Smartypants Launderette & Dry Cleaners

On holiday, and having a terrible time finding a place in the City to get our socks and T-​shirts washed. We left our things here for a «Service Wash» and they were done by evening. So far so good — I was okay with the grubby shop and curt owner. But for £20 I thought my «Service» would include proper folding, not just quarter-​folding for select items, and the rest tossed in. Oh, well, I was still grateful, but my launderette in NYC is much cheaper and folds much more nicely. I would come again when staying in the City — there’s not much competition, and this Bethnal Green location was the closest thing I could find.

We had to do laundry on vacation — its a laundromat so while I’m not a huge «Fan» of a laundromat, it did its job. It has full washer and dryer and for a pound, you can buy soap from the staff.

So, I’ve now been going here for months, and have had absolutely no idea that this place is called ‘Smartypants.’ Go figure.
My flat has a washer, but no dryer, and there was just no way I was going to trust a mere clothes horse to dry my thick, woolly jumpers, bed sheets, and duvet cover in the dead of winter. No, sir. So since Smartypants (I feel so strange now using its real name) is pretty much directly across the street from my flat, I thought I’d give it a try.
This place is like any standard, self-​serve coin laundromat, though they do have dry cleaning, alterations, and laundering services. I’ve never tried them, because all I usually need is a dryer (or two). The dryers are big, and quite powerful, but expensive to use at £1 per 15 minutes of drying. I’ve never had to spend more than £3 on one load — which is not too pricy, but it really does add up. Especially when one of the employees notices you trying to stuff too many clothes into one drying cycle, and forces you to use an additional machine… on multiple occasions…
This business is owned by a Bengali family, as a lot of places in Bethnal Green are. While I’m not being prejudice, at ALL, I think it’s absolutely hilarious/​confusing/​unexpected that this family has hung labelled art prints on all of the walls of the laundromat, displayed as they were in an art gallery. Also, there’s a huge, geometric mural reading ‘HEARTBREAK’ on the window, and a matching one the wall above the till, reading ‘DRY CLEANING.’ Classic Shoreditch.
All in all, this place does what it needs to do – nothing more, nothing less. A solid A-​OK, according to Unilocal’s star-​rating system.
Pro tip: They only take £1 and 20p coins in the machines, but the guy at the till will break most bills for you. Brill (I had to).

The worst dry cleaner/​washing service I’ve had the dubious honour of frequenting. It’s my local, and the convenience of being able to do my drying and dry cleaning 10 metres from my house sometimes wins out. But believe me, there’s a price to pay for convenience. These guys are easily the rudest, surliest, least helpful people I’ve ever encountered in a customer service situation anywhere. They’ve ruined dresses of mine and lost items of clothing. But shit happens, and the occasional slip up would be forgivable if they weren’t so awful. I’ve heard them mimicking customer’s accents behind their backs! I think from now I’ll be lugging my drying down Bethnal Green Rd to another establishment that doesn’t treat their customers with such contempt.

As far as dry cleaners go, there is a healthy smattering of such establishments along the sequined, underpinned length of Bethnal Green Road. But whilst looking for a little saving grace for some dodgy cumbersome buttons on a favourite jacket, and an emergency ‘stitch and go’ on an important pair of work trousers, this grubby yet helpful establishment found me five identical buttons (without extra charge), and a swift one day turnaround on a pair of trousers which had been quoted a ‘three day’ job. All of this for a measly 12 bob. I was all sewn up for that deal.