What the service covers
Laundry
- Sorting by fibre, colour and care label rather than by load size
- Washing to the label, with hand-washing where the label requires it
- Bed linen laundered, pressed and returned to the correct room
- Towels and bathroom linen on an agreed rotation
- Table linen, including starching and folding to an agreed presentation
- Pressing and hand-finishing: shirts, blouses, trousers, skirts, dresses
- Minor repairs — buttons, hems, seams — or referral where a tailor is wanted
- Items a dry cleaner should handle identified, bagged and listed rather than guessed at
Wardrobe management
- Seasonal rotation, with out-of-season clothing cleaned before storage
- Correct hanging: padded or shaped hangers for tailoring, folding for knitwear
- Shoe care and rotation; trees fitted where appropriate
- Wardrobe interiors cleaned and lined
- Moth inspection and prevention on a schedule, not after a problem appears
- Written inventory for stored items, where a household wants one
Everything is handled in the house unless you ask otherwise. Where an item needs specialist attention — leather, fur, bridal, heavily beaded or structured tailoring — we identify it and refer it rather than attempt it.
How it runs
Laundry is usually part of a retained housekeeping arrangement rather than a service on its own, and it is done by the same housekeeper on the same visits. Nothing leaves the house, which matters to households who would rather their clothing was not in a van, a van's depot, or anybody's loading system.
We agree the standards at the start: how shirts are finished, how linen is folded, how beds are presented, which items never go in a machine. Those preferences are recorded and they travel with the household, not with the individual housekeeper.
Where the volume is beyond what a visit can absorb — a large family house, or a household returning after months away — we add hours rather than cut corners, and we say so in advance.
Storage, and the moth problem
Clothes moths are endemic in London houses, and they are a storage problem rather than a cleanliness one. It is the larvae that do the damage, and they feed on keratin — wool, cashmere, silk, fur, feather. They prefer dark, undisturbed places and they are drawn to fibres carrying body oils, perspiration or food residue. This is why the jumper put away unwashed in March is the one with holes in October.
So the single most effective prevention is cleaning before storage, every time, without exception. After that: regular disturbance and inspection of the back of the wardrobe, where it is darkest and least handled.
Cedar and lavender deter adult moths to a limited degree. They do not kill larvae and they do not solve an established infestation, and any service that tells you otherwise is selling scent. Where we find live infestation, affected items are sealed and frozen — several days at domestic freezer temperature kills every life stage, including eggs — and the wardrobe itself is emptied, vacuumed into a sealed bag, and cleaned.
For storage: acid-free tissue, breathable cotton covers, and never plastic. Plastic traps moisture against the fibre, and in a London winter that is how you turn a moth problem into a mould one.
Who this is for
Family households. Where volume is the issue and St John's Wood is our busiest round for exactly this reason.
Households with significant wardrobes. Where seasonal rotation and correct storage protect real value.
Houses used seasonally. Where everything needs cleaning and storing correctly before the house is closed up, and refreshing before a return.
Households who would rather nothing left the house. The commonest reason clients move to us from a collection service.
Anyone who has had a moth problem once. Prevention on a schedule is considerably cheaper than replacement.
Questions
Common questions
Is the laundry done in my home or taken away?
In your home, by the same housekeeper, on the same visits. Nothing leaves the house unless you ask it to.
Do you do dry cleaning?
No. We identify items that need it, bag and list them, and arrange collection where you want us to. We do not guess at what a dry cleaner should see.
How do I stop moths getting into my wardrobe?
Clean everything before storing it, every time — larvae are drawn to body oils and food residue on fibres. Then inspect and disturb the back of the wardrobe regularly. Cedar and lavender deter adults but do not kill larvae.
I already have moths. What happens?
Affected items are sealed and frozen — several days at domestic freezer temperature kills every life stage including eggs — and the wardrobe is emptied, vacuumed into a sealed bag and cleaned.
Should I store clothes in garment bags?
In breathable cotton covers, yes. Never in plastic — it traps moisture against the fibre, which in a London winter turns a moth problem into a mould one.
Coverage
Where we provide this service
North-west
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