{"id":392,"date":"2020-02-13T16:42:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T16:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.njairquality.com\/?p=392"},"modified":"2020-02-13T16:53:25","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T16:53:25","slug":"the-invention-of-the-laundromat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/the-invention-of-the-laundromat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Invention of the Laundromat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wash-a-teria, the first laundromat, (although\nit was not called by this name at the time of its invention), opened its doors\nin Fort Worth Texas, in 1934 by J.F. Cantrell. Four washing machines lined his\nstore, with Cantrell charging by the hour for use of these precious devices.\nQuickly catching on, these laundry stores gained popularity in the Depression\nera of the 1930\u2019s. Although the personal washing machine had been invented way\nbefore this, most people could not afford their own washing appliance. Coin\noperated laundromats have never lost their endurance with their economical\nconvenience even until today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Greenwald claims that his father, Harry\nGreenwald, was the first\nperson to coin the word, laundromat<\/a>. Living in an apartment house in\nBrooklyn, New York, in the early 1940\u2019s, Harry noticed that very few people in\nhis building owned their own washing machines and were still using the\nold-fashioned washboard methods of cleaning their washables. Harry received\npermission from the owner of his building to put a coin meter (charging 25\ncents) on a washing machine which he set up in the building\u2019s basement. In a\nshort time, tenants were lining up to use the machine.  Harry then, with permission of the landlord,\npurchased several more machines, and those were constantly in use. This was\nwhen he realized that he had hit upon something very big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Greenwald got the idea of the name \u201cLaundromat\u201d from his favorite Times Square lunch hangout, the Horn & Hardart <\/a>Automat<\/a> restaurant. For those too young to remember this New York City icon, I will explain its workings from my own personal experience. Glass door cabinets covered the walls of the restaurant (precursors to the sophisticated hot food vending machines of today). The consumer dropped a coin into a slot and chose his entree as the door unlocked. Harry combined the words, laundry with automat, and that is how the laundromat got its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harry had little interest in opening stores\nand decided instead to manufacture the meters themselves. He went on to form\nGreenwald Company, aka, Greenwald Industries, in l954, which became the largest\nmanufacturer of coin meters for washers, dryers and vending machines. This\nbusiness is still running strong today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though many more people today can afford their own washers and dryers, nevertheless there are many people who chose laundromats. High rise apartment complexes, both luxury and middle class, university towns and other cluster living locations are perfect examples of the need today of local laundromats. In the winter, the cost of personal washing appliances is especially high. It could take forever to dry heavy towels and linens in a home dryer. In order to keep the efficiency level high of home dryers, they should be serviced yearly by professional dryer vent cleaning services. Otherwise, the cost of home dryer service can break the bank. Also, in certain buildings there is a limit as to how much water and electricity an apartment owner or tenant can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today\u2019s pillows are manufactured with an option to wash and fluff them in the dryer. Especially with the danger of bedbugs, many people opt to use heavy duty mattress covers which they want to wash on a regular basis.\u00a0 If a person has a heavy item such as a down or down alternative quilt, they will hesitate to wash it in their home machine, fearing rightfully so that the machine could break. To dry this same quilt in their home dryer would take a long time and sometimes a very heavy item could cause the dryer to malfunction. The worst-case scenario is that the dryer vent can get clogged from all the lint and cause a fire<\/a>. Best practice is to make sure you clean the lint trap and get the dryer vents cleaned<\/a> by a trusted expert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financially comfortable individuals living in\nluxury condos or coops opt to take their heavy towels, high thread count sheets\nand fluffy comforters to a laundromat. The stacked washer and dryers that are\nallowed in these apartments would never be compatible with their fancy laundry\nitems. These fussy patrons would only frequent a certain type of laundromat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the outdoor patio, indoor potted plants, and upstairs cafe serving organic kombucha (a fermented, sweetened black or green tea drink commonly consumed for its supposed health benefits) at, Celsious<\/a>, the newest and poshest establishment in a storefront in Williamsburg, New York. Labeled a meditation and mindfulness hub with soft palette colors and cool furniture this laundromat is the newest, sleekest and cleanest hangout in town<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Celsious<\/a> is one of newest takes on the old-fashioned laundromat opening in selected areas around the country. Signs advertise cold brew tea and coffee, organic pastry and twenty percent savings on soap.\u00a0 How could this be a place to come to wash and dry your clothes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the two Williams sisters into the\ntwenty-first century laundry market. Theresa and Corinna Williams moved to New\nYork from their hometown in Germany about five years ago. Theresa, a successful\nfashion designer and Corinna, a journalist who worked as a fashion editor for\nElle and Harper\u2019s Bazaar, saw a unique opportunity waiting to be executed in\nthe city of dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand new shiny Electrolux washers and dryers\nare lined up in the immaculately decorated space. The contrast between the\nstainless steel of the appliances and the soft cozy coral and warm yellow\ncolors on the walls, imbues the warm and welcoming feeling that Celsious wants to convey. With German\nprecision the sisters think in Celsius measurements, not Fahrenheit.  Zero degrees in Celsius is the freezing\npoint. Utilizing the accurate degrees in Celsius rather than hot, cold and warm\nnotations for washing specific items, gives the specific temperatures that\nclothes need to be washed at. The sisters changed the spelling slightly so\npeople can find their amazing website easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest launderers pay per wash the same way as\nany other laundromat and get a free cup of environmentally safe laundry\ndetergent as a gift. There is also a trained staff wearing specially designed\naprons who will do your laundry for you at an additional cost. According to the\nWilliams sisters, \u201cLaundry is a natural extension of the mindfulness that\npeople are not aware of yet.\u201d Their slogan is, \u201cairing your dirty laundry in\npublic just got a whole lot more stylish\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness is the newest psychological\nphenomena today. Living and enjoying the present moment will make anyone\u2019s life\nand obligations more meaningful. Praying with mindfulness is one important\nexample. How many people\u2019s minds wander while praying?  A significant spiritual moment which can\nsuspend a person into a consciousness of just being in the present is\ntherapeutic in more than just the spiritual sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mindfulness is much more than a religious experience. For those beings who were not brought up in a religious environment, living and appreciating the present is indeed a gift. Whether it\u2019s enjoying what you are eating while sitting down and concentrating or focusing on your work at your job, slowing down and being in the moment is beneficial for all. An unpleasant task like laundry can become enjoyable as well. By slowing down and making laundry a ritual, you can practice mindfulnes<\/a>s<\/a> at the laundromat<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health coach, Buffy Owens, claims that she\nloved to do laundry. \u201cThe key to making laundry a simple ritual is simply,\nSLOWING down and paying attention\u201d. She says that the next time you do your\nlaundry, slow the pace down about 25%, pause and observe the process of\nsorting, putting the clothes in the washer and dryer, folding them and putting\nthem away. Instead of worrying about what chores you must do in the future,\npause and relax while doing your laundry. \nHow much is a twenty percent slowdown? It\u2019s up to the individual to\nfigure this out for themselves. It is certainly not an exact science. You will\nknow when you have reached the right level of mindfulness. Here are two\nexamples of lack of mindfulness and true mindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Go back to the time you were sitting in your\nhigh school classroom. Were you there in a mental sense or only physically?\nMany of us would have to admit that we were thinking about other things while\nsitting in class. We were not practicing mindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go back just a couple of weeks to the 2020\nSuper Bowl. Were the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs practicing\nmindfulness? You bet they were. There was nothing on each player\u2019s mind but the\nplay they were in. This is the perfect example of being in the present and practicing\nmindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how can a launderer pay attention at the\nlaundromat?  I predict that if it hasn\u2019t\nhappened yet, it will that while you are waiting for your clothes to wash and\ndry instead of \u201cventing\u201d your frustrations at having to wait around for your\nitems to be laundered, you can join an aerobics class that is timed exactly to\nthe time it takes for your wash to be dried, or you can have that great cup of\njava and a rhubarb rose tart at Celsious. So, wake up and smell the coffee the\nnext time you wash and dry your laundry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wash-a-teria, the first laundromat, (although it was not called by this name at the time of its invention), opened its doors in Fort Worth Texas, in 1934 by J.F. Cantrell. Four washing machines lined his store, with Cantrell charging by the hour for use of these precious devices. Quickly catching on, these laundry stores gained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}