Sept. 24, 2021

Has your laundry piled up again? A new next-day service aims to take care of it for you.

SudShare, which launched in Baltimore and expanded nationwide, recently began serving Sioux Falls.

Here’s how it works:

Customers use the app-based service to connect with a “Sudster” who shows up contact-free to retrieve your bag of laundry from outside your home.

The next day, it’s returned washed, dried and folded.

“In an age of convenience and everything being Fed-Ex’ed and everything is so easy and convenient, why are we still doing laundry?” asked Mort Fertel, co-founder and CEO.

“We decided to tackle the problem, and I think that’s one of the reasons it’s really taking off.”

He’s not exaggerating. Since scaling up at the end of 2020, SudShare has grown to serve more than 400 cities.

The people doing the laundry are known as “Sudsters.” Janai Stoopes of Sioux Falls is one of them.

“Basically, it’s an app, and I go on from my side, and clients will pop up, and I can pick who I want to do,” she said. “I pick up their laundry at a certain time, and it’s no-contact. They put the bag outside their door, and I follow the steps in the app to pick up the laundry, and then I take it back to my house.”

There’s a list of approved detergents — customers can choose hypoallergenic or provide their own detergent or dryer sheets — and the Sudsters wash, dry and fold the clothes. Delicates are washing separately for no extra charge, and the Sudsters do not offer stain removal. They’re all from smoke-free homes.

“I make sure I fold each individual family member in different piles, and we have clear bags that we put the clothes into, and I usually tie mine up with a bow and leave a nice little note,” Stoopes said.

Customers pay $1 per pound of laundry. The Sudster keeps 75 cents, plus tips. It’s not uncommon to make $15 to $20 an hour, the company said. Many customers average $35 to $40 per service.

“I make a decent amount,” Stoopes agreed.

“Honestly, I think people do it because they just need help sometimes. I know I do,” she said. “When you’re really busy, sometimes I feel like … I just have a never-ending cycle of laundry.”

The company already has about 10 Sudsters working in the Sioux Falls area, Fertel said.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration if I say that SudShare is the first ever manual labor work-from-home gig,” he said. “We have a lot of people who sign up for this service thinking they’re going to use it just once, and after they experience it, they’re like, why would I ever do my laundry again? It’s reasonable and fast, and my wife says it’s addicting.”