How to Get Paid to Do Laundry From Home in Toronto

Most people's washer and dryer sit idle for six days a week. If you live in Toronto, those machines can earn you money.

Duffloo is a local laundry pickup and delivery service. Customers book a pickup, and an independent Washer Hero who lives nearby collects their bags, washes, dries and folds everything at home, and brings it back the next day. I'm Hassan, Duffloo's CEO, and this is the guide I'd give a friend who asked me, "Is this actually worth doing?"

I'll cover what the work looks like hour by hour, how you get paid, what you need to buy (not much), who this suits and who it really doesn't, and what happens in the days after you apply.

The short version

You use your own machines. You choose which days you're available and which orders you take. You pick up laundry near your home, follow each customer's care choices, fold it neatly, and drop it back. You're an independent contractor running a small one-person business, not an employee.

You keep 100% of every tip — Duffloo never takes a cut of a tip.

What one order actually looks like

Here's a typical order, start to finish. It's an illustration of the flow, not a promise about any particular day.

Morning. You open the Washer Hero app and see a pickup a few streets away. The customer wants premium scented detergent and low-heat drying. You accept it.

The pickup. You arrive during the customer's pickup window. In a house, the bags are usually by the door. In a condo, you might collect them from the concierge desk or a parcel room. You weigh the bags on your scale at home and log it in the app.

Washing. You sort as needed and run the loads with the detergent the customer chose. Some people bring their own detergent; some ask for hypoallergenic. The settings come with the order, so there's no guessing.

Drying. Normal, low heat, high heat, or hang dry, again set by the customer. Hang-dry items go on your rack or line while everything else tumbles.

Folding. This is the part customers notice. Shirts folded the same way, socks paired, everything packed into clear, labelled bags. A neat fold is the reason people book again.

Delivery. You bring the laundry back and take a delivery photo in the app. That's the order done.

While the machines run, your time is mostly your own. People fold in front of the TV, work on their laptop between loads, or do the school pickup while the dryer finishes.

How you get paid

You're paid per order. The pay week runs from Saturday through Friday, and that week's earnings land in your bank account the next Tuesday. Payouts go through Stripe, so the one-time setup is creating a secure payout account during onboarding.

Two things are worth knowing up front:

• You keep 100% of every tip — Duffloo never takes a cut of a tip.
• Your pay never falls below minimum wage. If a week's engaged-time pay lands under the Ontario minimum, Duffloo tops up the difference.

I get asked "how much can I make?" more than any other question. The honest answer: Our most active Heroes have earned over $5,000 in a month — that is not typical, and it takes a full schedule with larger loads. Earnings are not guaranteed and depend on the orders you accept and complete, order size, and your area.

There's also a starter bonus right now: $25 bonus after your first 2 completed orders — first 8 Heroes only.

What you need before your first order

Equipment you probably already own:

• A working household washer and dryer (nothing commercial)
• A drying rack or a clothesline for hang-dry items
• A clean, smoke-free laundry area, and a pet-free surface for folding

A few cheap supplies:

• A basic weighing scale, so bag weights are accurate
• Detergent (you'll also need to follow customer requests for scented, hypoallergenic, or their own)
• Clear plastic bags of about 75 litres, without drawstrings, and labels for them

And a way to get around. Pickups and drop-offs mean carrying bags, so you need reliable transportation. You choose your own service radius, which is how many Heroes keep their orders within a short drive, or even walking distance, of home.

The paperwork (it's lighter than it sounds)

Because Heroes go to people's doors and handle their things, there are three checks before you can take orders:

1. A criminal record check. Most Heroes do it online through our screening partner Certn: CA$34.98, paid to Certn, with identity verification in under a minute. Don't buy one in advance: we ask you to start it only once your address is confirmed as inside our service area. I wrote a separate guide on getting a police check online in Ontario.
2. GST/HST registration. Free with the CRA, and usually about 20 minutes online. The CRA may tell you a small business doesn't have to register yet; our Hero agreement asks you to register anyway. Here's the step-by-step GST/HST walkthrough.
3. Training. Seven short modules on how we handle laundry, with a quick check after each one. Set aside about an hour.

You'll also sign the Washer Hero Agreement in the app and set up your payout account.

Who this suits, and who it doesn't

I'd rather you know now than find out after a week.

It tends to suit you if:

• You're home for big parts of the day: a parent, a student with a light timetable, someone between jobs, or a retiree who likes staying busy.
• You already like laundry, or at least find folding calming. That sounds silly, but it matters.
• You want income you can switch on and off. There's no minimum number of orders.
• You live in a busy part of the city, where there are more orders close by.

It probably won't suit you if:

• You need a fixed, predictable paycheque. Orders depend on demand in your area, and that changes from week to week.
• Your washer is small, unreliable or shared with a whole building. A coin laundry room makes this very hard to do well.
• You can't get to pickups. Carrying bags on the TTC is possible for a light order, but it gets old fast.
• You'd rather not handle other people's clothes. Some people simply don't like it, and that's fine.

Doing it alongside another job

Plenty of Heroes treat this as a second income. Because you choose your available days and accept orders one at a time, you can work it around shifts. The thing to plan for is the delivery: if you accept an order, the customer is counting on next-day delivery, so only take what fits the next 24 hours.

A pattern that works well: accept pickups on your days off, run the loads that evening, fold before bed, and deliver the next morning.

What happens after you apply

Applying takes about 10 minutes. You'll add your details, choose your home address and the days you're usually available, and upload a couple of photos.

From there: We review your address within 1 business day, then walk you through your police clearance and training — most Heroes are taking orders within 3 to 5 days.

Where we're looking for Heroes

Duffloo serves Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, Downtown and Midtown, the East End and Beaches, the West End and York, and Concord. You'll need to live in one of those areas. Each one has its own page with the neighbourhoods we cover:

• Washer Hero jobs in Scarborough
• Washer Hero jobs in North York
• Washer Hero jobs in Etobicoke
• Washer Hero jobs in Downtown and Midtown

Or go straight to the Washer Hero page and apply.

Questions people ask me

Do I need a commercial machine? No. A normal household washer and dryer in good working order is all you need.

Can I do this just on weekends? Yes. You set the days you're available, and you only accept the orders you want.

What if I ruin something? The training modules set out how we expect laundry to be handled, and the customer's care choices come with every order. If something does go wrong, Duffloo support works through it with you and the customer rather than leaving you to sort it out alone.

Do I pay tax on what I earn? Yes. As an independent contractor you report your business income yourself, and Duffloo doesn't withhold tax. Each January, you get a statement of what you earned through Duffloo the year before, which makes filing easier.

Do customers see my name? Customers see the Hero handling their order, which is why we ask for your legal name during the application.

What does it cost to get started? The police check, which you pay to the provider, and your own supplies: a scale, detergent, bags and labels. GST/HST registration with the CRA is free.