This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
Laundry day isn’t necessarily at the top of many people’s to-do lists, but what if you were paid for it?
That’s the idea behind a startup called SudShare. It’s sort of like Uber for laundry.
Once you sign up, you agree to wash other people’s dirty laundry in your own home.
You pick up, wash, fold and deliver the clothes back within 24 hours or even the same day for extra cash.
“In these 5 months I have been able to catch up on every single bill that I’ve had,” explained Tony Villalobos of El Monte. He signed up to start washing other people’s clothes after he was laid off.
He’s now among the 200,000 “sudsters,” as they call them, that are helping their neighbors get through laundry day without having to lift a finger.
The app sends him a notification when a potential job is nearby. He gets to see details including how many bags of laundry it is and how much he’ll make when it’s done.
“[I’d] definitely recommend it. It’s a great side hustle. If you’re at home a lot, this is something that you can do and get paid and watch TV while your washer is going, while your dryer is going,” said Villalobos, who told me he makes about $200 a week doing just a few orders.
He has since gotten a full-time job but will continue to wash for the extra money.
Technology has made everything so fast and easy except for this chore that takes the longest and we hate the most…laundry,” explained Mort Fertel, co-founder and CEO of SudShare.
He told me he got the idea from his wife, who was frustrated with the time-consuming task.
“This is the first ever manual labor work from home gig in the world where people take their laundry room and turn it into a work from home gig,” explained Fertel.
The service operates in hundreds of cities nationwide. SudShare charges about $1 a pound for cleaning, the Sudsters keep about 75% of that, plus tips and bonuses.
“Our top ten Sudsters are earning over $5,000 a month,” said Fertel. The company uses an algorithm to ensure that the best performers get the best jobs.
Training videos and tutorials teach everything from how to wash to how to fold.
Customers can choose from high quality scented or hypo-allergenic detergent, or simply supply their own.
Villalobos told me that at first, his friends and family didn’t really understand what he was doing. Now, he’s even gotten some of them on board with the side gig as well.
“I really do enjoy it… I recommend it to as many people as possible,” he concluded.
