Like many in this densely populated urban neighbourhood, the 22-year-old factory worker is on his weekly “laundry run”, something he couldn’t do over a year ago, before such laundromats mushroomed in the area – or throughout the country, for that matter.

It’s unclear just how many of these 24-hour, coin-operated, self-service laundromats there are now in Malaysia, but one thing is plain: they are a boon for those from the lower income category.

“In the past, I had to wash my clothes by hand and dry them indoors but they wouldn’t really dry properly.

“I’m saving up for my wedding, so it doesn’t make sense to buy a washing machine. Plus I’m only renting a room here,” said Hafiz, who hails from Perak and stays within walking distance of the five laundromats within a 50-metre radius in Sunway Mentari.

On average, the 24-hour self-service laundromats – or launderettes, as they’re known in the United Kingdom – have at least 12 washers and dryers, each capable of washing and drying loads of up to 14kg.

For Hafiz and his fiancée, this is more than enough to handle a week’s load of laundry for a mere RM4.50 per cold wash – which takes 24 minutes – and another RM4.50 for a 23-minute spin-dry cycle.

Settling a week’s worth of laundry for less than RM10 and in under an hour isn’t bad at all, especially since conventional laundry shops can charge RM3 and above per kilogramme.

On top of that, some of the 24-hour laundromats offer free Wi-Fi and detergent.

The flexibility of washing clothes at any time of the day is something an Indonesian national who only wanted to be known as Intan greatly appreciates.

Like Hafiz, she too washes the family laundry once a week, bedsheets included, carrying it all in a suitcase nearly half her size.

“We don’t own a machine, so we come here. It’s great that it’s open 24 hours so we can come and wash the laundry when it isn’t so packed,” the general worker said.

Good money to be made

The 24-hour laundromats aren’t just good news for consumers who are facing higher costs of living and stagnant wages – they’re beneficial to the businessmen who open them as well.

The manager of a 24-hour laundromat in Beverly Hills, Kota Kinabalu, who only wanted to be known as Larry, said setting up the laundromats wasn’t cheap but the returns were good.

“Depending on the company, it can cost around RM450,000 to open one laundromat, but this includes six months’ operating costs,” he said, adding that the laundromat he manages has a dozen washer and dryer machines.

Water and electricity, he says, costs around RM2,000 a month.

“We get around 2,000 people per month and most of them use the washer and dryer,” he said.

He told FMT that there were four such laundromats in the neighbourhood, which is home to a number of apartments.

Larry, who goes in and out to check on the machines, including the money-changing machines, says most of the customers come from low- and middle-income families, including single mothers, students and government servants.

Sometimes, he said, people would also stay longer than they needed to, just to use the free Wi-Fi.

“We also sell detergent, but they don’t move fast because most of the customers bring their own.”

He added that the laundromat, like others, also rented space out to automated massage chair operators for additional income. Other laundromats also rent out space to beverage producers for vending machines.

“So far, in the two years we’ve been here, we haven’t had any security issues, but I’ve heard of people trying to pry open the coin box of the massage chairs. Here we have CCTVs.”

Conventional laundry outlets being washed away?

Less than 100 metres from the line of laundromats in Sunway Mentari, “Uncle Yeow”, as he prefers to be known, still runs his conventional laundry outlet in the shoplot of an apartment.

He has been in the laundry game for 25 years, and although he wears a cowboy hat while drying sheets outdoors, his tanned skin is evidence of a time when he used to be much busier, before the arrival of laundromats.

“Actually, coin-operated laundromats have been around for some time, especially in foreign countries. It’s just that the concept didn’t really catch on here until a few years ago,” he said.

“In those days, conventional laundry shop operators like us would do the laundry for customers using these coin-operated machines. We’d help the customer load, wash, dry and fold the laundry and impose a 50-sen surcharge.”

The big difference, Yeow said, was that in those days, the coin-operated machines were small and could only handle 5kg loads, whereas now, people bundle 10kg to 25kg of clothes in one machine, enough clothes for a week.

He charges RM3.90 per kg, which includes washing, drying and folding, but admits this is still way more costly than the 24-hour laundromats.

Yeow said the mushrooming of the 24-hour laundromats had “badly affected” his business and that of other conventional laundry outlet operators.

“My business has gone down by 60%, easily.

“In the past, from one apartment alone I can have four customers. This got to the point where my wife and I worked till midnight, especially on weekends, to make sure we could deliver.

“Now it’s very relaxing, which is okay for me because I’m close to retirement and my kids are all grown up.

“I’m also lucky because I have my regular customers including restaurant owners, and we also offer tailoring and altering services.”

He added that the rise of people buying clothes online had actually created a new market for altering services.

Yeow said diversifying – whether offering new services or expanding customer bases to include commercial customers like restaurants and spas – is the only way for conventional laundry outlets to survive.

And despite 24-hour laundromats hitting his business hard, Yeow believes there will always be a demand for conventional laundry outlets like his, no matter how the market shrinks, because some people are “particular about their clothes”.

“You’re bound to have people who want their clothes folded a certain way or ironed to perfection which machines can’t do, so maybe one day, conventional laundry outlets will become a premium service,” he said.