06 March,2011 11:19 AM IST | | Anjana Vaswani
Despite the reckless comments they often post on Twitter, the rich and famous, it seems, are actually particular about where their dirty linen is washed. And they are not alone. A recent study estimated that there's about Rs 5,200 crore to be made in the retail-laundry-services industry in India. Here's why Indian dhobis may start bleaching their blue-collars white
Four years ago in an interview for e-magazine, Female First, Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz candidly admitted, "I always wear whatever I'm wearing, the same outfit, for four days, and then I never wear it again." In the same year, singer Chris Brown, whose song, Yeah 3x is currently No 19 on the Billboard Charts, went on record to admit that he wasn't habituated to washing his underwear. "I just throw them away," Brown said in an interview. But it wasn't like Hollywood suddenly decided to come clean about their laundry-habits back in 2007.
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Moaning about the same issue just a few months ago, Twilight star Robert Pattinson revealed that he wears the same thing every day and that the stench emanating from his shirts sometimes even gets a bit unbearable for him. "It's a bit gross," he confessed, and we are inclined to agree. Hollywood heavies, busy industrialists and professionals stuck in the rat race, understandably, have a hard time fitting spin-cycles into their jam-packed schedules.
Pick up and drop
So, as it turns out, modern launderers like the Spanish Pressto that offer pick-up and drop-off services (and which, incidentally has 500 outlets in 20 countries), may be more environment-friendly than even the proprietors probably realise. Having appreciated the popularity of pick-up and drop-off services, most local laundries are now pulling up their socks. The minute we enquired with a phone directory service about neighbourhood laundries, we received a call from one in Churchgate that was quick to tell us that they offered such a service.
What they couldn't do however, was provide any more information about their stain-removal or fabric care services. This typical failure to communicate is just one more reason why these days Indian customers are knocking at the doors of luxury dry-cleaners.
Stain-removal is a USP here
Esther Lennaerts, Chairperson, Pressto (www.prestodrycleaners.com.sg) tells us this is the area they specialise in. Armed with 17 years of experience and super-efficient German equipment, Pressto has already bagged the business of Hindi film superstar Amitabh Bachchan, business tycoon Mukesh Ambani and BJP leader Gopinath Munde.
Mumbai
embellishments removed to protect from chemicals, and
reattached on garments before delivery
Pressto uses colour coding. The stain-removing solvent in red bottles is
effective on red stains, whether it's from food colouring or blood, while
the chocolate bottle is for cocoa stains, and the orange bottle for turmeric
stains. Pic/ Rane Ashish
At their Colaba outlet, Babar Khan, General Manager, Operations draws our attention to colour-coded squeezy bottles stacked atop a stain removal cabin. "Although employees are tested on a monthly basis, and thoroughly trained, to make things simple we use colour coding. The solvent in the red bottle is effective on red stains, whether it's from food colouring or blood, while the chocolate bottle is for cocoa stains and the orange bottle is for turmeric stains."
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But in most cases, garments don't require the use of these solvents at all. "Powerful jets of steam, air or water are usually enough to break the stains down," Khan says.
Delhi, Bengaluru like their collars crisp
Recognising the need for premium laundry services in metros, Jyothy Laboratories, the company that launched Ujala detergent in 2005, has set up what the company's CMD, M P Ramachandran described in a business magazine in January this year, as a state-of-the-art facility "that has a capacity to wash 40,000 garments per day." Not only does Jyothy offer dry-cleaning and stain-removal services, it lets its Fabric Spa customers track the status of their garments online.
Sandeep Gajakas set up the Shoe Laundry in Mumbai in 2003, and
devised a 15-point programme to make your shoes sparkle
And if you want 'live' data on how your garment will be handled, log on to their website for a live chat. "As we gradually upgrade the project, we aspire to be able to offer customers the facility of say, dropping their clothes of in Bengaluru and receiving delivery in Chennai," an executive with the company says.
In the meantime, no matter where you are staying in New Delhi, you can check your garments into the Four Seasons (laundry, that is) whose website claims it is equipped with "fully automatic and computerised Perchloroethylene dry-cleaning machines and washer-extractors, the latest finishing equipment like steam presses, shirt-finishing-unit, automatic form-finishers for suits and jackets, trouser finishers..."
The website (www.fourseasonsdrycleaning.com) also states that the company has installed a reverse-osmosis water treatment plant "to use the purest and the softest water for the laundry."
Four Seasons laundry in Delhi says it is equipped with "fully automatic
and computerised Perchloroethylene dry-cleaning machines and
washer-extractors, the latest finishing equipment like steam presses,
shirt-finishing-unit, automatic form-finishers for suits and jackets".
They want you to want them
And it's not just the elite that the luxury dry-cleaners are targetting. In fact, their tariffs suggest quite the contrary, with prices just marginally higher than your neighbourhood dry-cleaner.
While Pressto's Khan says there is no additional charge if stains require a more complex treatment process, Lennaerts doesn't mind sharing: "For shirts, we charge about Rs 84, for blouses and T-shirts, Rs 79, and for trousers it's Rs 129."
With the business traveller in mind, Fabric Spa in Bengaluru aspires to
be able to offer customers the facility of say, dropping their clothes of
in Bengaluru and receiving delivery in Chennai. Pic/ Satish Badiger
For Jyothy Fabric Spa's express service, where you can have your clothes ready in five hours, they charge 50% over the rack rate. Rack rates vary with the location of the outlet.u00a0 Strangely, realty prices decide how much your shirt will cost to launder. At Pressto's Indira Nagar branch in Bengaluru, for instance, they charge Rs 90 for a shirt, but at the Sadashiva Nagar outlet, it's Rs 75.
The same holds true in Mumbai too, Khan says, pointing out that it's not just the rent but also the average income group of the residents in the locality that determine price of services.
But, it's individualised attention, rather than competitive pricing that Lennaerts believes sets Pressto apart. "Whether you want your shirt folded a particular way or your trousers creased a certain way, our staff is trained to treat your instructions as paramount." When dealing with expensive, embellished garments, the staff is trained to carefully remove embellishments when necessary and re-attach these after the treatment to ensure they are unaffected by chemicals.
And what about the shoes?
"You can't wear a spanking suit with a moldy old pair of shoes," Sandeep Gajakas often found himself lecturing his buddies. Peeved, the Mumbai resident set up Shoe Laundry (www.shoelaundry.com) back in 2003 and devised a meticulous (and top-secret) 15-point programme to get your shoes sparkling again.
Currently on a sabbatical to better his service and institute expansion plans, the 33 year-old says, initially he did everything himself -- from pick-up and delivery to the actual repairs, cleaning and polishing. Now, he works with a team of eight. Rs 150, is the base-charge here, but the final figure depends on exactly what service/services your shoes require.
Twenty seven year-old Vinnie Chedda who offers a similar service at Reboot in Bandra (www.rebootshoelaundry.com), says she routinely shines up celebrity shoes. Actors Malaika Arora Khan, Juhi Chawla, Sonali Kulkarni, Manoj Bajpai, and Mansi Joshi Roy are some of her regular clients. You can get your boots cleaned here for between Rs 200 and Rs 250, and sneakers for Rs 140.
Chedda's is also the only service in Mumbai that offers to clean out your handbags (with detergents and lint-free wipes that is, not of its currency-content).
