Special reporting from Laundry CEO Forum

By Becca Anderson

The CLA held one of its Free Laundry Day events in Dallas, TX on Sunday, October 5, 2025 in conjunction with the Laundry CEO Forum conference. The event lasted 2 hours, and dozens of customers were thrilled to come to the laundromat and find out there was no charge for the use of the washers and dryers that day. Not only that, but the soap pods and dryer sheets were also free, and their kids could pick up free books in the tent outside the store. Drawings were held throughout the event, as well.

The laundromat chosen is a 4200-square-foot store that is 9 years old and features 44 washers and 44 dryers. It also includes lounging areas around the perimeter, snack machines and restrooms.

Owner Anwar Sharif, manager Rose Baldwin and their staff were run off their feet taking care of the customers and getting machines started. The 40 Laundry Cares volunteers, all in orange shirts, carried laundry and helped customers locate open machines.

In between those activities, they wiped down machines, talked to customers, gathered in small groups to discussed the store they were in, and traded information about their own operations.

All the equipment in the store is Dexter, and despite being installed in 2016, it was gleaming. Sharif also owns another laundromat in the Dallas area. He said he chose this location because he attended the University of Texas nearby.

“When I attended, there was just one small laundromat nearby,” he said. “Twenty years later when I was evaluating sites, I chose this one because I knew there was a need.”

The store also has a large, well-organized Wash/Dry/Fold area. Sharif said it is very popular with his customers. For the duration of the event, however, it was overshadowed by something even better: a food table with soft drinks, water, coffee, cookies and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

As if getting laundry, supplies and treats for free wasn’t enough, each customer who came in was given a sticker to wear, on which a number had been written. Periodically, Brian Grell (from Eastern Funding) would get everyone excited by asking his phone’s Siri to produce a random number.

The lucky winner received anything from a pressure cooker to a child’s bicycle, a 40″ TV to a scooter with a safety helmet. Brian seemed to have no limits. He’d appear on the top of the washers to announce the next drawing, and then was propelled around the store in a laundry cart at high speed for the amusement of the kids.

Laundry and Literacy

A key feature of Free Laundry Day events is a children’s area — in this case, outside on a beautiful day under a canopy — with tables full of children’s books and activities. It’s part of the award-winning Laundry Literacy Coalition. The laundromat itself has a rack of children’s’ books on display all the time, but this bonanza pleased kids and parents alike.

The Free Laundry Day was an exhilarating experience. Lots of smiles, lots of laundry getting done, and great ideas for all the laundromat owners attending so they can sponsor their own events back home.

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