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Meet Erin and Jon Carpenter, a husband and wife duo with a passion for transforming neglected spaces to create a place that brings the community together. After buying a run down laundromat in Charleston, South Carolina, and pouring a lot of love (and hard work) into it, they started a free laundry day for the community. This one-of-a-kind event brings people together not just to wash their clothes, but to eat, play, and enjoy spending time with old friends and meeting new ones.
Laundry Sauce recently partnered with The Carpenters to supply Free Laundry Day with our collection of high-performance laundry products with fragrances from the world’s best perfumers. The event was a hit, and everyone left smelling and feeling amazing. Check out more from The Carpenters below:
An inside look at Reynolds Laundromat, the space the The Carpenters renovated in Charleston, North Carolina.
Introduce yourself and tell us about your background.
We’re the Carpenters, a husband & wife duo who love transforming neglected and overlooked spaces. We see the best in these old places, and we love renovating them and bringing them back to life. Jonathan has a background in business and entrepreneurship, and I have a background in video production. Together, now we’re tackling fixer-upper projects in Charleston, South Carolina. Jon is our contractor, and I’m the designer!
You’ve renovated many locations in the past. What brought you to laundromats?
In a season of transition, we decided to leave our hometown, live in an RV, and travel the country for a while. Throughout our adventures, we needed to stop at laundromats to do our laundry, and we noticed what a big difference it made when a laundromat was welcoming and clearly cared for.
When we moved to Charleston, South Carolina after our road trip, Jonathan saw an old laundromat for sale. It needed a lot of fixing up (and at first it was daunting–I wasn’t so sure about it!). But we realized we could use our passion for bringing old spaces back to life, so we dreamed up a new vision for the laundromat.
“Free Laundry Day is a party! It’s so much more than just laundry. …We always love getting to spend time with everyone from the community.”
The Carpenters and team during Free Laundry Day.
Where did the idea of a Free Laundry Day come from?
We partner with an amazing organization, previously called Lowcountry Blessing Box, now Kindness Army, that puts on the free laundry day events with us. We have a local sponsor each month, and Lady C and Esther of Kindness Army help put on an amazing event.
Tell us about Free Laundry Day? It looks so fun!
Free Laundry Day is a party! It’s so much more than just laundry. There’s music, home-cooked food, giveaways of clothing and cooking items that Lady C gathers for everyone, and lots of other fun activities. We always love getting to spend time with everyone from the community. It’s been fun to build those relationships and get to know everyone.
Laundry Sauce partnered with you to give product for Free Laundry Day. How did the community react? What were their favorite fragrances?
As soon as people walked in the door, they went straight to the boxes of Laundry Sauce pods. They were so colorful and eye-catching, and everyone talked about how amazing they smelled. We’d never seen everyone so excited about the laundry aspect of free laundry day! It was so fun for everyone to pick out their favorite scent of detergent pods and dryer sheets. The whole building smelled incredible, and it was such a nice treat for everyone to leave with their clothes smelling extra fresh.
What are some of your favorite fragrances? Fine fragrances or otherwise.
I absolutely love French Saffron and have been using some at my house. We’ve recently been going through a renovation, and our whole house has felt like chaos for weeks. It’s been really tough to live in a renovation site–but the bright spot has been washing our sheets and duvet with French Saffron. I’d be stressed all day, but as soon as I get into bed I feel like I’m at a hotel. It was so nice to get that little piece of cleanliness and comfort back at the end of the day!
What’s next for you? Any new spaces or Free Laundry Days on the horizon?
We have lots of Free Laundry Days on the horizon, and we’re also wrapping up our client design project for a laundromat in Brooklyn, New York called Laundry Loft! It will embody the same mindset as ours, of creating a relaxing third space for the neighborhood of Williamsburg.
How did you feel about laundry before starting a laundromat?
I don’t think I thought much about it before owning a laundromat–laundry is a small thing, but feeling fresh and clean is so important. Laundry Sauce does it best! Thank you for partnering with us!
Learn more and follow The Carpenters at @erinv_carpenter.
