Do My Laundry (How to Find a Laundry Service)
February 15, 2007 by Greg
One Sunday morning I was writing out my usual list of chores for the day when I came to a startling conclusion, laundry sucks. I would much rather spend my time doing something worth while like emailing missed connections pretending to be their starbucks lover who escaped destiny.
In an average week I have around 3 loads of laundry to do. If I keep a watchful eye upon my soiled garments, the whole process takes 3 hours. Granted, I can be sending my emails when the laundry is washing and drying, but it still requires my periodic intervention and immediate availability. I don’t like reporting the machines when they beckon. They aren’t the boss of me.
Simple problem you think? Not so much.
Finding a service was the tricky part. I figured there had to be someone out there who wanted to would do my laundry for me. I put an ad on craigslist with a simple requst for pickup, wash, fold, and deliver service. All I got were flakes.
Googling for laundry service yielded little results as well. I contacted dry cleaners, nothing. I got a list of the 6 closest laundry mats and called them. A few offered to do my laundry for me if I dropped it off, but hey, I’m not fucking around here, come pick this shit up. Was my tide-free dream about to die?
Salvation came for me in the form of a downtown high-rise. Talking to a friend there, I found out the service they use and contacted them directly. Within 6 hours I had a laundry bag at my door and a scheduled weekly pickup. I can stuff the bag as full as I want for $15. They pick it up, wash, dry, fold, and return it within 24 hours.
The clothes come back clean, folded, and best of all, untouched by my dirty hands. It’s not a luxury service by any means. They don’t come back smelling like ocean mist or even crisply folded. But hey, it’s $15 and I think they do a great job for the money.
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
Do you just hang the bag on your outside door or??
Yes, those of us who are paranoid….want to know….
My goodness Catherine.. it’s like you know me
Yeah, I just leave my laundry out in the hall. You can also schedule a pickup while you are there.
[...] This was a really stupid idea. The starch didn’t work as well as commercial products. After about a month, it started to smell bad; like damp towels or moldy carpet. Hell, I don’t even do my own laundry anymore, let alone ironing. [...]
[...] Achieving more by doing less depends on team work. Probably not the ‘team’ you have in mind though. T4HWW suggests outsourcing as many menial tasks as you can. Much as our own Greg has handed over cooking and laundry duties to outside vendors, so can you. Beyond that though, most of your non-essential computer work, (bill paying, research, gift ordering to name but three) can be handled by low cost ‘virtual assistants’ in India. Would it be cheaper to do it yourself? Sure. It is absolutely necessary that you realize that you can always do something more cheaply yourself. This doesn’t mean you want to spend your time doing it. If you spend your time, worth $20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources. It is important to take baby steps toward paying others to do work for you. Few do it, which is another reason so few people have their ideal lifestyles. [...]