The Washboard Laundry & Café: Do Laundry, Stay for Coffee

2026-05-14 laundrybizcenter

Success Story: Walking into The Washboard Laundry & Café, guests are welcomed by the aromas of brewing coffee and fresh laundry detergent, a one-of-a-kind experience in the Ozarks, located in the heart of Missouri. Willard’s laundromat café also has its own in-house donut shop. Now approaching their 5th anniversary since the original grand opening in June of 2021.

The Washboard Café, located at 520 E Jackson St Suite A, Willard, MO 65781. Co-owner Josie Wodtke said she arrives at the café around 3:30 a.m. each morning to start making a fresh batch for the day. Usually, all the pastries are sold by noon.

Wodtke and her husband, Michael, opened The Washboard Café in June of 2021. Before settling in the area, the Wodtke’s traveled for work, often using laundromats while on the road. For Wodtke, coffee represents peace, especially when thinking about this times of their lives.

“When we would go to a laundromat for work, I hated all these laundromats,” Josie said. “They were nasty, they were dirty. My husband literally would bribe me and say, ‘You know what, if we go do this laundry, we’ll go find you a coffee shop while the stuff is actually washing.'”

The desire to open some sort of laundromat has been on Josie’s bucket list for even longer. One of Josie’s favorite childhood memories was visiting a laundromat with an ice cream parlor inside in Sioux City, Iowa, where she is from. From then on, when asked what she wanted to do when she grew up, Josie said owning a laundromat.

The Washfeoard Cag — **Josie Wodtke, Co-Owner of The Washboard Laundry & Cafe**

“We have moms who get together; they bring all their laundry and they come in and hang out, so they have their coffee and their kids play,” Josie said. “It’s their time to get out of the house, which I love.”

The Wodtke’s son Maverik is also a big part of the café. For the entirety of Washboard’s construction, Josie was pregnant and by the time they hosted their grand opening, Maverik was born.

“This encompasses everything for our family,” Josie said about the café. “I want to be able to teach my son to work hard and what he can get from working hard.”

The laundromat is open every day at 7 a.m. with last wash starting at 9:30 p.m. The café is open Tuesday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The café’s drive-thru is open Tuesday through Friday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. In addition to self-service laundry, Washboard offers drop-off services.

For more information visit website https://washboardmo.com/, Call (417) 685-3226, email washboardw@gmail.com.