Cleenbox — The Laundry Service By Mail

Let’s all admit together how much of a pain it is to find the time to do laundry. With so many other things in life to enjoy, spending precious moments with detergent is something to be avoided. Fortunately, someone has come up with an interesting solution to the laundry problem!

Cleenbox, a small German company, has started to offer a laundry service by mail. It’s a very simple process based on a partnership with the (also German) DHL shipping company. You can use them and have more time to focus on other areas of your life.

To use Cleenbox, you need a physical address in Germany. You then subscribe to the service via their website, and request your first laundry box. The laundry boxes come in various sizes, according to your needs and your family size.

Once the box arrives, you gather up all of your dirty laundry and dump it in the box. Just remember not to put your dry clean only items in the box; and, boy, check your pockets! ;-)

The average box holds about 50 items. You save yourself even more time because Cleenbox doesn’t require you to separate your colors or fabrics, since they will sort the wash themselves.

When you pack up the box and send it off, you just go on with your life while someone else washes, dries, folds, irons, and repacks your clothing box. It’s like having your own personal laundry fairy.

The box arrives back on your doorstep in 2 – 5 days, with your clothes specially sealed inside to prevent crushing or loss of freshness.

At this point, I’m sure you are suspicious that the service is terribly expensive. Yet here again, Cleenbox has a bit of a surprise. The entry price is 25 Euros for a 5 kg box, which includes the shipping to and from your house.

Their website has more information about types of detergents used, standard pick up and delivery times, and the rates for truly massive amounts of washing. It is in German, but there are web translation tools (such as the Google Translator) that can help you navigate and get signed up. After all, why waste time with the wash when you could be out enjoying and exploring everything Germany has to offer?

—Marcus