By Timothy Oommen, Owner — Laundini Laundromat | laundinilaundromat.com
Short answer: anywhere from $1.50 to $4.00 per pound depending on which service you use, how they structure their fees, and whether the price you see when you book is actually the price you pay.
Long answer: let me break it down properly so you know exactly what you’re looking at before you commit to anything.
How Laundry Delivery Pricing Works
Almost every laundry pickup and delivery service in Chicago charges by the pound. Your laundry gets weighed — either at pickup or at the facility — and you’re billed based on the actual weight of your load.
The per-pound rate is the headline number. It is not always the whole story.
Some services add:
- A delivery fee on top of the per-pound rate
- A service fee at checkout
- A surcharge for specific detergents
- A minimum order fee if your load doesn’t hit a weight threshold
- A rush fee for faster turnaround
By the time all of those line items appear on your bank statement, the cost can look very different from what attracted you to the service in the first place. This is the complaint we hear most from customers who’ve tried other services — they expected one number and saw another, with no clear explanation and nobody easy to call about it.
What the Main Chicago Services Actually Charge
Poplin — $3.00 to $4.00/lb
Delivery typically included. The high rate reflects their aggregator model — they take the majority of that per-pound rate and pay the individual contractor doing the actual washing roughly $1.00/lb.
Rinse — mid-range, professional positioning
Delivery included. 2-day standard turnaround. Professional centralized operation. Reviews are mixed on order accuracy at scale.
Drop & Dash — $2.00 to $2.50/lb plus delivery fees
Base rate looks reasonable. Delivery fee adds up. Uses Uber drivers for the delivery side which creates inconsistency at the doorstep.
Tide Cleaners — from $1.50/lb
Starting price is competitive. Service fees, delivery fees, detergent surcharges, and other line items are added on top. The final number is higher than the headline suggests.
Laundini — $1.50/lb, delivery always free
That’s the number. Wash, dry, fold, picked up from your door, delivered back within 24 hours. No delivery fee, no service fee, no surcharges. What you see when you book is what appears on your statement.
What a Typical Order Actually Costs at Laundini
To make this concrete:
One person, one week of laundry
Average weight: 15–20 lbs
Cost at $1.50/lb: $22.50 – $30.00
Delivery: free
Turnaround: 24 hours
Couple, one week of laundry
Average weight: 25–35 lbs
Cost at $1.50/lb: $37.50 – $52.50
Delivery: free
Turnaround: 24 hours
Family or shared apartment
Average weight: 40–60 lbs
Cost at $1.50/lb: $60.00 – $90.00
Delivery: free
Turnaround: 24 hours
Our 15 lb minimum applies to residential orders. Anything under that and the logistics don’t work for either of us — a walk-in visit makes more sense for very small loads.
The Recurring Plan — Best Value for Regular Customers
If you’re doing laundry consistently — which most people are — our bi-weekly recurring plan locks in the best rate:
$39 per visit · Up to 30 lbs · Every two weeks
That works out to roughly $1.30/lb at a full 30-lb load, with free delivery included. Set it once, forget about it, laundry gets done on schedule.
For comparison, doing two drop-in orders of 25 lbs each at the standard $1.50/lb rate would cost $75 per month. The recurring plan costs $78 for the same period but covers up to 30 lbs per visit — more laundry for nearly the same price, with zero effort on your end.
Northwestern Students — $1.00/lb, First Pickup Free
If you’re a Northwestern student or staff member, show your WildCARD or sign up with your .edu email and your rate drops to $1.00/lb with no minimum order. Your first pickup is completely free.
More universities coming soon — UChicago, DePaul, Loyola, and UIC discounts are on the way as we build capacity at our South Side location. Email info@laundinilaundromat.com to get on the notification list for your school.
Commercial Clients — $1.25/lb
Restaurants, bars, hotels, Airbnbs, gyms, and spas pay $1.25/lb with a 30 lb minimum. Bleach included. Scheduled recurring pickups. Same-day rush available. Email info@laundinilaundromat.com for volume pricing.
Is Laundry Delivery Worth It in Chicago?
This is the real question behind the pricing question. Here is the math most people don’t do explicitly:
A full laundry run — sorting, transporting, waiting through wash and dry cycles, folding, transporting back — takes 90 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on your situation.
A 25-lb order at Laundini costs $37.50, delivered to your door in 24 hours.
If your time is worth more than $15–$25 per hour — and for most working adults in Chicago it is — laundry delivery pays for itself before you’ve factored in the convenience.
For people without a car, people in buildings without reliable laundry, people with schedules that are already fully allocated, and people who have simply decided their time is better spent on almost anything else — the answer is yes. It is worth it.
The Bottom Line
Laundry delivery in Chicago ranges from $1.50 to $4.00/lb. The difference between those numbers is not just price — it’s who’s washing your clothes, who’s delivering them, whether the price is transparent, and whether anyone picks up the phone when something goes wrong.
At Laundini: $1.50/lb. Free delivery. 24-hour turnaround. Our facilities, our drivers, our standard. One number on your statement.
Book your first pickup at laundinilaundromat.com. Serving all of Cook County. Questions? Email info@laundinilaundromat.com — you’ll get a straight answer from a real person.
Timothy Oommen is the founder and owner of Laundini Laundromat, with locations in Evanston, Bucktown, Skokie, and Wheeling, IL.