A self-service laundry is a facility where clothes are washed and dried. They are known in the United
Kingdom as launderettes orlaundrettes, and in the United States, Canada, and Australia
as laundromats (from the genericized trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation)
[1]
or washaterias. George Edward Pendray created the word "laundromat" for Westinghouse.[1]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Staffed laundries
• 3 Wash-A-Teria (United
States)
• 4 Launderettes (United
Kingdom)
• 5 In popular culture
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links
[ edit]Staffed laundries
Some laundries employ staff to provide service for the customers. Minimal service centres may simply provide
an attendant behind a counter to provide change, sell washing powder, and watch unattended machines for
potential theft of clothing. Others allow customers to drop off clothing to be washed, dried, and folded. This is
often referred to as Fluff & Fold, Wash-n-Fold, bachelor bundles, a service wash or full-service wash. Some
staffed laundry facilities also provide dry cleaning pick-up and drop-off. There are over 35,000 laundries
throughout the United States.[2] Similar services exist in the United Kingdom where the terms service
wash or full-service wash are also in use.
Rapidly rising utility charges, premises rent and a lower purchase cost of domestic machines have been noted
as principal reasons for the recent decline. High initial launch costs, specifically for commercial washing
machines and dryers, have also been commented on as reasons for fewer new entrants into the market.
Furthermore, machine updates can be prohibitively expensive, which has held back premises investment.
However, most UK households have bedding (such as duvets and comforters) which are far above the capacity
of domestic machines, making launderettes the only means available for cleaning them.
Many of the manned operations in the UK have added value services such as ironing, dry cleaning and service
washes, which prove popular to busy professionals, students, and senior citizens. Student accommodation
blocks often have their own unmanned laundries, which are typically commercially run at a profit by the
accommodation provider.
Local directories such as the Yellow Pages and Thomson only show those laundries that have chosen to pay
for an entry in their directories, so trends are difficult to assess. However, cities such as London, Birmingham,
Manchester, and Leeds have significant numbers of launderettes, as do many coastal tourist areas.
The main manufacturers serving the UK in this market are Ipso Electrolux, Primus, and Maytag. Brands such
as Speed Queen and Frigidaire are also regularly deployed, with most originating from Belgium and the USA.
Whilst the future of launderettes in the UK is not assured, domestic machine users experiencing breakdowns in
the home, users of large bedding, and tourists are all potential customers, thereby making the provision
valuable to the community.
The television soap opera EastEnders has a launderette as one of its focal
locations, with several important characters having served as employees.
In the internet musical DrHorrible's Sing Along Blog, the eponymous character
and his love interest often meet at a laundromat.
The first act of The Young Ones episode "Bambi" concerns the main (and
filthy) characters making their first trip to the launderette in almost three years.
When one of the washing machines spits out the quartet's putrid clothing,
Vyvyan decides to use a "special blend of psychology and extreme violence"
to trick one of the machines: he mentions Felicity Kendal's underwear and
then forces their laundry into a lustful machine.
[ edit]See also
Laundry
4. ^ Khan, Yasmeen (August 13, 2010). "The rise and fall of the
launderette". BBC News. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
[ edit]External links
Look
up laundromat inWiktionary,
the free dictionary.
Categories: Laundry
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