Philippine Laundry History: A Fascinating Look at the Past

Do you know how laundry was done in the Philippines before the arrival of modern technology? If not, then you're in for a fascinating look at the past!

In this blog post, we will take a look at laundry methods used throughout Philippine history. From pounding clothes on rocks to using modern washing machines, laundry has come a long way in the Philippines!

Historically women would launder their clothes in groups beside the river. They would wash the clothes by pounding them on rocks or rubbing them with laundry stones. The running water removes dirt and odour from the clothes. The laundry is hung on ropes or spread on the grass under the sun. This was a time-consuming process that often resulted in damaged clothing.

Until the early 1980s, Laundry was manually done in the Philippines. Labanderas (laundrywomen), would visit households and wash clothes in large metal washtubs. They would fill the tubs with water and laundry soap, then scrub the clothes by hand before rinsing them in clean water. This was a much faster and more effective method than laundry stones, but it was still very labour-intensive.

In 1987, Royal Clean introduced a kilo service with the use of laundry machines from the USA in the Philippines. There were not a lot of customers because labanderas service was a lot cheaper but the quality of their service was not always consistent and would often damage clothes.

Later, the founders of Royal Clean studied at International Fabricare Institute, USA to specialize in Dry Cleaning. Royal Clean brought dry cleaning machines and techniques learned from the USA to the Philippines to offer dry cleaning services. They are the only graduates of the Advanced Dry Cleaning course in the Philippines.

Now laundromats have full-service and self-service laundry services offered to customers. In the past, doing laundry takes a whole day of hard work and now takes less than 3 hours. From laundry stones to modern washing machines, laundry in the Philippines has come a long way! We hope you enjoyed this fascinating look at the laundry.