Two machines, one bicycle, and a rule about dockets
Open since 2018. Three vans now, and the same rule: you see the figure before the bag leaves.
How the shop grew
It started because the flat above the shop had a machine and the four flats around it did not. Neighbours were paying a laundry on the next street that took three days and gave no receipt of any kind.
The first year was two machines, a bicycle and about nine houses. The bicycle is the reason the rounds are laid out the way they are: they were worked out at walking and pedalling speed, street by street, and they still make sense on a van.
What changed everything was putting a scale on the bicycle. Every argument about money stopped, and customers started sorting their own bags because they could finally see what weighed what. We wrote about that in more detail on the blog.
There are now three vans, seven people and fifteen contracts, and sheets and towels are washed in machines that do nothing else. The thing we have not changed is that somebody hands you your bag. Nothing is left at a door, with a neighbour, or at a reception desk, however safe the building is.
The people behind the counter
Ismail Nazeeh
Opened the shop in 2018 with two machines and one bicycle. Still writes the dockets on the Saturday morning round.
Fathimath Rishtha
Answers the telephone, prices the stains, and visits every guesthouse before a contract is quoted.
Mohamed Sujau
Runs the machines and the three rounds. Knows which street is dug up this week, which is why the vans are on time.
What we do when something goes wrong
What if something is damaged or lost
We pay what it would cost to replace the item today, and we do not argue about it. Every bag is counted at the door and counted again at the shop, which is how the four items lost in three years were all found in the wrong bag rather than gone.
The one thing we cannot accept is a garment with no care label, because there is no way to show how it was meant to be washed. Those are handed back untouched with a note.
Try one bag
Most people who stay started with one bag and a look at the docket.