The Dry Cleaning Babushkas

Dry cleaning in Moscow. 

Ah yes, this deserves a sub-heading of its own. It is one of my favorite crazy-making activities in Moscow. I think it is basically a few decades(?) behind the U.S. and it is a Big Deal to get something dry cleaned here. What makes me crazy (and why it's a Big Deal) is two-fold:

BIG DEAL REASON #1

The system is very, very inefficient so it takes a long time. Like 30 minutes, maybe even more, to drop something off. And an additional 10-15 to pick something up. Seriously.

The place we go uses computers to keep track of everything that you bring in, but they ALSO create a hard copy receipt for every item in each order. And what goes on this receipt? Oh, these receipts contain state secrets!

The dry cleaning babushkas (as Scott calls them - these are the middle-aged/older ladies who work at the counter of the place we go) actually go through and look at each item in extreme detail. They count the buttons on the shirts and write down detailed descriptions of the color, cut, and style. Further, they will make a note of the color of the lining inside the waistband of a pair of men's trousers, the type of waist closure that it has (hook or button) and whether or not it has cuffs. I'm sure there's some kind of note about pleating too. All written by hand AND all re-typed into the computer. FOR EVERY ITEM THAT YOU DROP OFF!

Here are 2 examples of receipts that have not been signed yet. Very important!!

Pickup is no more efficient. You MUST have your receipts in order to collect your stuff, and if you don't, it is a HUGE catastrophe for the babushkas. Scott and I have gotten lots of dirty looks for showing up empty handed! Without original receipts, you need to present your passport to PROVE that yes, the clothes are really yours.

Then once you've proven you really are not a closeted clothing thief, the babushkas count the pieces and you put your initials on each and every hard copy receipt (keep in mind, there's a whole page of information that was documented for each piece of clothing). Then each initialed receipt gets an official stamp. Oh, the Russians love their stamps! This is very important stuff we're tracking here...

BIG DEAL REASON #2

It's very expensive. So not only does it take a ridiculous amount of time to drop off and pick up, it costs twice as much. One would hope that by paying so much more money, EITHER the quality of cleaning would be leaps and bounds better than in the US, OR the speed at which it's all processed is miraculous. But.....it's neither of these. I mean, how do you dry clean something better than someone else?? And we already know that the price paid is not for efficiency.

Here are the ladies, hard at work doing their best to keep the city of Moscow's pants and shirts in order and with their proper owners.

The infamous computer with duplicate info. This lady is actually stapling the hard copy receipts right now and not paying any attention to the machine in front of her.

The one saving grace of this highly inefficient system is that our babushkas happen to be located inside a nice grocery store. So what we do (Scott invented this technique for us, thankfully) is drop off the clothes and then head into the grocery store to do some shopping while the ladies do their paperwork. Even then, sometimes the receipts are not ready (since you have to sign and they need to be stamped). And of course if you're picking some things up, you still need to wait and sign all of those receipts. BUT, at least you get some groceries out of the deal while you're there.

So this is why it's crazy-making and a Big Deal.