One of the things you really come to miss when you downsize from house to apartment is having your own washer and dryer.

I figured it would be no big deal. There’s a coin-operated washer and dryer in the laundry room next door to my apartment. But, the dryer doesn’t work very well, and you sometimes have to dry a load twice. There’s also the problem of thoughtless fellow tenants who leave their clothing in washers or dryers for hours.

It can take all day to catch up with a week’s worth of laundry.

On Sunday, I tried a different strategy, loading up three baskets full of clothes, towels, sheets and so forth and heading for a new laundromat in the suburbs. It was a good idea.

The place has a TV, vending machines with food and drink, tables and chairs with decks of cards and free coffee. There are also tables and chairs outside.

It has humongous stainless steel washers and dryers that can take monster-size laundry loads. My roommate (who’s also my youngest son) and I pumped quarters into the washers and then sat outside in the sunshine reading the Sunday paper and chatting on our cells until it was time to shift to the dryers.

We washed and dried four big loads of clothing and linen and packed them back in the car — all in under an hour.

I mentioned all the amenities at this place to a colleague today, and he said it sounded like a private club. I think he’s onto something. It doesn’t have a bar or a pool, but we are talking downsizing here.

I’m alerting friends and family that if they can’t find me at home on Sundays, call me on my cell.

Chances are I’ll be at the club.

Irv Dean is the Gazette’s city editor.