If you're moving into Boston on September 1st --- welcome to the show. Locals call it "Allston Christmas," and for good reason: the sidewalks overflow with abandoned couches, IKEA bookshelves, and mystery futons that should probably come with a hazmat warning. Add in traffic jams, late apartment turnovers, and long lines at IKEA, and you've got yourself a day that's equal parts comedy and chaos.
Rinse, the leading global, technology-enabled laundry and dry cleaning delivery service, knows a thing or two about logistics. Here, Rinse offers insights from its very own Boston-educated leadership:
James Joun, Co-Founder at Rinse, is a Harvard Business School alum.
Darshil Jariwala, Senior Director, Business and Corporate Operations at Rinse, is a Northeastern University alum.
Aaron Wippold, Senior Director, Regional Operations at Rinse, is a MIT alum.
We tapped into some Rinse insiders who've lived it --- grad students, former Boston residents, and yes, folks who've braved moving a futon on the Green Line --- to give you the real pro tips:
1. Your comforter is not a moving- day carry-on.
Bulky stuff (comforters, winter coats, duvets) is the worst to drag even up a staircase, much less across town. Instead of jamming it in a trash bag and praying, let Rinse handle it.
Schedule a pickup before your move, and have it delivered fresh, folded, and waiting at your new address. Imagine walking into your new place with clean sheets already ready for night one, so that you're set for the next day --- that's the kind of win you'll thank yourself for.
2. IKEA is not for the faint of heart.
Boston Moving Day means everyone's raiding IKEA at once. Expect lines, empty shelves, and the very real possibility of balancing a desk on your lap on the T. Rinse can't assemble your MALM dresser, but at least you don't have to worry about the pile of laundry eating up precious backseat space.
3. Think of laundry as "time you get back."
When you're starting fresh in a new city, the last thing you should be doing is wasting hours in a laundromat. As Darshil advises, "Spend your time meeting people, not sitting next to a dryer that eats quarters." Rinse makes laundry one less thing to think about because you have to --- freeing up hours for, well, literally anything else you want to do.
In fact, James' experience just after Moving Day is a testament to how useful Rinse would have been for him --- and students like him, who were focused on making the most of their time. He remembers that laundry was often his last priority because he and his roomate were, "Too busy acclimating to graduate school life --- meeting classmates, going to events, and chasing a constant fear of missing out." He recalls, "Hauling loads to the basement laundry room was its own ordeal, with a complicated card payment system that only worked half the time."
4. Parents, this one's for you.
You might be wondering if your kid can survive on their own. Spoiler: many college students arrive knowing advanced physics, but now hoow to sort lights from darks. Hand them the gift of Rinse and you'll both rest easier.
They'll thank you...eventually.
5. Moving Day is chaos, but it's also a new start.
As Aaron puts it:, "Every September in Boston feels like possibility --- new faces, new beginnings, new messes to clean up." With Rinse, at least one part of that equation - the mess - can disappear from day one."
Pro Move
Ship your laundry to Rinse before you move. Update your new address. Boom --- it arrives clean and ready at your new apartment. It's basically using Rinse as your personal laundry-moving service. Genius? We think so.
Bottom Line
Boston Moving Day will always be wild. But your laundry doesn't have to be with Rinse.
