| Just assuming you have a giant washer/dryer at home and it would handle say, 3 of the loads at one time. 10 loads total. 1. Put 3 loads in washer. Wait for cycle. 7 loads waiting to start. 2. Move 3 loads to dryer. Put 3 new loads in washer. 4 loads waiting to start. 3. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 3 loads from washer into dryer, put 3 new loads in washer. 1 load waiting to start. 4. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 3 loads from washer into dryer, put 1 remaining load in washer. 0 loads waiting to start. 5. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 1 load from washer to dryer. 6. Move 1 load out of dryer and fold. Total run time, 5 cycles. 10 loads at laundromat 1. Put 10 loads in 10 washers. 2. Move 10 loads from 10 washers to 10 dryers. 3. Move 10 loads out of dryers and fold. Total run time, 2 cycles. Compounding variables are overfilled dryers that may result in clothes not getting entirely dry or a very busy laundromat with limited available capacity. At the laundromat, you begin folding while adding time to any load that needs it. At the home dryer, the entire line cycle is blocked for the additional time needed by each blocking dryer. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not advocating for letting laundry build up just so you can go do it at a laundromat. The convenience of having it in your home is well worth it - but if for some reason you do have a huge build up it's a great way to buy back your day / weekend if you want to be able to leave the house. |
>1. Put 10 loads in 10 washers.
>2. Move 10 loads from 10 washers to 10 dryers.
>3. Move 10 loads out of dryers and fold.
As if. More like:
1. Arrive at the laundromat and realize there are only four washers free.
2. Start three loads because the fourth one doesn't work no matter how many coins you put in.
3. Wait for a dryer when the the three loads finish. Because washers are faster there are already two people waiting for a free dryer. You realize there's no point in hurrying to do the next three loads, since your first three are only making the dryer situation worse.
4. One dryer is finished but nobody is there to unload it. What's the etiquette at this place - should you take a stranger's load out and put it in one of the dingy carts? You wonder how big the owner of those clothes is, and if he's sane.
5. Eventually you get ten loads of clothes through three washers, read an entire three year old issue of Glamour magazine upside-down to make it last, and get all but the last two loads through the dryers before deciding to dry the last two at home by draping them over your furniture.
Total run time, a little over five hours and ten sanity points.
There's probably another cloud analogy in here somewhere.