Ironing, linen and textiles in Leiderdorp
For centuries, Leiderdorp was a 'village behind Leiden' — quite literally the village core across the Zijl, where well-to-do Leideners had a hofstede or country house in summer. In the eighteenth century, the Hoogstraat between Zijlpoort and Hoogmade was a row of just such garden houses: small, refined homes where a Leiden cloth manufacturer or professor would spend the hot months of the year with his family, away from the city. Each summer whole households travelled with them, complete with linen chests and their own ironing maids.
That pattern left a particular culture behind in Leiderdorp. Until well into the nineteenth century, there was a ratio of one ironing household to every three houses in the village core — extraordinarily high. The village ironers served Leiden manufacturers, notaries and merchants who kept their summer houses there; it was specialist work, with fine materials such as damask tablecloths, silk napkins and thin cambric shirt-cloth.
Leiderdorp is now an independent municipality, with the Winkelhof shopping centre, new-build development in Buitenhof and the Baanderij business park. Many people commute to Leiden or Amsterdam. The summer houses have been converted into villas or pulled down, but the character of a 'tidy village' has remained.
Since 2013 we have been driving from our laundry on the Henricuskade through Leiderdorp on fixed mornings. We collect your laundry, iron everything and bring it back with the same driver.
How does Strijkservice Haaglanden work in Leiderdorp?
For residents of Leiderdorp our service works exactly as in the rest of Haaglanden: on a fixed day of the week our driver comes by, picks up your laundry bag and brings your laundry back clean and crisply ironed. No appointment needed — your routine is set.
You get one regular driver and a fixed pickup rhythm so you always know what to expect. No carrying, no full drying racks in the living room, no evenings at the ironing board.
Everything is handled in our own laundry on Henricuskade in The Hague. Shirts, blouses, table linen, bed and bath textiles — we iron it the way it should go back into the cupboard at home, neatly folded and ready to use.