Cleanly, the App That Helps You Do Your Laundry, Comes to Brooklyn
Apps for rides, apps that help you pick a restaurant, apps that program songs for your commute and even apps that help you find a public toilet are all par for the course of 21st century life. Do we need them? Not really, but they sure can make life more convenient. Cleanly, a laundry service app that’s now making its first foray into Brooklyn, aims to make the experience of washing your dirty clothes something seamless and, well, far more convenient for some denizens of the borough.
The app, which received $2.3 million in seed funding from various investors, has already been making something of a splash in Manhattan. And it works pretty easily.
As per their website:
Enter your preferred pickup date, indicate whether you have Wash & Fold, Wash & Press (men’s button down shirts only), or Dry Cleaning. Add any care instructions in the ‘Pickup’ notes. Enter the preferred delivery date, then submit the order. We’ll bring you a Cleanly laundry bag and garment bag to use on all your orders on your first pickup. That’s it – now go back to doing what you love.
As for who uses the app, co-founder Tom Harari says a lot of working professional mothers find it particularly useful. “It turns out working professional moms especially enjoy the time savings Cleanly brings them, and our strong growth from word of mouth is a testament to how much of a magical experience it is for busy professionals,” he says.
As contracted employees who work on behalf of online businesses have often staged rallies against their employers, it makes sense that some Cleanly valets–those who pick up your clothes and transport them to a laundromat–might be subject to the same labor practices that employees of Uber have lamented. Harari doesn’t think that’s the case with Cleanly however.
“On average they earn $21-23/hr. We are always listening to what the market dictates,” he says.
Cleanly debuted yesterday in the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, DUMBO, and Downtown Brooklyn.
Follow Sam Blum on Twitter @Blumnessmonster