[Lifehacks] Keep solo living spotless with these home cleaning apps

A lot of people look forward to moving out of their parents' house and moving into their first home, taking the opportunity to arrange things how they want without the stress of nagging parents demanding that rooms are kept tidy.

[SHUTTERSTOCK]

A lot of people look forward to moving out of their parents' house and moving into their first home, taking the opportunity to arrange things how they want without the stress of nagging parents demanding that rooms are kept tidy and everything is always nice and clean.

And for a while it's just as exciting as it sounds.

But after a few weeks of living solo, reality slowly starts to creep back in and you realize that it’s not quite as simple and easy as it looks. You may begin to wonder why all there's so much dirty laundry piling up and were all this trash came from.

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. For those living alone who are looking for a little assistance to help get the small but necessary chores done, here are some apps that could prove very useful.

LaundryGo

LaundryGo

LaundryGo offers a non-face-to-face laundry service where users place their dirty laundry in a pick-up box in front of their house. The box is retrieved and the clothes are washed, dry cleaned and then shipped back to the user. Submit your laundry request before 10 p.m. and retrieve your freshly-scented clothes back the next day.

Prices vary depending on which laundry service the user uses, ranging from 28,700 won to 64,200 won.

Recle

Recle

Garbage disposal in Korea can be a little confusing at first. Trash can’t be thrown out together in one bag, as food waste, general waste and recyclable waste are all thrown out separately. For those who find that it’s hard to adjust to garbage disposal and recycling in Korea, Recle is your friend. Recle collects your trash and throws it out for you. Put all your trash in a kit provided by Recle and request a pick-up service.

For first-time users, you can put out your trash in a plastic bag and paste a post-it note that says “For Recle pick-up”. All you have to do is pay a fixed basic fare of 1,490 won, with mixed waste and recycling waste fares starting from 100 won per 100 grams. Just place the trash out in front of your door and voilà, your trash is taken care of.

Miso

Miso

Miso helps users have a clean home without having to do more work, after work. Users can schedule and book housekeepers to help clean their house regularly or just once through Miso’s online-to-offline platform. Compared to other door-to-door service providers which offer 3 to 4 hour services at most, Miso’s trademark “two-hour-service” that costs up to 29,200 won for subscribed users, has been especially appealing to single-person households.

Besides home cleaning, Miso also offers 70 different services other than home cleaning, such as moving assistance, cleaning and installing home appliances, pet-sitting and more.

Matazoo

Matazoo

With nowhere to store your thick winter clothes or your big, hefty belongings, it’s easy to watch your room get messier as they pile up in a corner. Matazoo is here to solve that problem through their self-storage service. After paying a 10,000 won deposit, Matazoo will send you the boxes that you will need to store your products.

After placing your belongings into the boxes provided and putting it outside your door, they will be picked up and shipped safely to Matazoo’s storage center after three to five shipping days. Matazoo also offers premium services for its premium users, such as a laundry service for your stored clothes before you retrieve them, or storage service for oversized items such as mattresses, sofas, refrigerators and more.

Prices vary depending on the size of the box that you request, ranging from 4,000 won per month to 18,000 won per month. Matazoo also offers a yearly membership that costs 39,900 won at most per month, or 399,000 won yearly.

BY LEE JUNG-JOO (lee.jungjoo@joongang.ac.kr)