Brain Wash Laundromat, an iconic Laundromat and café located in San Francisco, California has built a reputation over two decades as both a hot spot destination and an ideal place to do laundry. It was once declared the most unusual internet café in the world by Yahoo and has garnered attention internationally. It’s easy for anyone to check out the happenings of the café Laundromat with the live webcams on its website. A local favorite and destination for tourists as well, this unique business offers a trendy hangout for customers of all ages with all kinds of entertainment. Patrons can get their laundry done quickly or hang around to enjoy the other amenities Brain Wash provides.
Opened in 1989, Brain Wash Café and Laundromat started after two friends began discussing opening a nightclub together, and suddenly realized the need for a Laundromat in the neighborhood. In a great stroke of genius, they decided to create a combination laundry and nightclub environment. Brain Wash has provided a unique laundry service and is known for providing live entertainment daily.
The café section of the laundry offers a full service coffee bar and a selection of sandwiches and drinks, including beers on tap and wine by the glass. Happy hour deals are available daily, with $1 Pabst always in stock. The entertainment comes in many different forms, including open mics for comedy, spoken word, and live music. Brain Wash is just as much a destination for artistic expression as it is a place to get laundry done quickly and efficiently. Best of all, doing laundry quickly while enjoying a sandwich, live music, and a cold beer make it an enjoyable experience that retains customers. Brain Wash draws in young and old customers alike, and the atmosphere never gets out of control or rowdy. The hours go from early morning to late evening, allowing great access for laundry service as well as creating a space for the community to enjoy.
Brain Wash has remained a successful staple in the community because of the quality café and entertainment that brings in customers who don’t even plan on doing any laundry. Most new Laundromat owners looking to improve business will offer free Wi-Fi or a vending machine, which helps people doing their laundry pass the time more efficiently. However, Brain Wash has capitalized on creating a whole separate draw outside their laundry services. The café experiences a lunch rush just like any other eatery on the block, and has developed a devoted following of coffee drinkers, who continuously rave about the café’s brew.
As a laundry famous for its unique perks as well as appearances on film and TV, the Brain Wash café and Laundromat recently upgraded by adding Dexter equipment to provide more value to their customers. When the laundry decided to upgrade its coin op laundry equipment, they contacted Bryan Maxwell of Western State Design.
The decision to install new Dexter coin op equipment was easy for Jeffrey Zalles. When researching his options, he saw that many other Laundromats used Dexter equipment, and his long time mechanic also highly recommended going with Dexter and Western State Design. Having someone he trusted recommend Dexter coin op laundry equipment was key to making that purchase. The washers and dryers from Dexter have a reputation for lasting repair-free for many years.
Since installing Dexter coin-op laundry equipment, the owners have noticed several major improvements at Brain Wash. Customers love the the faster wash and dry times from the new Dexter washers. Instead of a typical wash cycle of 35 to 40 minutes, the Dexter machines finish a wash closer to 23 minutes. With the efficient Dexter machines, the machine usage and revenue has increased however the utility costs have remained flat. The investment is already paying off by improving business without raising incidental costs.
Additionally, new customers are visiting the Brain Wash from farther away thanks to the quality of the Dexter equipment. The location is easily accessible by public transportation and serves an area previously devoid of Laundromats.
“There are people who like to hang out here, but there are also people who just come to do their laundry and want to leave. So for those people they love the faster machines, because not only is the wash cycle faster — now the dryer is going faster. So they’re out of here in maybe 20-25 minutes sooner than they used to be, so they like that,” Zalles said.
Contact us to learn more about owning and operating a coin laundry business or for information about equipment.