Wasbar - The Lovely Laundrette

by Startacus Admin

You may remember a few weeks ago we featured a great little story about Your Hero Delivery - a superhero laundry service that became so popular it had to close…

since then we have discovered a very unusual laundrette called Wasbar and as a result are fairly convinced that a secret laundry revolution is underway… here’s why.

It is hard to imagine anywhere less inspiring than the humble laundrette… bland, loud, hot and shamefully boring… not exactly our favourite place to hang out. That’s not a criticism, laundrettes are places wherein functionality must come before optional extras such as attractive decor or pleasant odour, right?    

Wrong! Over in the Belgian city of Ghent there is a new laundrette that is aiming to break away from the mundane industry standard, and turn the weekly visit to the laundrette into a fun, social and generally much more pleasant experience - very intriguing...

Located in a former bookshop, Wasbar Ghent is a laundrette, quite unlike any other - there are of course washing machines, but instead of being bored to tears whilst waiting for their laundry to be done, Wasbar’s clientele are treated to a number of more pleasant diversions.  Fancy a haircut? Then you can get one from one of the in-house stylists!  Fancy a catch-up with mates? Then why not have a spot of lunch or even a drink from the bar?  

The proprietors Yuri Vandenbogaerde and Dries Henau (no we didn’t make that up, his name really is Dries) say that they wanted to create a laundrette which would allow people to actually enjoy themselves whilst doing the sinfully laborious task of laundry. Visually, the decor places the theme of washing firmly at the centre of proceedings but adds bright colours, cosy furnishings and quirky touches to fill the place with an atmosphere of fun.

The 18 washing machines or ‘the grand old ladies’ as they are affectionately known continue to take pride of place opposite the ‘grandpas’ (tumble dryers) which have each been given a name thanks to a Facebook crowdsourcing campaign.  From the looks of it, Wasbar lies somewhere in between your grandma’s kitchen, a cocktail bar, a coffee shop and a laundrette... needless to say we’ll be winging our way there just as soon as we can gather up a basketful.

To add yet another level of brilliance, all of the furniture and fittings are upcycled from old pieces destined for the scrap heap but have now been given a colourful new lease of life and fab new home!

We love it when people think of exciting and innovative ways to make the world a bit more fun to be in, and Wasbar certainly qualifies as that!  

Why not check out of few of these fun and quirky ideas?

My Hero Delivery - Laundry Delivered by your favourite super heroes

Jimmy Beans Wool - A Great Little Yarn

Desk Beers - Our Startup of the Week

Glove Love - A matchmaking service for single gloves

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Published on: 18th December 2013