Little known facts about the dhobi ghat in Mumbai, a Guinness World Record holder

The dhobi ghat in Mumbai is a Guinness World Record holder - the plaque at the entrance says - "The most clothes that people hand-washed simultaneously at a single location were 496. This feat was achieved by the Dhobi Kalyan and Audyogik Vikas Coop Society on March 8, 2011."
Located at Mumbai's Mahalaxmi, its annual turnover is of the order of Rs 100 crore.
The dhobis (washermen) numbering over 7000 work for 18 to 20 hours each day. They flog, scrub, dye and bleach clothes on concrete wash pens, dry them on ropes, neatly press them and then send them off to different locations in the city. It is estimated that over one lakh clothes are washed every day.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 26 February 2017.

It seems a private laundry will charge a customer Rs 50 to wash a pant or shirt and send the clothes to the ghat where each piece is washed for as little as Rs 5.
Similarly, garment dealers bring second-hand clothes in bulk and get them scrubbed at the Ghat. These clothes are then sold as brand new. Same with sarees which arrive in bulk. Each dhobi washes at least 400 sarees a day, most of them old and meant for second sales and the charges are Rs 4 to Rs 5 per saree with guaranteed delivery the next day.
Their biggest clients are neighborhood laundries, garment dealers, wedding decorators and caterers, mid-sized hotels and clubs. One of our largest clients used to be the Indian Railways, but they now have their own equipment.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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