With essential businesses staying open amid the coronavirus pandemic, a Brooklyn laundromat is making changes to its laundry service in the hope of keeping customers safe.

Three Star Laundromat in Clinton Hill has been open and handling customer’s laundry needs with a new work model. 

"In order for us to be able to maintain that distance or that spacing, I needed to make sure that we weren't having customers in and out. We wipe down throughout the day. It's wiping down the doorknobs, it's wiping down all of the carts, it's wiping down all of the tables that we fold on,” said owner Yvonne Johnson. 

Customers are able to come inside the laundromat one at a time. This is a safety measure that one employee says is necessary, although she says she misses interacting with customers. 

"It's hard because I'm so used to one way. Like people come in, you talk, you get to know people and stuff but now customers come in, they drop off. You got to, just for safety reasons and you don't want to infect anybody else,” said employee Cleo Taitt. 

Before the pandemic, the laundromat offered same-day or next-day service, but because people can only drop off their laundry due to social distancing measures, customers' clothes are typically ready for pickup within the week.

 

Even with the new work model, customers say they’re just grateful that the business is open. 

"Maybe it's increased my wait time a little bit but, you know, I'm thankful that I have the service available,” said customer Austin Walker. 

As the city nears phase one of reopening, Johnson says she hopes to one day go back to normal but will continue using the new model to keep staff and customers safe.