Laundries in Japan – Coin Laundry

Are you in Japan but don’t know how to wash your clothes? Today we will talk about Coin Laundry or Koinrandorii [コインランドリー], a public place where you wash your clothes yourself and dry them in automatic machines that work with coins.

Public laundry places have existed for a long time and are not exclusive to Japan. I have seen them in various American movies and series. In other countries, they are usually called coin laundry, self-service laundry, coin wash, laundromat, and launderette.

Ready to discover these places? To make it easier, I will leave a summary below:

Where to find a Coin Laundry?

It is estimated that there are about 17,000 automatic laundries spread across Japan. In addition, most hotels, hostels, and even onsens have these machines located somewhere. Finding a Coin Laundry is not difficult.

To find a location using Google Maps, just search for [コインランドリー] or Coin Laundry. You can also look for Sento [銭湯] or Onsen [温泉], which usually always have some laundry nearby or at that location.

Read also: How to plan your destination in Japan with Google Maps

Laundries in Japan usually operate from 8 AM to 11 PM or even 24 hours. Some have instructions in English and Portuguese. Not all laundries are the same; some have machines that automatically add detergent and fabric softener.

You don’t need to worry because you can find fabric softeners, scents, and other items in the laundries. If you didn’t bring coins, most laundries have a machine to change money.

The washing and drying machines usually use 100 yen coins; if the laundry you are at doesn’t have machines for change, just go to any Hanbaiki and buy something.

We recommend reading: Hanbaiki – Automatic vending machines

Washing Clothes in Japan

Take your dirty clothes to the washing machine, being careful not to confuse it with the dryer. The dryers are usually stacked on top of each other and have transparent lids. Each machine has a weight limit and a waiting time.

It is recommended to use one machine for white clothes and another for colored clothes to avoid staining. Once you insert the coins, the machine will start working, and the waiting time will appear.

Read also: Coins of Japan – Understanding the Yen and its history

If you want to step out, know that there is no danger. It is recommended that you place your bag of clothes on top of the machine; if you take too long and someone else needs to use the machine, they will put the clothes in your bag.

The machines usually wash 4 to 7 kg and dry 7 to 14 kg. In just 1 hour, you can wash all your clothes. Some places provide drink machines, TV, chairs, magazines, and other things for you to pass the time. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to wash and 20 to 30 minutes to dry.

Once your clothes are dry, you don’t need to worry about ironing; just fold them as soon as you take them out of the dryer. Of course, not all clothes will come out perfect, and we recommend avoiding washing delicate clothes in these automatic machines.

Remember to be considerate of others in a laundry. Occasionally, there may be a machine where the washing and drying have already finished, but the clothes are still inside. In this case, someone who wants to use the machine may take them out and place them in a basket.

To learn more about the interior of a Coin Laundry in Japan, we will leave a video below:

Hiring a Laundry Service

In cases of suits and other clothes with delicate fabrics, you can find laundries that offer the service or do dry cleaning. In Japan, dry cleaning is so common that its cost is very cheap, around less than 1,000 yen; I have even seen it for 400 yen.

Unfortunately, in Brazil, we have to pay 50 reais to dry clean a suit, which I find absurd, but I somewhat understand. There are few places that offer dry cleaning in the city; in Japan, all Japanese people wear suits, so it has kind of become a norm.

Coin Laundry vs Laundries

Because it is self-service, the price of coin laundry is extremely low compared to the cleaning sector or laundries with staff. These automatic laundry places are used by single people and students with little laundry.

Do hotels in Japan have laundry services?

Most have laundry services; with varying costs, but 1,000 yen per delicate item is quite normal. Hotels, hostels, and budget ryokans are more likely to have coin-operated washing machines.

Hotel rooms usually have a drying rack in the bathroom so you can dry your clothes if the place doesn’t have dryers. Sometimes, the coin-operated washing machines are very busy during the day, so try a different time.

How to wash my sneakers?

You don’t always need to hire a laundry service for that. Some laundries have special machines for washing and drying sneakers. You can try searching using the term [コインラドリースニーカー] to find a nearby location.

The instructions may or may not be in English, but generally, you put the sneakers in the washing machine, close the door, and insert the coins (about 200 yen for 20 minutes). The dryer is usually located above the washing machine, and you just need to hang the shoes on the installed hangers, close the door, and insert the coins.

Vocabulary of Laundries

The list below will help you understand some of the ideograms of washing machines and laundries in Japan.

Portuguese	Japanese	Romaji
Turn on (power source)	電源	dengen
On	入	ireru
Off	切	kiru
Pause	一時停止	ichijiteishi
Unlock	ロック解除	rokku kaijo
Antibacterial	防菌	boukin
Deodorization	防臭	boushuu
Wash	洗濯 / 洗い	sentaku / arai
Rinse	すすぎ	rinse
Drain	脱水	dassui
Dry	乾燥	kansou
Set timer	予約	yoyaku
Time	時間	jikan
Minutes	分	fun / pun
Remaining time	残り	nokori
Clothes	衣類	irui
Quantity / value	量	ryou
Warm water	温水	onsui
Clothes quantity	衣類量	irui-ryoo
Detergent quantity	洗剤量	senzai-ryoo
Custom settings	わが家流	wagaryuu
Drainage	排水	haisui
Fabric softener	洗浄	juunanzai
Setting to switch between wash / dry	洗 / 乾切替	sen / kan kirikae
Detergent / soap	洗剤	senzai

We will update the list as much as possible. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments.