Disclosed are a method of controlling a self-service washing machine, and a terminal and a system utilizing same. The method includes: outputting (110) position information and state information of at least one peripheral washing machine; acquiring (120) a target washing machine selected by a user; sending (130) a reservation request to a server, wherein the reservation request includes a target time period and an identifier of the target washing machine input by the user so as to enable the server to schedule the target washing machine to provide a washing function for the user in the target time period; and receiving and outputting (140) a reservation result fed back by the server. Before the user arrives at the self-service washing machine, the washing machine can be reserved through the terminal in the present invention. If reservation is successful, the user can use the washing machine for self-service washing at the reserved target time period, thereby facilitating use of the user and increasing efficie
