Laundry & ironing service in Poeldijk

Poeldijk is to Westland horticulture what Rome is to the Catholic Church: the beginning. In 1891 two Poeldijk growers travelled with the village smith to Hoeilaart near Brussels, where Belgian gardeners had invented the kniemuurkas for grapes. The Poeldijkers brought the technique home. Smith Grimbergen built the first working version in Poeldijk, and within two decades tens of thousands of square metres of kniemuurkassen stood in the Westland.

The grape cultivation that grew out of this became the most important Westland crop between 1850 and 1950. In 1936, at its peak, 22 million kilograms of grapes were picked from Westland greenhouses — mainly from Poeldijk, Wateringen and Monster. The greenhouse of then is the greenhouse of now, only much higher and more technical. The church on the Gantel, the RC Bartholomeus in the photo above, was there when grape-growing began and is still there — a reminder of a village where craft and faith have always run side by side.

Poeldijk wasn't just famous for grapes. Until 1967 the largest vegetable auction in the world stood here. Truckloads of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries arrived daily — from the entire Westland, destined for Rotterdam, London, Paris. The auction building has been demolished and trade moved to large cooperatives, but the rhythm of starting early and closing late is still baked into the village.

Living in Poeldijk, you know: there's hard work, there's little time for laundry. We run set pickup days through the village — centre, Jan Barendselaan, Monsterseweg, Rijsenburgerweg. Your bag is ready in the morning, your driver takes it, and in the evening everything hangs back at your door clean, ironed and folded. Same driver as last week, same time every round. That's how Wastas works in the village where the Westland greenhouse story began.