clothes aren't allowed in the self-serve machines.
Who does each option suit?
Self-serve suits you if:
- you're washing a lot at once and want the lowest cost,
- you have specific settings or detergents you prefer,
- you can spare a block of time and stay nearby, or
- your home washer is broken and you just need a few loads done today.
Drop-off wash and fold suits you if:
- both parents work and evenings are already full,
- you have young kids, a new baby, or a family member who needs care,
- you'd rather spend the time on almost anything else, or
- folding is the part you dread most.
Many families mix both: self-serve for big weekly loads, drop-off in the weeks that fall apart. Read more about the wash and fold service or the self-serve laundromat, or see our full guide to laundry prices in Beaumont.
The short answer
For a 25 lb family week at Beaumont Laundromat, self-serve costs about $29.50 and, by our estimate, about two and a half hours of your time. Drop-off wash and fold costs $62.50 and closer to an hour. Choose self-serve to save money, and drop-off to save time. Call 780-233-3099 with any questions before your first visit.
