‘Why do laundry yourself if you hate doing it?’ is the question that Clotheslyne is about to ask the residents of Oswego. 

In October, the startup company Clotheslyne is bringing a service to Oswego that many would not have ever considered before reading this article; a modern-day version of the dry cleaners or laundry mat. 

Camden Olivero, a current SUNY Oswego student, is the mastermind behind the company. He was able to launch the startup that provides customers with the experience of having their clothes cleaned by a “clotheslyner,” the creative term for the people that are responsible for getting the laundry from the customer, washing it and then returning it within 48 hours. Dry cleaning services have a similar format but this startup is the equivalent of “Uber for laundry” according to Olivero. 

“Pretty much we are connecting laundry haters to laundry lovers,” Olivero said. “So, people like me at Oswego, when I was there, [I] hated doing my laundry. So I would pay people for them to do it. Then my partner, who I knew from home, told him the idea and ever since then, we have been working on it and developing it. We launched it in our local area, which is Orange County, and now we want to expand it to different areas.” 

The startup has already found strong footing in Orange County only two months after the initial launch. Something that was surprising to Olivero, he did not expect such quick growth. 

“We are basing it off how many downloads we have gotten, how many orders we have gotten and how many customers,” Olivero said. “The biggest thing that is showing that we have a product-market fit is the amount of customers that have placed orders and also placed recurring orders the following week. There are a couple customers who have placed an order almost every week now. So, we felt if the demand [in Orange County] was that strong, it could be strong in a market like Oswego with both the college kids and the people who live locally.”

The process for using Clotheslyne includes the customers downloading the app, signing up and placing an order. Then, selecting a pick-up time. Within a day or two, the laundry is returned. The clothes are even folded upon return. 

Similar to Uber, there is a set amount of ‘clotheslyners’ who are waiting to accept orders. The app has an interface that so many have experienced before with a ride sharing or food delivery company. This is just the laundry version of that according to Olivero. 

There is a fixed cost paid by the customer for each order but Olivero converts this to around $15 to $20 an hour for each of the clotheslyners, before tips. Typically, a load of laundry from washing until folding ranges from two to three hours of work. 

Oswego is symbolizing two things for Olivero, a community he is comfortable with, but a test for how the product will do in a ‘college town.’

“We felt it would be good for Oswego and other college markets because our two main demographics are college and families,” Olivero said. “We felt college kids would be both great as customers but also as clothelyners. When we did the demographics of Oswego, there was a perfect ratio of college kids to families.” 

This is not Olivero’s plan for life though, even after a long planning process and now a successful launch of both the app and the service. 

“We have been happy, we worked on the app for about a year,” Olivero said. “It has been published for about two months now. We are willing to go for as long as we can but the end goal is selling the company eventually. We will probably be running it for the next five to seven years.”

Clotheslyne promises on social media that eco-friendly products are used for the entire process. 

Available Clotheslyners are offering pickup of laundry any day of the week, including Sunday. They can be found at www.clotheslyne.com or on the Apple or Google app stores. 

Photo provided by Clotheslyne