By Timothy Oommen, Owner — Laundini Laundromat | laundinilaundromat.com
We wash laundry. That’s the business. Clean clothes, clean towels, clean linens — picked up, washed properly, folded, delivered back.
What nobody told me when I built this operation is that people have a very broad interpretation of the word “laundry.”
This post is a celebration of that creativity.
A Few Ground Rules Before We Begin
Everything in this post is real. Names are not included because some of these people are regulars and I value their continued business. Details have been slightly adjusted where necessary to protect the dignity of everyone involved — including mine, in a few cases.
Also: we washed almost all of it. We are not easily deterred.
The Weighted Blanket That Weighed More Than Some People
Weighted blankets are a legitimate and wonderful product for people with anxiety, sensory processing differences, or anyone who just likes feeling like they’re being gently pressed into the earth while they sleep.
They are also, when wet, approximately the weight of a small car.
We have received weighted blankets that required two people to move from the van to the machine. The machine handled it. Barely. The driver’s back did not handle it as gracefully. We now ask customers to flag weighted blankets in advance so we can plan accordingly.
We still wash them. We just mentally prepare first.
The Dog Bed That Had Clearly Never Been Washed Before
There is a specific smell that a dog bed produces when it has been in continuous use for what appears to be several years without washing. It is a smell that announces itself before the bag is fully opened. It is a smell that has opinions.
We washed it. Twice. It came back smelling like a dog bed that had been washed twice, which is significantly better than what arrived.
The customer was delighted. The driver was philosophical about it.
We now list pet bedding as a specialty item. It can be done. It should be flagged.
The Halloween Costume Collection
October is a fascinating month for a laundry service.
We have washed: a full Victorian ballgown with approximately forty layers of petticoats, a foam muscle suit that was not supposed to go anywhere near water but whose owner was optimistic, three separate requests for “just the cape” from what we assume were different people who own the same vampire costume, and one complete Renaissance faire outfit including what the customer described as “authentic period smell” that we chose not to investigate further.
All of it got clean. The foam muscle suit survived but emerged slightly more philosophical about its own dimensions. We noted “dry flat” for future reference.
The Curtains
Multiple customers. Multiple occasions. Full sets of curtains — some of them very long, some of them very heavy, all of them slightly surprising to find in a laundry bag where you expected clothes.
Curtains are washable. We wash them. They take up an entire machine and need careful drying to avoid permanent wrinkling, but it’s completely doable. We just wish more people flagged them in the order notes in advance so we could plan the machine capacity accordingly rather than opening a bag and finding what appears to be a small sail.
The Pillows
Throw pillows, bed pillows, body pillows, and on one memorable occasion, a set of decorative pillows that the customer described as “never been washed, don’t ask how long we’ve had them.”
We didn’t ask. We washed them. Hot water, extra rinse, careful drying with dryer balls to prevent clumping. They came back clean and significantly lighter than they arrived, which tells you something about what was in them that we will not elaborate on.
The Item That Turned Out to Be a Sleeping Bag
It arrived in a stuff sack with no advance notice. The customer’s order notes said “some bedding.” A sleeping bag rated to minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit is technically bedding. We respect the technicality.
We washed it. Front loader, cold water, down wash, multiple drying cycles with dryer balls — the same process as a down jacket but applied to something large enough to sleep in. It came out beautifully lofted and genuinely clean.
The customer was impressed. We were quietly proud.
The Kitchen Rugs
Not unusual in concept. Unusual in execution when a customer sends four of them simultaneously, each the approximate size and weight of a small area rug, each having absorbed what appears to be the complete cooking history of the household.
Kitchen rugs get the commercial treatment — degreaser, hot water, the full process. They come back clean. They do not come back looking new, because some things are beyond the reach of even the most committed wash cycle, but they come back genuinely clean and significantly improved.
The Jacket With the Unreported Contents
We check pockets. We tell people this. We tell people this multiple times across multiple posts on this blog. We keep the money. We have policies about this.
What we do not expect to find — and have found, more than once — is a pocket that contains something that should not be in a pocket. We will not be specific. We will say that we handle these discoveries with professionalism, discretion, and a brief internal conversation about life choices.
The money we keep. Other things we return in a small sealed bag with no commentary.
The Request We Had to Decline
There have been a handful of items we’ve received or been asked about that we had to say no to, gently but firmly.
Anything that requires dry cleaning — we flag it and return it rather than risk damage.
One request for us to wash something that had been used in a way that created a biohazard situation beyond normal household soil — we declined and suggested a specialized cleaning service.
One item that arrived with what appeared to be significant structural damage that washing would have made permanent — we flagged it, called the customer, and returned it unwashed with an explanation.
We are accommodating. We are not unlimited. But the bar for “we’ll try it” is genuinely high.
What This Tells Me About Our Customers
The variety of things people send us is, in a strange way, one of my favorite things about running this business.
It tells me that people trust us. Not just with their regular laundry — with the things they’ve been putting off, the items they weren’t sure were possible, the “I wonder if they’d do this” impulses they acted on. That trust is not small. It’s an extension of the relationship we’ve built one order at a time and it makes me want to honor it.
Also: the money in pockets is real and it funds nothing specific but it brings us joy every time.
If You Have Something Unusual
Flag it in your order notes when you book. Tell us what it is, what you’re worried about, and what outcome you’re hoping for. We’ll tell you honestly whether we can do it and how.
The answer is usually yes. Sometimes with conditions. Occasionally with a brief moment of silence before we respond.
Book your pickup — standard laundry or otherwise — at laundinilaundromat.com. All of Cook County, $1.50/lb, free delivery, 24-hour turnaround. Check your pockets first. We mean it.
Timothy Oommen is the founder and owner of Laundini Laundromat, with locations in Evanston, Bucktown, Skokie, and Wheeling, IL.