When Khalia Bush found her eldest daughter had developed a life-threatening heart condition, washing became a major part of her life.
Doctors told her she would need to ensure blankets, bedding, and clothes were cleaned meticulously to protect her daughter – diagnosed with rheumatic heart fever – from infections and scabies.
But living in the isolated and remote community of Barunga, almost 400 kilometres from Darwin, she was among many who could not afford detergent or a washing machine.
"The heart mob said I had to make sure she was sleeping on clean beds, [and that] she doesn't get sores that will cause her to feel sick, because that will affect her heart," Ms Bush said.
"There were times we didn't have a washing machine. We would have to go wash with a family member … and now we only have a six-kilogram machine.
"Our blankets don't fit in that."
But ever since a converted shipping container housing free washing machines and dryers was built in the centre of the community in 2019, life has significantly changed for the people who live there.
Australia's first Remote Laundries project, built to eradicate the spread of the tiny burrowing mite Sarcoptes scabiei which causes a severe, itchy rash, has led to a 60 per cent drop in the number of cases of scabies, according to the Aboriginal Investment Group (AIG).
Some in the community believe the skin condition — which can lead to rheumatic heart disease and kidney problems — has been eliminated entirely.
Dr Peter Wordsworth, the Sunrise Health Centre manager at Barunga, has had to carry out three major scabies eradication programs during his 24-year tenure.
But since the laundromat arrived he has seen a "rapid decline" in the number of cases.
"Over a period of time I've noticed that when I'm doing medication orders the use of Lyclear, which is the cream that we treat scabies with, is hardly ever used anymore," he said.
Community hub and employer
Six days a week the Remote Laundry is a hive of activity, with dryers whizzing in the background at high temperatures to kill scabies mites and residents coming and going loaded with blankets, bedding, and clothes.
Relying on sponsors, the 100 per cent Indigenous-owned facility is also 100 per cent Indigenous run.
After 20 years on a waiting list for a job, it is Freddie Scrubby that everyone in the community comes to see and trusts to hand back their items in mint condition.
Celebrating his third year on the job next month, Mr Scrubby said he is always busy at the laundromat, where people also stop by for a chat as they pick up their neatly folded items.
"Every time I do the wash I always put the heat up on high," he said.
"They always give me a big thanks."
But it's not just Barunga residents that stop by. Mr Scrubby said people drive from nearby communities including Beswick, 30 kilometres away, to get their items cleaned.
"I've seen a big difference. Back in the '80s we had a big problem with scabies, but now we have [the laundromat] it's stopped," he said.
AIG has big plans to expand the project, with five more laundries scheduled to launch across the Northern Territory in the next financial year.
According to group, eight out of 10 children in the Northern Territory are diagnosed with skin sores before their first birthday.
And the group said the savings in preventing chronic diseases related to scabies with a single laundry in a community over five years is $3.9 million.
Tackling scabies more than ending an itch
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), while preventable and virtually eliminated from the rest of Australia, still affects many young people in remote communities.
And while the jury was out for a long time on whether RHD was caused by skin sores, Dr Anna Ralph, an infectious disease specialist at Royal Darwin Hospital and the head of global and tropical health at Menzies, says the research is now clear.
"It's really one of the most complicated diseases you could think of," she said.
"So strategies that control scabies, through good community washing machines that can reach good temperatures and that can fit your bedding in it, we do believe will play a really important part in controlling rheumatic heart disease."
Helen Lee, the chair of AIG and a Barunga resident, said that amid a rapid spread of skin sores among the community's children in 2017, traditional owners joined forces to devise a plan to build a community washing hub to close the widening health gap.
But she said there is still a long way to go.
"[Traditional owners] came to the realisation that skin sores and scabies can cause kidney problems and rheumatic heart disease, and now there is no-one in the community that has scabies or skin sores because their families are using the facility here," she said.
"But how can we close the gap when we still have a lot of overcrowding in remote communities?" she said.
