Search the Community

My colleague's recent post about laundromats got me thinking: What is it about doing laundry that I like so much? Yes, I'm sure there are many out there who find laundry a chore, especially when it comes to folding, ironing, and putting everything away. But to me, laundry is one of those 'mindless' activities that can help you de-stress. It's something you don't have to think too deeply about - you sort the clothes into lights and colours (I don't bother making a separate load for red or pink clothes), add your detergent, and start the wash cycle. For the next 45 minutes, I'm free to play games, watch videos or take a nap. Now, I don't own a dryer (I think they make some clothes shrink), so hanging clothes in my service yard does take more effort. Straightening shirts as best I can before I hang them helps reduce wrinkles. It lessens the time spent ironing. Image: PlanetCare, Unsplash I have friends who absolutely cannot stand ironing. But I've always found it cathartic as well. There's a lot in this world you cannot fix, but wrinkles on clothes can be eliminated. Of course, it helps to have a powerful steam iron, which is why I bought one with a 3,000-watt output. It consumes a lot of water, but it makes the job much, much easier. But if there's one reason that makes me enjoy doing laundry so much, it's the fact that I like the smell and feeling of clean clothes. This was one of the lessons I learnt while studying overseas. Knowing that you have clean clothes (and clean boxer shorts) for the following week is a luxury. Ditto for clean bedsheets and pillowcases. Not surprisingly, my laundry kit includes two types of detergent (it used to be four but even I thought that too much), a whitening agent (Vanish, not bleach), and periodically, a disinfectant liquid (typically Walch). Obviously, my missus is content to leave the laundry to me and says that the service yard is my 'domain'. As 2025 comes to a close and 2026 peeks around the corner, resolutions will be made. I resolve to start the year fresh and focus on fitness. I also want to start the year right. So, tomorrow morning, I'll be doing laundry to ensure that the missus and I start the year with clean clothes. Happy New Year! – Jeremy (Main image: Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)

Doing your laundry isn’t a sexy activity (hmmm...), but there’s something about laundromats that feels inexplicably captivating. A shift in general living circumstances, coupled with incessant wet weather, has gotten them and I reacquainted over the last couple of months. The last I had really frequented them was during my uni years. But even my memory of those times spent tapping my Barclays/N26 debit cards to activate the washing and drying cycles is quite different: Just taking a short stroll over to the machines, dumping everything in and setting a timer, heading back to the room for a short nap, then returning to settle what was necessary thereafter. That proximity has not been afforded to me where I stay now. Instead, heading out to the laundromat is an (admittedly comfortable) 8-10 minute drive. In such a situation, you’re effectively just stuck there. It must be the sweet lens of nostalgia over my uni days (when I felt less jaded; like there was more of me that could be moved and broken). Mixed with mainstream romanticisation of laundromats. Mixed with flashes of one of my favourite films. But I’ve quite enjoyed these visits I’ve had to make. The first one, with my mum tagging along, was already a pleasant experience. Then, I suggested that we both put our phones away and each take some time to open a book/magazine and learn to be bored. She was up for the challenge. It was difficult at first, then it was relaxing and soothing. We both climbed back into the car feeling more energised than when we had arrived. The most recent visit was a solo trip. It was nearly 11:30pm, having just returned home from a long day of activities, when I realised that I had to head out. The frustration quickly eased. In the stillness of that wet Sunday night, armed with my iPad (and a couple of videos and articles I had been interested in catching up on), I finally found peace for the week - in the low whir of the washing machine drum spinning, the hum of the orbital fan oscillating above, and in the smell of detergent powder and warm, freshly-dried clothing. Interestingly, laundromats appear to have settled into a steady-state presence in Singapore. This CNA article goes into how some brilliant minds amongst us have thought about reworking the conventional model of the laundromat to draw crowds in. I’m thinking of heading to one of them soon. It will be a solo outing for sure - an afternoon protected fiercely, reserved selfishly, for myself alone. I know a lot of this is, as mentioned above, is romanticisation. I can imagine that hauling bags of laundry out of the house on the regular could be extremely tiresome for some households. Especially if - unlike me - they don’t have a car at home to tap on. Laundromats are not dirt-cheap either - the most basic wash option for a full 14kg load is $7-8, following which you’ll have to pay another $6-7 for the dryer (depending on how kiasu you are about your Uniqlo tees being dry). But I guess different spaces have always held different meanings for different people. I hope it's okay that I'm ascribing this sort of value to this one. So much of life recently has passed by so quickly; been exasperating to parse. In my perpetual state of frenzy lately, this image of a laundromat has slowly become a compassionate invitation to exhale and to find pause. - Matt

hi, anyone knows where to buy the above and how much? those made of stainless steel or alumimnum? to be fitted into HDB.

Anyone knows of cheap laundry services? Thinking of using one since lots of laundry after coming back from holiday. Tks.

My neighbour put up laundry drying stand poles outside their door and infront of my corner unit blocking 50% of space of my walking space towards the lift area. At the lift area, there are more laudry stands where more laundries are put up. Sometimes they will also put out plastic tubs to dry on stair railing which reduces the 50% of my walk path even more. The most incovenience come from the maid doing the laundry. Somehow it seems like she always do the laundry during times when we are leaving for work and when coming home. At times she would just stand in front of the remaining walk space to do the laundry and we have to come up close to her then she will move. Even so, we have to avoid kicing the pail she put on the floor. I thought the common areas are not supposed to be allowed for such usage as it is hazardous in the event of fire emergencies. Does the town council perform regular checks and advise accordingly or even fine the recalcitrant ones. This neighbour is of a different ethnic group then I am and if I were to complain to them directly, things might get a bit sensitive.

Hello all Been trying to locate this old laundry shop, somewhere in the east, possibly Katong. It was operated by this old couple and the shop was featured in a TV program on heritage in Singapore. Help please?

hmm... how is it that the clothes colour fade at every wash and threads of hair are seen coming out and clothes are always hard when its dry. anyone?

Watch this video from Expert Village. I'm attracted to the Southern accent.