Chorley launderette bucking national trend as it thrives

Amid figures which show that across the UK in the last 40 years, the number of coin-operated launderette has fallen from 12.500 to 2,000, including a drop of a third in the last five years, The Washbowl in Chorley is thriving.

The facility in Pall Mall is one of several in a chain across the North West and its manager Gerard Nelson reports a continuing loyal band of customers of all ages, although there is evidence of some cutbacks amid the economic downturn.

“It’s always quieter at this time of year, with people able to dry washing at home and we have seen people who used to come in two or three times a week calling with a bigger wash once a week, but we keep busy,” said Gerard, who has been manager at Chorley for four years.

"We stayed open during Covid because launderettes were regarded an essential service and we are proud to be a little hub of the community.

"It’s not just somewhere to come and do the washing and drying – people stop for a chat and a brew and we have lots of regulars.

"We are opened seven days a week and often at weekends, there are waits for the machines, we’re so popular.”

The national decline in launderette use has been put down to cheaper home washing machine prices and developers remaking urban neighbourhoods for students and young professionals building homes already equipped with such machines, potentially leaving local launderettes without clientele.

But Gerard says that, amid rising energy prices, it still works out cheaper to wash and dry at the launderette than at home, especially as launderette dryers are operated by gas, whereas at home, it’s all electricity-operated.

The Washbowl is open from 6am to 8pm through the week and 6am to 6pm at weekends and Gerard is delighted that there is still the demand for such extensive hours.

"We’re here when people need us and it’s great that there are still plenty of people who do.”

The first self-service coin-operated launderette in this country opened in Bayswater, west London in May 1949.

At the time, few homes had washing machines and doing the laundry was backbreaking work.

The domestic operation entailed heating the washing in a copper pan, washing it by hand and wringing it out using a mangle.

According to the Office for National Statistics, in 1972, 66 per cent of households had a washing machine but that figure had risen to 96 per cent by 2011.

According to the statistics from the National Association of the Launderette Industry (NALI), launderettes nationally are currently mostly used by students, recent immigrants too poor to buy a machine, professionals who pay for an attendant to do their washing and drying, plus the elderly who enjoy a bit of company.

Bruce Herring, director of the NALI, said that soaring energy bills, “have been the real killer.”

“Many launderettes had long-term contracts with the utility companies,” he said. “These contracts have come to an end and prices are going up enormously. Most premises now pay about 12p per kWh for their gas-heated tumble dryers compared with 3p previously.”

Launderettes are also taking a hit from the cost to repair their equipment.

Herring added: “Some launderettes are using 20-year-old machines that are more expensive and harder to fix than the more modern ones.”