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This new startup has launched home delivered dry cleaning and laundry services across metropolitan Sydney

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Busy Sydneysiders are now able to summon the services of professional laundromats and dry cleaners to their very doorstep, thanks to a new service, called Laundry Club. Laundry Club picks up, cleans, and returns garments to customer’s homes or place of business. To make it even more convenient, delivery services are available after hours during weekdays at no extra cost.

Joseph Cho, a co-founder of Laundry Club, said their services offer distinct value to the customers, offering greater convenience and quality.

“Most of our customers work full time. The problem for them is that laundromats and dry cleaners also work the same hours. This complicates the logistics. Between getting to work and dropping the kids off at school, getting your garments cleaned becomes a hassle, when it does not need to be”.

Laundry Club solves this ‘hassle’ in two ways: home delivery during convenient hours, and a transparent service and pricing structure.

“We wanted to take the ‘hassle’ factor out of laundering and dry cleaning. This is why we deliver to places where our customers are at a time they are free – after hours on weekdays, and also on Saturdays”.

“All orders are placed online. We are upfront with our prices and we send customers confirmations, reminders and electronic tax invoices – no more price variations, come-back tomorrows and hand scribbled receipts on scrunched up pieces of paper”.

With a few simple clicks, Laundry Club users can place an order online, and get everything back after 2 business days. Even with home delivery, Laundry Club’s prices are comparable to, and often lower than brick-and-mortar dry cleaners.

Who are the people behind Laundry Club?

Laundry Club has been founded by a group of three friends: Joseph Cho and Christine Lim, who are husband and wife; and Victor Kim.

Joseph has a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelors of Laws from the University of New South Wales, and has worked as a policy analysist in Federal and State Government Departments, providing the Government with advice in the social policy space. Joseph is responsible for all operations and strategy, which includes management of deliveries and liaising with dry cleaners and laundromats on behalf of Laundry Club.

Christine has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales, and has worked in tax and treasury advisory role in a Big 4 Consultancy and a pharmaceutical company. A chartered accountant and a solicitor, Christine is responsible for all accounting and legal matters concerning Laundry Club.

Victor holds Master of IT from University of New South Wales, and has over 12 years’ experience as a freelance developer. Victor is an expert web developer and designer, and is in charge of all the tech at laundry club.

What is the story behind Laundry Club?

Joseph came up with the idea behind Laundry Club in 2015 during a commute, when he saw a series of people on a peak hour train with their dry cleaning. He then observed that many of his colleagues and other office workers in the Sydney CBD were bringing in their dry cleaning to use the dry cleaners near work, because their local dry cleaners were closed before and after their work hours. Anyone who has used Sydney public transport during peak hours knows what a hassle carrying around extra loads of clothes can be!

Joseph talked about the idea with Christine, and together they canvassed an idea for a business that delivers laundry and dry cleaning, after hours for busy professionals.

While appreciating the benefits from working for big organisations, both Joseph and Christine were yearning for an opportunity to work on a project that they wholly own – a creative outlet. Having scoped out the idea, they decided that this was something they could pursue after work.

Victor was a family friend who was in IT. After being approached for a quote, Victor liked the idea so much he offered to build the e-platform for free, provided he can join as a partner; and from this, Laundry Club was born.

Victor, Joseph and Christine
Victor, Joseph and Christine

“Our vision is for Laundry Club to become a national business, servicing all major centres of Australia,” Joseph told Anthill. “We would also like to offer a laundry subscription service, similar to those everyday utilities like water, gas or the internet. For example, Australians are accustomed to pay a certain fee per month for access to the internet.”

“Similarly, we would like our customers to sign up for plans where a certain amount is paid per month to get all their standard laundry and ironing done. Worrying about this particular chore will become a thing of the past, particularly when it comes to workwear and school uniforms. It will also be beneficial to us, as it will help us with better route planning and guaranteed cash flow.”