While I was on the internet like any other day, I suddenly thought of how cool laundromats are in foreign countries. I`ve seen movies where people meet at laundromats and they fall in love. So while I was daydreaming, I went on to Google for laundromats in Singapore.
I remember seeing a couple of them growing up but then I had no need for them. I was actually pretty surprised to find out that there were quite a number of them on this tiny island and the nearest one to me was pretty near indeed. While I don`t think falling in love at a laundromat was going to happen, I surely didn`t want to be there doing laundry on my own. So, I dragged “A” along with me.
We went a WonderWash outlet at Bukit Batok on a Thursday night after my closing shift at work. We thought that it would be fun to wash our clothes at night when there were likely to be lesser people around. When we got there, we unloaded all our dirty clothes into one of the washing machines that was there.
There`s all sorts of option you can choose from. The cheapest was $5 and the maximum load was 11kg. I think that`s a pretty good price. Plus, they provide the detergent for you too. We went for the $6 Normal wash option that had the softener.
They only accept $1 coins for their machines. You don`t have to worry about change because there`s a machine there as well where you can change your dollar notes to coins.
The wash took about 40 minutes. There`s a counter on the machine you let you know how long more you have. The machine also indicates which stage your laundry is on. I went around the place to look at all the signs they had pasted on the wall.
This one`s pretty standard, I guess. Since no one is there to man the place, they have to remind customers to keep the place as clean as possible. They also have a table to explain the load, cost and time.
Then there`s the instructions on how to use the machines. Which we read thoroughly so we don`t destroy our laundry.
They had chairs like those you see at Polyclinics and what I personally loved were the “20 minute fans”. You hit the buttons and the ceiling fans switches on. After 20 minutes, they will automatically switch off and you will need to hit the button again. I just think it`s a clever way to save electricity without compromising comfort for the customers.
When our laundry was done, we had to quickly take them out of the washing machine and get them into the dryer without dripping water all over the floor. We selected the highest temperature for the dryer and let it run for 25 minutes which cost us $5 (every 5 minutes costs $1).
Although the place provided laundry baskets, we were skeptical how clean they were. To be safe, we didn`t use them.
By the time our laundry was dry and we`ve folded them nicely, it was past 1am. I would say it was a fun experience and I wouldn`t mind doing it again. I think it`s pretty worth it especially if you have got a lot of laundry and sharing the cost with 1 or more people. And if you think it`s a waste of money to use the dryer, just bring your laundry home and you can simply air dry them the traditional way.
You can visit http://wonderwash.com.sg/ to see if there`s one near you. Judging from the pictures on the website, each outlet would be slightly different. It`s 24/7 and convenient. Share with us your experience if you decide to visit one!
-Y-
We will be doing a GIFTaway for Christmas soon!
fourpl4y 