For $1.50 per pound, someone will do your laundry and then deliver it to your door. Yes, people will actually pay for that. They call it the “uber for laundry,” because the app, Cleanly, works just like smash-hit car service. After putting your card information on file, you simply request that your laundry be taken care of, select a pick-up time, and a rep will do your laundry and deliver it back to you in a minimum of two hours.
The service started with serving a luxurious clientele on the Upper East Side, and it has now expanded to the Upper West. Cleanly most recently expanded to cover the Columbia/Morningside Heights area, at which students could receive a 10% discount by providing a “columbia.edu” email address. Cleanly is also looking to expand into Park Slope and Caroll Gardens, and it seeks to cover all neighborhoods with large populations of “urban professionals.”
Cleanly employs its delivery-people, but has contracts with local dry cleaners and laundromats who do the actual laundry. For Tom Harari, CEO of Cleanly, the app isn’t looking to compete with local dry cleaning businesses or in-residence laundry services. It’s simply made to “streamline the whole process.” They may even match your socks.
This is not the only app for laundry in this town. FlyCleaners is another laundry delivery service which currently operates out of Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint, and Hamperville offers delivery to any office. If you (like us) were surprised that there were apps in the first place to do your laundry, you’re already behind on the times. According to New York Mag, Silicon Valley already has a “race” of laundry delivery apps.
Carrying a heavy laundry bag is so last year. For more on laundry in NYC, check out six unique laundromats in New York, where leaving your house to do a laundry is actually worth the trek.
