Cleaners Compare Blog

The Changing Face of the Launderette

10 July 2018

Over the past 10 years or so, there has been a shift in the traditional laundrette just offering seats to watch your laundry rotate and bringing your own magazines, books and refreshments to stave off the boredom.  You can now put your washing in and go for a coffee, snack or even a cocktail in the same building.

All across the world laundrette owners are converting their space to add that something extra to combine laundry and socialising in comfortable surroundings where people can read, eat, drink, browse the internet, all whilst doing their laundry.

PARIS

Behind one of the washing machines at the Lavomatic in the up-and-coming 10th arrondissement in Paris, you’ll find a narrow staircase leading up to a tiny speakeasy. Unlike other hidden bars in town, this doesn’t have the low lighting and dark corners.

Instead, as you enter the space you’ll be dazzled by a flourish of mustard-yellow banquettes, 1970s-patterned carpets and novelty stools printed with designs from retro Brillo pad packets, all offset with polished concrete walls. It’s a playful place, emphasised by the swing set at the end of the room.

On the cocktail menu you’ll find concoctions such as Fairy Elixir with vodka, Hendricks gin, vermouth, hibiscus syrup and an egg white, and Mary’s Pepper, with vodka, soy sauce, tomato and carrot juices, lemon juice and horseradish. Or try Welcome To Agrabah, an exotic mix of lemon juice, jasmine tea, honey, egg white, vodka, lemonade and a spritz of rose water. The bar also has a range of biodynamic wines, if you need a break from hard liquor.

As well as the drinks, this speakeasy has an impressive small bites menu made with seasonal ingredients. Think classy dishes such as fresh oysters, sea bream ceviche and steak caramelised with pomegranate.

So once you’ve put a load of washing on, find the secret door and head upstairs for a cocktail while you wait.

NEW YORK

 

One of New York’s best collections of pinball is hidden in a secret bar at the back of the Sunshine Laundromat. As you pass a few classic pinball machines and go through the row of washing machines you notice a strange stack of washing machines at the very back of the laundromat. Come closer and you realize that through those back washing machine doors it’s not laundry that you see but another world, a world of pinball.

For years the Sunshine Laundromat was simply a local laundromat with an odd sense of humour. Signs outside read “Try our gourmet vegetarian washing machines and vegan dryers.” However when Peter Rose, a 42 year old lifelong New Yorker and pinball enthusiast, teamed up with the building owner’s son Michael Medovoy the business began to transform. Sharing a deep love for mechanical devices in general and pinball in particular (both men had managed to cram pinball machines into their respective dorm rooms in college) they began to fill the laundromat with classic pinball machines. 

Those who push through those mysterious laundromat doors at the back of Sunshine will find themselves eyed by a fortune-telling chimp and surrounded by over 23 pinball machines, each one a classic. As Peter has said the backroom is “a pinball place that serves beer, as opposed to a bar that has pinball.” Among the collection are some very rare machines including Safe Cracker and “Big Bang Bar” which sells on Ebay for around 20k. According to Francesco La Rocca, New York’s rep from the International Flipper Pinball Association, Sunshine has “all the top titles and great machines” and is “the best public venue around.”

A destination for any lover of pinball even the bartenders are pinball pros. Bartender Alberto Santana is ranked 88th in the world by the International Flipper Pinball Association and is happy to share some advice on how to up your score.

 

Upfront the washing machines and dryers still spin, as the Laundromat is still fully functioning.

COPENHAGEN; REYKJAVIK

The Laundromat Cafe (there are three locations in Copenhagen and one in Reykjavik) is geared toward international travellers as well as locals. The menu offers a mix of comforting Western staples like hamburgers and French toast with marmalade, along with piri-piri chicken and tomato-shellfish soup. To help pass the time, there are board games, more than 6,000 books to browse, and a play area for kids.