Ever been to a laundromat? If so, let’s just come right out and admit it: it sucks. Clean clothes are nice, but who seriously likes sitting around and watching them spin around in a big machine for several hours? And then there’s simply finding and getting to a laundromat – which is all the more difficult if you don’t have a car. Thank God for good-old-fashioned Kiwi ingenuity to come up with a solution for the problem, right?
A new app aims to take washday “from wretched to wonderful,” enabling customers to outsource dry-cleaning and laundry with its door-to-door service. Laundromap claims its new on-demand dry-cleaning and laundry service “is set to revolutionise the way Kiwis do their laundry.”
Like a lot of “Uberfication”-style apps, the way it works is pretty simple. Available on iOS and Android, customers can place an order for their dry-cleaning and laundry to be picked up from their home or office at a time convenient for them. The laundry is taken to a laundromat, washed, dried and/or ironed, and then returned to the customer. There’s a variety of categories for special care instructions, too, from shirts and pants through to linen and specialised dry-cleaning – all part of Laundromap’s goal of being “a one-stop laundry stop.” Live updates are also provided through a GPS tracking system, not unlike Uber or Lyft.
Laundromap co-founder Torben Landl says Kiwis are on the forefront of technology, embracing the convenience of outsourcing services to better achieve their ideal work-life balance. “We have seen the rise of user-centric applications like Uber, WineFriend and My Food Bag which highlights the growing trend of outsourcing our lives and using technology to our benefit,” he says. “Domestic chores such as dry-cleaning and laundry have naturally followed and Laundromap is a service offering customers a smarter and simpler way to do their dry-cleaning and laundry.”
Similar to UK-based service Laundrapp (which was named “App of the Year” at the Start Up Awards in London), Laundromap has also partnered with Auckland-based Maxwell’s to carry out its dry-cleaning services. The service also offers professional ironing to their customers.
Landl says the whole idea of the app is to improve people’s work-life balance, which he says is more important to New Zealanders than many other countries around the globe. “Who wants to spend their free time doing chores like laundry or running around picking up dry-cleaning?” he says. “Technology is solving problems that we never knew we had and Laundromap aims to take the hassle out of household tasks and life admin.”
Laundromap is only available in Auckland at the moment, but plans are in place to expand the service to other cities across Aotearoa and Australia in the near future.
If shirts could speak, there’s a fair chance they’d be singing in joy. Or screaming in terror if they’re ablutophobic (the fear of washing).
