17th St., NYC, Emilio's

491 7th Avenue

Primary colors and a nicely proportioned wave motif make this laundromat seem as fun as a carnival. Where's the guy who falls in the drink when you hit the target?

Suds on 8th

20 Mule Team Before Many Redesigns

Laundromat on 6 Ave and 5th St. in South Slope. I would describe the lettering as squat and extremely appealing.

Crisp Finish

It is very exciting to find a package on the shelves these days that uses only one color, chunky slab serif fonts and which bears the name of a mythological sailing vessel. Also terribly exciting is the fact that this makes a good adhesive for papier maché. Will it lead me to the Golden Fleece? One can dream...

I visited argostarch.com and couldn't find much on this product. They feature the cornstarch for cooking. I enjoyed the craft suggestions they list greatly.

Congratulations, you have somehow found your way here and you now get to view this rare creature, this clothes pin butterfly, coming to us by the hand of my capable and crafty friend Cindy. Ready? Let it in, yes, just in viewing this you have accomplished enough today, so rest, kick around, take the day off, stay in your pajamas. Like John Donne, you're done, you're off the hook.

Wash Dry on 8th and 13th is a little run down. Still, people take advantage of those broken plastic seats in front. The diamond framed letters are big winners in my design book. For some reason this run down place survives, with its faux stone siding and filthy awnings. I'm so glad. It looks like a plywood stage set, and I wonder what dramas have played out in it and in front of it. Ones I can easily imagine: the mystery of the lost sock and the vaudeville of the breaking seats. The damn spot comes out or not. As for romance, who knows. Perhaps it was "Gee, that's a lot of socks. Need help matching them?"

Those Soapy Saponins

Hey, they're not just poison. According to the website Plants for a Future, a number of plants contain this substance that makes a gentle but effective cleanser. Saponins are found in:

Soapwort (saponaria officinalis)
Ragged Robin (Lynchis flos-cuculi)
Campion (Silene spp)
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Soap Lily (Chlorogalum pomeridianum)
Ceanothus cuneatus
Yucca (Y. baccata, Y. filamentosa, Y. glauca, Y.gloriosa, Y whipplei)

Around here you can find Horse Chestnuts in October, even though the treees are endemic to Asia. Apparently you can peel the seeds and rub them between your hands to make a lather. And if you know what you're doing you can make a tincture to help arthritis and hemoirhoids! But don't eat them!

Crystal Clean is very very clean kind of clean. Hmmm, shiny pink balloon letters. On 8th Avenue in South Slope. While the laundry lathers, you can go get coffee at Ladybird or drop in Pumpkins Organic Market and get an organic lollipop. You can peruse the film selection at The Reel Life South and hopefully they are more congenial than they used to be.

Here in the 5 boroughs of NYC these places are part of our lives, a place we visit regularly, hangover or no. Another kind of watering hole. Things happen there: socks disappear, we prepare for another week, cel phones get ruined and once in a while, maybe, people hook up. And these places often photograph very well.

The laudercenter on Prospect Park West between 16th and Windsor works the red and white combo. Photographed on Halloween 2007, a beautiful evening. I love the way the e's look like backwards 3. They also look like sideways butts or boobs depending on your preference. I enjoy the ultra clean way the white chair looks against the orange/red panels. I am quite sure it really wasn't that clean. My son went in to trick or treat but couldn't find anyone. A few minutes later a man came out with candy but it seemed like my son had lost interest by then. The drama of the missed connection plays out once again.