(Tom Jirik wrote columns in several newspapers in Iowa from the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s.  This column originally appeared in the The Boone Today in the summer of 1988)

Ever since I started college way back in 1982 i’ve been washing my own clothes in some form of pay washer or another.  In Boone, I spend at least two hours a week at the Duds and Suds Laundromat down in the Alco Mall.

I see more of Duds and Suds owner Jim Haleen and his family than I do of my won family up in Minnesota.  His Laundromat is a little different than those we took pictures of last week.

I think the magazines are newer.  There is somebody attending the place all the time and when you buy pop and candy it’s from a person and not a machine.

Jim says those old fashioned touches will be the wave of the future.  “When somebody rebuilds a Laundromat these days, they rebuild like this,” he said.

Jim said he gets to meet many of Boone’s newest residents through his work at the Laundromat.  Many new arrivals don’t have a washer and dryer so they come to Duds and Suds.

Let’s face it, doing laundry at Duds and Suds is pretty posh.  I toss my clothes in, grab a soda, plop down in a couch and watch a big-screen TV.  What a life.

And Haleen and family are trying to make it even better.  They’ve moved the snack counter and added a drycleaning and laundry service.

When I lived in the forms at college, you had to trudge down into the dungeon of a basement to the washers.  The university obviously felt that three washing machines for 2,000 men was more than enough.  Consequently 3 a.m. Was a good time to wash.

When I lived in Bismarck, N.D., I used to carry my laundry for two blocks to the nearby Laundromat.  If you liked dark, smelly steambaths, the place was great.

In Algona, we finally got our won washing machine.  A shiny 1963 Speed Queen ringer-washer.  It was the first washing machine my parents ever owned.  We dragged it out of the basement at home, cleaned it up, shook the dog food out of it and hauled it to Algona.  That was the life. We still didn’t have a dryer, so we’d wash clothes in the basement, run them thru the ringer and hang them up to dry on the make-shift clothes lines stretched down there.

It was convenient and the humidity in the house was always comfortable.  Damp jeans were a problem though.  Fortunately we always wore our clothes before they started growing any mildew or mold.

By the way, the dog food was up inside the washer near the motor.  The mice were using it for a pantry.

I guess, all told, washing clothes at Duds and Suds every week isn’t all that bad.

We don’t have a big-screen TV at home and I wouldn’t argue if they brought back the Beer either.