"My wife works and I've been helping her out with the housework after our maid ran away.

"Doing the laundry daily before I go to work is tiring," he told Bernama in an interview.

For They, the heaps of clothing never seemed to lessen especially since it included his parents' and those of other family members.

"From this necessity, I thought, why not open up a self-service laundromat to help those like me?" he said.

They now owns Syarikat Clean and Save Laundry, a successful self-service laundromat which has opened three outlets in town namely Kampung Tengah Sungai Abong, Jalan Abdul Rahman and Pekan Tangkak within the past year.

In a month, another outlet will be opened in Kuala Terengganu under the brand name Laundrybar.

The laundromat offers free detergent, softener and antibacterial laundry additive to customers and its 24-hour service is what differentiates the laundromat from its competitors.

"This is to make it easier for our customers to do their laundry, especially bachelors, and they need not buy detergent like they would at other laundry services," he said.

Not only are the detergent, softener and antibacterial laundry additive free, but they have also been certified halal by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia.

Patrons need to spare 25 minutes and spend between RM4.00 and RM10.00 per wash, depending on quantity, for clean clothes.

"For an additional RM4.00 they can dry their laundry. This will take another 25 minutes, so our customers will spend about an hour to get their clothes clean and dry," he said.

According to They, each outlet has six washing machines and six dryers.

"Our customers need to use tokens provided by a machine at the outlet," he said.

When asked on the cost of setting up a laundromat outlet, They said at least RM300,000 was required.

He preferred to buy washing machines from a popular American company as they were widely used in laundromats in other countries.

"Quality is important as these machines operate around the clock so we need washing machines and dryers which are proven to be durable," he said.

He added that operating the dryer was also costly as it utilised gas.

"Gas is expensive and the machines operate 24-hours, but we could still manage," said They.

Company technicians check the machines daily to ensure they are in good working condition.

However, he expressed his disappointment regarding the things from the clothes that can damage these machines, including coins.

"Customers should ensure that their clothes and pockets are empty of coins as it can damage the washing machines," he said.

Customer Masirah Rasli, 36, said the laundry service made her family's life so much easier.

"Without this self-service laundromat I would have to wash our sheets and curtains by hand. Now I can just throw them into the machine and they will be ready in an hour," she said laughing.

She said first time customers has no reason to worry about how to work the machines as clear instructions were provided on the wall.

"If we send our clothes to the traditional dhobis, we are not aware of how they clean them and whether our clothes are mixed with other people's clothes. Here we do the cleaning ourselves," she said.

Mutalib Samiran, 48, said it would take days for his clothes to be ready when he sends them to the dhobi in contrast to a self-service laundry.

He said not only was the premises comfortable, free Wifi, a television and vending machine can also be found there.

"It's like being at home. Everything is so easy. My wife won't complain when I come home with fresh laundry," he added. – Bernama