Leidschendam owes its name to a dam. In the fourteenth century the Leytsche Dam was built across the Vliet, separating the water districts of Rijnland and Delfland. Only in 1648 — the same year as the Peace of Munster — was a lock opened in that dam, which has not been removed since. The photo above, by Henri de Louw, captures the rebuilding of that lock in 1886.
In the second half of the seventeenth century more than 200,000 people sailed annually through Leidschendam. The barge between Delft and Leiden — where the textile heart of Holland beat — passed straight through here, having to wait at the dam to be locked through. Around that waiting, inns, workshops and trade developed. The textile city of Leiden flourished thanks to that canal route; cloth, wool and linen reached markets across the Randstad via the Vliet, and Leidschendam was always one of the stops.
Where passengers waited, washing was also done. Archives regularly mention bleacheries and small laundries around the Vliet — work for those without land or boat, but with water and meadow within reach. The whole area between Leidschendam and Voorburg had that combination of waterway and meadow that washing and bleaching could not do without.
The barges are gone, the lock still stands, and central Leidschendam has expanded with Leidschenhage, De Heuvel and Damsigt. We run set pickup days through all those neighbourhoods — your bag goes along in the morning, and comes back in the evening clean, ironed and neatly folded. Same driver, same time, every week. No appointments, no queues — as easy as the canal barge in 1660, and a good deal faster.
How Wastas works in Leidschendam
On the set pickup day our driver is at your door. Clean laundry comes back by appointment — folded or on hangers, however you like it.
Other municipalities nearby
Sign up in two minutes and schedule your first pickup.