High street launderettes may be disappearing but now there’s a new place to wash your smalls – outside the supermarket.
The trend has been revealed by a British company which says it is raking in millions of pounds from outdoor washing machines in car parks and forecourts across the country.
The coin-operated machines allow people to put on a wash while they go shopping and are rapidly growing in popularity.
The trend has been revealed by Photo-Me which says it raked in £17.3m in six months from the machines
They hold up to 18kg – meaning they can launder king-sized duvets and other items that may be too big for home – and are open 24 hours a day.
It costs up to £8 for each wash and £1 for a dry. Shoppers do not need to bring their own detergent.
The company behind the machines, Photo-Me, said it made £17.3million from the machines between April and October – almost double its takings over the same period a year ago.
It currently operates more than 2,300 of the machines, which can be found in petrol station forecourts and outside supermarkets and convenience stores, and plans to roll out thousands more.
Gabriel Pirona, Photo-Me’s finance chief, said: ‘These machines are cheaper than town centre launderettes, faster and open 24-7 because they are outside.
‘Our customers tend to be people who do not have a washing machine or want to wash bulky items, as well as small businesses who do not have large enough loads to use industrial services.
They hold up to 18kg – meaning they can launder king-sized duvets and other items that may be too big for home – and are open 24 hours a day
‘You can put your items in and then just collect it at the end of your shop, it will send you a message saying it is finished.
‘I think it’s part of a trend we are seeing at the moment where people do not necessarily feel they need to own everything they use, like cars or gardening tools.
‘In quite a few towns now new apartments don’t allow for washing machines or they instead have communal washing rooms and that’s something we’ll probably see more of.’
It comes as the popularity of traditional launderettes on the High Street continues to fade as more households own a washing machine.
It costs up to £8 for each wash and £1 for a dry. Shoppers do not need to bring their own detergent
Last year research by Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners found there were as many as 12,500 launderettes in the 1980s but they are now thought to number less than 3,000.
Photo-Me said it eventually expects half its annual takings to come from the laundry machines, with more than 3,000 expected to be rolled out in addition to 2,300 already in use.
It made £122.2million in the six months to October 31, up 10.5 per cent on the same period last year. It posted profits of £33million.