A spot for suds

In Reston, there are a dozen coffee shops, a half-dozen grocery stores and two farmer's markets.

What was lacking? A laundromat. That's why Nelly Arancibia opened Surf N' Suds Laundromat at Hunters Woods Village Center in late July.

Arancibia, who owns five other laundromats in Maryland and Virginia, says even though the vast majority of the neighboring apartments, condos, townhouses and single family homes have laundry facilities, there still was a need for more.

"There are a lot of apartments in the area," she said. "But the washers and dryers (in shared laundry rooms) are limited. This area was in need of a laundromat.

"Even in high-income areas, there are customers who will come in just for big items like blankets and to do spring cleaning."

Arancibia recognizes that Reston is an affluent and tech-savvy area. That is why she installed a vending card pay system for this location. Patrons do not have to gather spare change to do laundry. Instead, the swipe an ATM or credit card through an ATM-like machine and get a debit card they can use on the banks of washers and dryers at Surf N' Suds.

Washers are $2.75 to $8.50 per load (depending on the size of the machine). Dryers are 50 cents for 10 minutes, 25 cents for seven minutes. Staffers will also wash, dry and fold laundry for $1 per pound.

The laundromat features state-of-the-art machines and a flat screen TV on the wall.