YC-Backed Cleanly Offers On-Demand Laundry Delivery In NY

Laundry is truly one of the pain points of living in New York City. No one wants to spend their time at a laundromat, waste time dropping off dry cleaning, or lugging a bag full of clothes up to the fourth floor of a walk-up apartment.

But finding a laundromat nearby that offers fair pricing as well as pick-up/drop-off can be difficult. YC-backed Cleanly wants to change that.

Cleanly’s mobile app offers on-demand laundry pick-up in less than 30 minutes with a 24-hour turnaround. Here’s how it works:

Cleanly partners with mega cleaners in various neighborhoods who handle the actual washing, drying and dry cleaning, while Cleanly hires out its own drivers to handle deliveries.

The drivers have a back-end version of the app that lets them see where and when people are expecting pick-ups and deliveries. This allows cleaners to offer delivery through Cleanly if they so choose, but more importantly brings your laundry into the 21st century.

We have smart watches and smart washing machines and smart phones, but if you live in New York, chances are you’re still doing laundry like a college student who just moved to the big city. Cleanly envisions a world in which the user shouldn’t have to drag their stuff to the local cleaners or even haggle over the phone about the pick-up/delivery schedule.

While the added convenience of Cleanly is clear, that convenience still costs. Cleanly charges a flat $1.50/lb for regular laundry and prices out dry cleaning on a per-item basis, which is slightly higher than the prices you see at most NY cleaners. Luckily, a full breakdown of your bill is saved in the app, as well as a full history of your past laundry transactions.

Cleanly is currently available in various zip codes in New York and is focused on expanding throughout the city entirely. Learn more about Cleanly here.