Cartoon: The end of Asian American laundromats

Phie Wei, Staff Writer|May 18, 2023

As Chinese immigrants made homes across America in the mid-1800s, dry cleaning was a promising profession, considering that they were self-owned and didn’t require speaking proficient English. Growing up in a family-owned laundromat has become a largely shared experience for Asian Americans. The movie Everything Everywhere All at Once features family conflicts in a Chinese-owned laundromat. The imagery of Asian American-owned laundry isn’t unique, as seen in Happy Cleaners and American Psycho. Such media representation displays how Chiese Americans have earned their place as substantial players in industry, but since COVID-19, stores have been consistently going out of business. The lively and unique culture of this shared experience may be coming to an upsetting end.