A MUM who made £2,000 a week washing people’s clothes has now opened her own laundromat thanks to her side hustle.
Christian Sanya, 44, said returning customers’ clothes alongside cookies can sometimes help her pocket a larger tip.
What might be a boring chore for some, Christian saw the perfect opportunity to turn her ideal afternoon – watching Lifetime while folding laundry – into an extra source of income, as she now makes £24,000 every month.
She started washing other people’s clothes through SudShare in 2019 – an on-demand laundry platform that has been compared to Uber.
That same year, Christian lost her job and started looking for gigs that would allow her to be at home for most of the day.
That way, she could take care of her then six-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed with autism.
Last year, the mum made £46,000, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The service is designed to take the burden off those who hate washing clothes, who don’t have access to a washing machine, or can’t find time to go to a laundrette.
Workers are notified when they receive an order within a 10-mile radius, and they have the option to accept or decline it.
Workers then pick up their customers’ laundry, wash it and return it the next day.
Christian said she was one of the top earners and made between £1,000 and £2,000 a week, but admitted she could sometimes make extra cash when delivering sweet treats.
She said: “All of my deliveries are with the Crumbl cookie and my customers love it.
“So it’s my thing. I am the Crumbl cookie girl.”
Thanks to her laundry earnings – and the £76,000 per year she makes as a full-time medical laboratory technologist – Christian and her husband opened their own laundromat.
It has been Christian’s lifelong dream since she was given laundry as her chore as a child, and she kept that dream alive when she got married.
In 2015, the couple even tried buying one from an acquaintance, but could not afford it.
But last year, the property went back on the market, and after saving enough money, Christian and her husband bought it outright and without a mortgage for £200,000.
Opened last September, the Laundry Room is based in Lanham and it has its 40 machines run by four employees.
Today, Christian still fulfils 12 hours of laundry requests daily, with her husband and Laundry Room employees filling in the gaps while she’s at her other job.
“You have to sacrifice a lot to know that where you’re going, the endpoint, is going to pay off,” she said.
“I’ve given up family time, I’ve given up my date nights. I’ve given up a lot for SudShare at this point.”
The entrepreneur told CNBC Make It she refers to her side hustle as an addiction.
“It’s not an easy side hustle, but if you like it, it’s easy money,” she said.
“But the laundry has always been my thing … It doesn’t feel like work to me.”
She described her routine as a “jigsaw puzzle”, usually sleeping only four hours every night.
But despite the crazy schedule, the couple wants to expand their business as a second laundromat location is already in the works.
They are not quite sure what the next steps will be yet.
She said: “I never thought this would happen.”
“I never had it dreamed out on paper or anything, but I’m building on what I want it to be in the future.”
