Ironing, linen and textiles in Scheveningen
There is no village dress in the Netherlands that had to be as precisely, as impeccably ironed as that of Scheveningen. The Scheveningen costume — dark pleated skirt, checked apron, short jacket, and above all the great white lace kaper (a Dutch lace cap), or 'krullenmuts', with the gold oorijzer (ear-iron) beneath it — was an everyday street sight well into the twentieth century. Every Sunday, every feast day and at funerals in the old Scheveningen Church, the women would put it on, and you did not do that in a limp, crumpled cap.
The cap was a work of art in itself. Woven of fine muslin, starched in a tailored bath of starch, shaped over a wooden cap-block, ironed with small, sharp flatirons, and then carried with care so as not to lose its shape. Every Scheveningen street had its own ironers who mastered this craft. In the same little houses the men's working clothes were also handled — fishermen's smocks, working jackets, starched Sunday shirts, and the women's undergarments belonging to the Waalse Blom and Boulevard side.
Scheveningen has since grown out into a harbour, seaside resort and city district. The Statenkwartier, Belgisch Park, Duindorp and Visserijplein now run together as a single whole. But the inclination towards neatly worn clothing — whether a suit for the Kurhaus, a blouse for the office on the Koninginnegracht, or just working shirts for the man at the harbour — has stayed.
Since 2013 we have been driving out from our laundry on the Henricuskade on fixed mornings through Scheveningen. We collect your laundry, iron shirts, blouses and linens smooth, and deliver everything back neatly folded. The same delivery driver, the same day, every week — without you having to think about it.
How does Strijkservice Haaglanden work in Scheveningen?
For residents of Scheveningen 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.