and dry cleaning ! !…read more
Integrity. It's odd to use the word "integrity" in describing a laundry service, but Green Spin is so much more than just a business that cleans our clothes. I don't know that we'll ever be able to share with future generations what those first months one year ago this week were like, but we didn't know what it was that killed us when so many were becoming sick and dying, we didn't know how COVID was contracted or spread, and everyone shut down ... except for a one or two businesses. (Absolutely no blame from me to anyone who shut down at all ! We still don't go out, we still get everything delivered and only go out once a week to Food Story Natural Market to get flowers and staples.)
We still needed to do our laundry. We were blessed with being able to work from home immediately, and we had to appear on camera for business meetings, for church meetings, for counseling sessions, so we were changing clothes as much as normal. Plus, we were also cleaning more than ever, because we were home all the time, so there were separate bundles of cloths that had been in bleach and rinsed and dried. Then the seasons were changing, so we had dry cleaning too.
The laundries by us shut down, for a long while, God bless them, not pointing a finger at all. There was one local place who opened about a week later, but he was overwhelmed, and the worst thing was, he wasn't terribly kind (again, no harm, no foul). He also used an app that charged you at the time of booking, but then he'd cancel for no reason, or close because of an outbreak, or just forget ... and it was a small nightmare to get the money back when he'd cancel on you, and then he'd get very defensive.
We've lived in this area for 20 years now, and I had always seen George in the Green Spin van and always thought, what a luxury ! not having to haul the laundry to and from ! and I figured it would be massively expensive. Guess what, it's not. It's no more than dropping off your laundry (if you meet the minimum), and you get a relationship with a beautiful local family who takes pride and care in their ability to offer essential services to their neighbors. What a blessing.
Their dry cleaning service is also a miracle. I've written before about how hard it was on the east side of 31st Street to find someone who would dry clean things. (We moved to the other side of the tracks three years ago from 20 years at 21st and 21st.) They would refuse the business and tell us our items should be laundered, like heirloom linens, bathmats that fade or with rubber backs that crack, expensive shower curtains. The first time I gave Green Spin a bag they didn't blink, the prices are absolutely reasonable, they came back gorgeously cleaned, and the best thing is, they come to your house with a kind word and a smile, with a text, with an email, and these days I don't know one thing that means more than that, that family feeling, that feeling of being cared for by your neighbors. Just one more reason we've always loved living at the end of the N.
You couldn't be in better hands.
All thanks to the entire Green Spin family.