Ironing, linen and textiles in Wateringen
Wateringen is a typical horticultural village between The Hague and Naaldwijk, with the old centre around the Dorpskade and the new districts towards Juliahof and Essenhof. The municipality's prosperity ran for centuries on greenhouses and grapes. The Westland grape was a major export product in the nineteenth century, picked in small bunches by gardeners in working smocks, packed by their wives in paper cones, and shipped via the Wateringse Binnensluis to Rotterdam and beyond.
The market gardener's household had a strong wedding ritual. People in Wateringen liked to marry within their own community — and bridal attire was often a costume set passed down through several generations. People wore the black silk dress of a great-aunt, with a new white, hand-starched underblouse, collar and cuffs. The ironer who could handle that underblouse without crumpling the lace was a much-valued neighbour.
Wateringen is now considerably larger, with much new building towards Wippolder and Rijswijk. Many residents work in The Hague or in the Westland cluster itself. The silk wedding dress is gone; the high-collared shirt for the office has stayed.
Since 2013 we have been driving out from our laundry on the Henricuskade on fixed mornings through Wateringen. Laundry bag ready in the morning, ironed and folded back, by the same delivery driver — the same day, every week.
How does Strijkservice Haaglanden work in Wateringen?
For residents of Wateringen 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.