Laundries

Laundries
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Laundromat Self Service
A self-service laundry is a facility where clothes are washed and dried. They are known in the UK as launderettes or laundrettes - and in the USA as laundromats (from the genericized trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation). Facilities which have staff to wash the clothing are sometimes referred to as fluff-n-fold or drop-off services. Some laundries employ staff to provide service for the customers. Minimal service centres may simply provide an attendant behind a counter to provide change, sell washing powder, and watch unattended machines for potential theft of clothing. Others allow customers to drop off clothing for staff members to sort and put the loads through the machines (termed "service washes" in Britain and Ireland), or pick up clothing at the customer's residence and deliver after it has been washed. Laundry was first done in streams, letting the stream carry away the materials which could cause stains and smells. Laundry may still be done this way in some less industrialized areas and rural regions. Agitation helps remove the dirt, so the laundry is often rubbed, twisted, or slapped against flat rocks. Wooden bats or clubs could be used to help with beating the dirt out. These were often called washing beetles or bats and could be used on a rock by a stream (a beetling-stone), on a block (battling-block), or on a board. They were once common across Europe and were also used by settlers in North America. Various chemicals may be used increase the solvent power of water, such as the compounds in soaproot or yucca-root used by Native American tribes. Soap, a compound made from lye (from wood-ash) and fat, is an ancient and very common laundry aid.