Laundromatters Blog

Three very interesting things about laundry

28/7/2020

Did you know that Astronauts don’t wash their undies?
They burn their underpants instead!

First they try to re-use their knickers or underpants as much as possible – often for up to a week!

Then, because there are no washing machines in space stations, their underwear gets incinerated instead. One Astronaut - Science Officer Don Pettit - admitted in an interview that he had worn the same pair of shorts from November through to February!

Source: www.nasa.gov/vision/space/livinginspace/Astronaut_Laundry.html

The first washing machine was called 'Thor'
The first electric washing machine was developed over 100 years ago in 1908. The Thor was the first electric-powered washing machine - before that people used scrubbing boards instead. The Thor was invented by a clever guy with a very interesting name - Mr Alva J. Fisher.

Laundry Bags in the sky!
In the United States Air Force, no one goes on any flight without his or her laundry bag. In military lingo, a laundry bag is a parachute.

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How to wash your clothes at the Laundromat - a newbie's guide

8/11/2019

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Who better than a Laundromat owner to let you know all the tips and tricks to making the very best of your visit to your local Laundromat?

This blog posts comes to you all the way from Australia’s cutest Laundromat - Koala Park Laundromat Burleigh Heads - on the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland.

Before you leave home:

Check every basket, under every teenager's bed and in every room for any and all possible signs of laundry.

Many Laundromats these days have jumbo sized machines – we have the two largest washers available to the public on the Gold Coast for example – so, kill 2 or 3 birds with 1 stone and bring along as much laundry as possible!

If your local Laundromat has big machines, strip all the beds, remove outdoor furniture covers, gather your doonas and mattress toppers and throw them all into the boot of your car!

Gather some coins: Our Laundromat has card readers on every washer and dryer – we also have a coin change machine - but not all Laundromats are like ours. Therefore, research whether your local Laundromat has card readers / coin dispensers and if they don’t, gather as many coins as you can before you leave home.

Bring your own detergent: Save money by bringing along your own detergent and softener. Sure, most Laundromats have dispensers for detergent and softener – but you’ll $ave if you bring your own.

Take along something to do: Our wash cycles are just 24 minutes and we have free wi-fi, a free book exchange, a shaded playground nearby, great coffee right next door and the beach is 200m away – you certainly won’t be bored - but - we’re the exception rather than the rule. So take along your fully charged mobile for entertainment, a book or your Sudoku if your local Laundromat isn’t quite as exciting as ours.

Think about your personal safety: Not everywhere is as safe as the Gold Coast - and you could be reading this blog post in a crime-riddled neighbourhood somewhere - so do some research before you leave home.

Choose a Laundromat where you are going to feel safe - especially so if you’re visiting after dark. You are looking for a well lit Laundromat that can easily be seen from the road. You don’t want to be sitting in a dimly lit facility that is tucked away or in an alley or that doesn’t have passing traffic or passersby. Laundromats that have active and working CCTV systems are a good and safe choice too.

Once you arrive at your chosen Laundromat

Now, it has to be said that - despite many Laundromat owners’ best efforts, sometimes Laundromats get messy. This happens because few Laundromats are manned – and if they are - they’re not manned for the whole number of hours that they’re open.

Unfortunately some customers can be very very messy - and that mess remains until the owners’ next visit. To give you an example, I once walked out of my sparkling clean Laundromat and by the time I get home and switched on the CCTV feed – I could see that someone had just had a Laundromat pizza party and there were cans and boxes all over the folding table! *sigh*

So, if a Laundromat that is usually clean appears to be a bit messy - be forgiving about this because it can happen in an instant and it is not usually the owners fault. BUT - importantly - before deciding to use the washers in any Laundromat you need to check the machines for grime and mildew - grimy machines that are ingrained with black mould particles are not due to messy pizza party customers – they are a sign of neglect and not good for your health.

Next, look over your laundry and decide what can be washed together – darks … whites…. Colours… perhaps you’d like the white towels and linens all in the same hot wash for example.

Once you have an idea of what is what – choose 1 or more washing machines of the size best suited to your individual laundry loads. You might find your whites all fit together in an 18kg machine while your colours easily fit in a smaller machine on which you’ll choose a nice sudsy cold wash.

Do not over stuff the machines. This is a false economy. You need to leave space for the water to do its work.

Next, check your clothes for stray items such as keys, coins, screws and nails etc – these things can damage both your clothes and the Laundromat owners’ machines. For your own sake, also check for tissues in pockets so you don’t get a lint-filled wash!

Check the washer before you add your clothes to it. Dexter washing machines for example spin at 100 and 200 gs and that causes small items to sometimes become centrifugally ‘stuck’ to the roof of washing machines. Checking the washer before you add your own clothes also ensures that you spot (and remove) not just a stray sock - but something damaging such as a rogue lipstick for example which would wreak havoc with your laundry and ruin your favourite t-shirt!

Read the machines’ instructions carefully. If still in doubt as to how to operate them, ask a fellow Laundromat customer. If still unsure, look for a telephone number – owners who care are always super happy to guide you through and think aloud with you so that you get the best possible outcome from your visit to their Laundromat.

If you are drying as well as washing at the Laundromat, feel the glass on the dryer fronts before choosing one – don’t choose a cold dryer – if possible choose one that is already warm – the fact that a dryer is ‘primed’ means that you’ll save on drying costs….

If you have a great experience at any Laundromat – it is because the owners care and take pride in their Laundromat - and they love making customers happy.

Despite the fact that laundry can be quite a chore, some Laundromat owners - such as ourselves - value your time and your custom very much and want you to have a positive experience.

We do so by providing a clean and inviting space, maintaining the machines and making sure there are extras for you to enjoy.

At Koala Park Laundromat - we have free wi-fi, a free book exchange, magazines, good tunes in the background, free water, noticeboards for you to browse and free packets of incense for every customer.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and if - on your life's magical journey - you ever find yourself on Australia’s Gold Coast – we would love to have you visit our little cute Laundromat by the beach.

Live long and prosper.

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How to remove lint from clothes

28/10/2019

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Having lint stick to your favourite outfit is a bummer! Especially so if it’s a dark coloured outfit! Let’s address this fuzzy, pesky problem with a few simple solutions – but first – let’s look at the problem!

The problem:
If you know what causes lint, then you can choose to wash those items separately and avoid this problem from ever happening again.

If it wasn’t a paper tissue that caused your clothes to be covered in white fluff, then the most likely culprits are items such as towels (especially new ones), items made of flannel whether shirts, blankets or throws and obvious items such as chenille bedspreads or fluffy cushion covers. All of these are super likely to shed in the washing machine and contaminate everything else they are washed with.

The solutions:
There are many solutions to this issue:

Re-wash with white vinegar: The obvious solution is to re-wash the item. Some swear by the old wives’ remedy of adding a cup of vinegar to the final rinse cycle and claim that this helps to ‘lift’ the lint from the clothes. We have tried it twice and both times it worked – coincidence? Perhaps – but certainly worth a try.
Dry your clothes in a commercial dryer: Visit your local Laundromat and place the items in their powerful commercial dryers. With a more powerful extraction rate than domestic dryers, Laundromat dryers can help reduce if not completely eliminate the lint on your clothes. Using your local Laundromat also means that you can run a greater volume of lint-riddled clothes through their dryers at once - than you could at home. The smallest dryer in a Laundromat is usually a 14kg capacity dryer – which is the equivalent of 3 oval laundry baskets of laundry – just to give you a ‘visual’.
Scouring pad: Tedious perhaps - but a scratchy scouring pad is what many people use to remove lint from dry clothes. Just dampen the scouring pad first to soften it and scrub off lint like a pro.
Sticky-tape: Whatever you call it…. Scotch-tape, Sello-tape or masking tape - any tape with adhesive qualities can work wonders on dry clothing. Just use it to pick up each piece of lint and you’ll score a lint-free outfit! Wrap it around your hand (sticky-side out) and dab the lint off - or - lay it across your clothes and rip it off Band-Aid style!
Lint brush: If you enjoy wearing dark clothes – then you might want to invest in a lint roller or brush to keep in your laundry room just in case. Lint removers come in different types – from the sticky ones that you unroll, to the equally sticky ones that are ‘gummy’ and you rinse off … to the ones made of that (usually red) creepy-feeling one-way fabric that feels like a cat’s tongue – ha ha ha! You know what we mean! There are even battery operated lint removers – although they can be quite ‘drastic’ and are better suited to removing pill than lint.

In future there are many things you can do to prevent this from happening again:

Separate lint-producing items like towels from lint-attracting materials
Turn out pockets to remove tissues and the like before washing
Wash clothes that shed fibres inside out
Don’t overload your machine

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Washing powder / liquid recipes

5/7/2019

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When you buy or build a Laundromat, there are many decisions you need to make. Some decisions are obvious such as brand and mix of machines, colour scheme, opening hours etc - while other decisions are not so obvious.

When you order Dexter washing machines for example, one of the options available is to have detergent and softener automatically injected into the washer. All that a customer has to do therefore is place laundry in the machine, close the door and pay - detergent and softener are then added automatically as part of the cycle.

We chose not to do this. Why?

Well, it seemed wrong to impose - and to not give our customers a choice.

Imagine for instance a person with eczema, psoriasis or sensitive skin walking into our laundromat and discovering that a detergent...a solvent... has already been chosen for them?

Imagine also a customer who adores natural, eco-friendly products - discovering that they are not able to use their favourite products!

What about those with a newborn who don't wish to use strong chemicals?

What about customers who need a detergent specifically for wool or for delicates?

Therefore, the Dexter washing machines at our Burleigh Heads Laundromat do not have detergent by injection. Yes, we sell washing powder by the sachet, but we find that most customers bring their own.

Our customers bring 'conventional' laundry powders, liquids and pods and some bring home-made concoctions that contain a variety of ingredients such as bicarb, vinegar, essential oils and more... and we love it! Most of them smell amazing!

With all this in mind, I thought I would link you to three Australian websites that have some great recipes for home-made laundry detergents and softeners too.

Stay at Home Mum : This blog offers a list of recipes that includes both detergents and fabric softeners. The very first recipe is super Australian with the inclusion of eucalyptus or tea-tree oil for gorgeously scented laundry!

Frugal and Thriving: This site has a tried and tested no Borax recipe for laundry liquid with full instructions and images.

Biome : Cheap and effective recipe for a home-made detergent that is natural and has antifungal, antiseptic and antibacterial properties.

We hope you enjoy making some of these recipes - it's satisfying to know exactly what the clothes that you wear have been washed in - same goes for the sheets that you sleep on and the towels that dry your body. Happy laundry days always!

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Three very interesting things about laundry

How to wash your clothes at the Laundromat - a newbie's guide

How to remove lint from clothes

Washing powder / liquid recipes

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