One joys of having a hectic corporate career is that you do have a lot more money than the time when you were a student, albeit fewer opportunities to enjoy spending that money. Also, there are a lot more practical things and mundane that have to be considered such as laundry. Believe me, when you're a "corporate" (I really am starting to hate that word), you can't just throw things in the washer and and expect them to be grand. There's a process to cleaning all those blazers and fancy silk shirts you end up wearing to work and you simply don't have the time.

MINK Laundry, enter stage left. So right before I left for Kolkata, the guys at MINK got in touch with me asking me if I'd like to review their services. Back then, still a dewey eyed newcomer in the crazy working world, I just wasn't sure if the rates they charged were worth it. I mean, couldn't I simply find someone in my neighbourhood to do it? Well, cut back to present day when I've completed a short stint working crazy hours and still of course dressing like I'm about to conquer the world, one meeting at a time. (yes, not as crazy as the Masters days but then, you could wear the back of your closet old tshirt to work and nobody would object). I came back and when they asked me if I was ready to review it since I was back in the city, I readily agreed.



MINK is a pre-eminent laundry service that aims to remove all the hassle associated with finding someone take care of your (usually crazy expensive) clothes alongwith of course all the stains and grime. They're a startup by a few guys from IIT-B and they're just a few months old. They promise to provide personalised care to all your garments and honestly, are the easiest way to get everything perfectly laundered with just a quick call/a few clicks. I was offered to launder 3 garments so I decided to send my silk top that was ruined when I lent it to a friend and she partied a little to hard, my blazer that's been worn uncountable number of times and my extra precious woolen top that was a life-saver during winters.
Since they're still growing, they only offer pickups in certain parts of Mumbai. When I asked them if they catered to the area I live in, I was told they were launching a service there that week! Yay!! I immediately went on their website (which is really very easy to navigate, good job guys) and scheduled a pickup for Sunday morning. (Yes, this is a good thing cos most people like me only have the weekends off). I got a call very soon to confirm the pickup timings and I was very impressed to see that the pickup happened within the time-frame I was given. The executive who came by to pickup my items was very courteous and had separate garment bags ready for each of my items. He also asked me if I had some specific concerns or stains I wanted them to focus on and then finally gave me a receipt as a proof of pickup. He actually forgot to ask me how I wanted the items delivered but came back within a couple of minutes to ask me if I wanted the items folded or hung (I think that's the correct term, maybe). Since I had given my blazer, I asked them to hang that and fold the rest. He told me it would take around 3-4 days and they would get in touch once the items were ready.



Cut back to later that week and I got a call around Thursday saying all my clothes were ready for delivery and when should they drop them by. Since my weekend plans were a little dicey, I asked them to call me on Saturday morning to confirm the delivery time. Sadly, I wasn't able to answer their calls (they called me around 2-3 times) and they sent a message asking me when they should schedule a delivery. Thankfully, I was able to work out a suitable time for delivery this weekend and man, I was so very impressed with the things I received!

So do they deliver?? Well, yes and no. Honestly, they weren't able to get the white silk top completely clean which was a shame. However, the stain I was most worried about is much lighter and here's hoping another couple of washes and it'll disappear. Having said that, they did a fabulous job with my blazer and wollen top which is still ultra soft and comfy so big points for that!

My verdict? If you want a premium laundry service without any hassle and excellent customer care (and of course don't mind paying the ultra high rates for it), choose MINK. Or if you're just like me and simply can't find the time to select a good laundry, I'd say give them a try. Not the cheapest but definitely the nicest experience I've had with a laundry till date!

(Note: This is a sponsored post. However, all the views mentioned are my own. Details of the sponsorship? Well, while the above costs are as per the costs on the website, these costs were borne by the good folks at MINK for the purposes of this review. )