Laundry Service for Apartment Buildings in Sydney

Concierge Dry Cleaners is a laundry and dry cleaning service for Sydney apartment buildings. Residents leave garments with the building concierge, we collect from the desk 7 days a week, and everything comes back pressed to the same desk within 3–5 days. There is no cost to the building, no equipment installed and no work for the owners corporation.

How it works in an apartment building

The service is built around one fact: an apartment building already has a place where things are handed over. The concierge desk takes parcels, holds keys and signs for deliveries every day. We use that, and nothing else.

Residents who join are given tagged bags under their name and unit number, left with the desk. They drop a bag whenever it suits them, with no pickup window to be home for. Our driver collects on the building’s agreed days, signs for every bag, and returns the cleaned garments labelled by unit to the same place. The desk spends about two minutes per collection and never sorts, counts, prices or takes payment.

Why apartment buildings specifically

Three problems are close to universal in a Sydney apartment and rare in a house.

• There is no room to dry anything. Most apartments have a European laundry at best, many buildings restrict balcony drying, and a load of washing has nowhere to go.
• Nothing large fits. Doonas, mattress protectors, heavy curtains and winter coats do not fit a domestic machine at all.
• Nobody is home for a delivery. Door-to-door services give a two-hour window, which is the part that makes people give up. A staffed desk removes the window entirely.

Those problems repeat every week for every resident, which is why laundry gets used far more than most building amenities.

What it costs the building

Nothing. No setup fee, no equipment, no ongoing charge to the owners corporation and no levy impact. Residents pay for their own weekly plans or one-off orders, the way they would pay any other supplier. We provide the tagged bags, the desk signage and the concierge briefing at our cost.

For building operators and concierge companies who want one, a revenue share on resident plans is available and is set out in writing so it can be disclosed.

What the building has to approve

Usually very little, because nothing is installed. Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the approvals that create work for a committee are triggered by altering common property (section 108) or granting exclusive use or a licence over it (section 112). A locker bank engages both and generally needs an exclusive-use by-law passed by special resolution. A collection from an existing desk engages neither.

Most buildings treat it as an operational decision for the building manager, or as a no-cost trial the strata committee approves. We have written this up in full: does your strata committee need to approve a laundry service?

Which buildings we service

We only operate where there is a staffed concierge, front desk or managed mailroom, because one stop has to serve a whole tower for a 7-day service to work. Buildings of roughly 60 units and up suit it best.

Current routes cover Sydney CBD, Barangaroo and Millers Point, Pyrmont, Darling Harbour and Ultimo, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst, Green Square, Zetland, Waterloo, Rosebery and Alexandria, and Chippendale, Central Park, Surry Hills and Moore Park. If your building sits just outside one and has the unit count, ask — density is usually reason enough to extend a route.

What residents get

• Dry cleaning for suits, dresses, coats and delicates, hand-finished
• Shirts washed, hand-pressed and returned on hangers
• Wash, dry and fold for everyday clothing, linen and towels
• Weekly and fortnightly plans with free collection and return, or one-off orders
• 3–5 day return, 7 days a week, with no need to be home at any point

Setting it up

1. Tell us the building. Name, address, approximate unit count, and whether the desk is staffed and when.
2. We confirm the route. Collection days, and where bags sit between drop-off and collection.
3. We brief the desk. One short session, plus bags, tags and signage at our cost.
4. Residents are told. A notice for your building app or noticeboard, lobby signage, and a booking link specific to your building.

From first contact to first collection is usually about two weeks, most of which is choosing a start date.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a cost to the owners corporation?

No. There is no setup fee, no equipment cost and no ongoing charge. Residents pay for their own orders.

How much work is it for the concierge?

About two minutes per collection. The desk does not sort, count, price or handle payment, and residents contact us directly rather than the desk.

Does it need a by-law or a committee vote?

Usually not, because nothing is installed and no common property is used exclusively. Most buildings handle it as an operational decision or a no-cost trial. Confirm the position with your strata manager.

Who is liable if a garment is lost or damaged?

We are, from the moment our driver signs for the bags at the desk. Every bag is tagged and logged in and out. Certificates of currency, including cover for goods in our care, custody and control, are provided on request.

What if our building is not on your route?

Tell us the building name and unit count. A building with density in a precinct we do not yet reach is usually reason enough to extend a route.

Can we stop?

At any time, at no cost. Nothing is installed, so nothing has to be removed.

Start with a building proposal

Email info@conciergedrycleaners.com.au with your building name, address and number of units. We reply within one business day with the route, the collection days and a one-page summary your committee can table.

See also: for building managers, for strata committees, for developers and build-to-rent, and how the collection works.