Slugs or foreign currency sometimes appear in coin slides, wreaking havoc. But coin slides develop wear just like other moving parts of a washer, and not every coin inserted will be in mint condition or even genuine. Considering the sheer number of coins dropping into all those machines, is it any wonder that a coin slide gets stuck now and then? And a washer with a jammed coin slide is an inoperable machine, a financial liability and not an asset. That figure doesn’t include communal laundry facilities in apartment complexes and other multi-unit residential buildings.Ĭoin-operated washers and dryers are big business. They generate upwards of $5 billion in gross annual revenue. More than 30,000 coin-operated laundries dot the landscape of the USA.