Desperate for extra income, setting up at home iron business?

[HJB2021]

Hi,

I am really in need of some extra money, with all the increases we are struggling. I work 3 days per week and have a 17 month old, so I was trying to think of something I could do in the evenings mostly, at home.

I am thinking of starting an ironing service, had anyone had an experience doing this and can you make a few hundred a month quite easily? Would I need to invest in a super duper iron? And would it be okay to use my car for drop offs or would I need a car ?

thanks so much x

I'd be surprised if you could make hundreds a month to be honest. Unless you live in an area where everyone outsources their ironing but I still think it would be difficult. You'll be competing with dry cleaners so would need to price accordingly. It's worth a try, definitely just don't set your expectations too high

You’d probably make more money with something like baking or edible gift boxes TBH. When I say baking also, I mean economically friendly recipes; things like cookies, blondies and brownies. A lot of people i know have made extra income from this. Particularly around Easter, Christmas, valentines etc!

Can you increase your work hours to 4 days? I cannot see how you would make several hundred extra a month with ironing.

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time. I’d have a look at task rabbit. I don’t know much about it, but understand people sell services some which can be done remotely. Maybe have a look and see if there is anything you could offer that matches your skill set. Post pandemic and WFH May mean that there’s less need for smart clothes and ironing in general. Best of luck.

Thanks everyone, I can’t increase my hours unfortunately due to childcare. I need something I can do from home and work around my son. I will check Rabbit out! Thank you

Im going to look into the baking too, thanks again.

I don't think people need an ironing service in the same way as before lockdown and WFH. Could you offer to sell friend's stuff online and take a cut?

I do ironing in my home (only for my cleaning clients though) — probably bring in an extra £60 a month from it, more in summer when shirts aren’t hidden under jumpers! I charge £13/hr — some people charge by the item or by the basket, but I don’t think this works as well; certain items take an age to do (eg pleated skirts) and a lot can be rammed into one basket!

You would need to invest in a good steam reservoir iron otherwise you’d be constantly topping it up and they’re more efficient, a decent board at a comfortable height, lots of hangers and clothes covers for a professional finish. And strong arms! It’s worth a try though. I quite enjoy it when I’m being paid for it 😂

Was just going to say the same, however I took a career break from work years ago and set up an ironing service for extra cash. My details were very quickly passed around through word of mouth and I'd an established list of clients within weeks so could stop advertising. I charged €30 per bag/basket. I'd a steam generator and could take 1-2.5 hrs to get through each one depending on the items. Some clients sent out bedlinen (quickest), others sent 30 shirts which took longer (some wanted them folded like they come in packets or others were happy to have them hung on hangers). Other customers sent all laundry so a mixture of everything. One thing I'd strongly recommend is to return each load asap especially those not returned on hangers as they'll look their best after all your work. I'd easily get through 5 loads per week in the evenings so didn't impact on being at home with the children which was the reason for being on a career break. Does help that I enjoy ironing!

My friend irons in her own home and as part of a cleaning service in clients homes too. She charges £15p.h. She used to charge by the bag but spent ages on some bags as people stuffed them full to the brim so it wasn't worth her while - she has a fancy steam ironing system as it saves her loads of time.

My recommendation for earning money is online surveys. Swagbucks are my favourite as I get £10 every 2-3 days - in addition to survey income, you get loads of tops up at the end of the month for all the days you hit your daily goal and then they give you extra points when you hit points levels called Swag Ups. you get money for searching the internet and they have competitions where you are part of a team too. When you join and earn 300 points in the first 30 days, they give you a 300 bonus.
www.swagbucks.com/refer/MooWinner

Second favourite: You Gov as you never screen out :

yougov.co.uk/refer/5n4orle6y-iGn-xFyNEk-w/

I get £50 every 6-8 weeks.

Third Favourite:
Viewbank - they are currently running an incentive of £2.50 just for joining.
myviewsbank.com/s.php?p=174&l=l&e=8&psdm=0&pshh=0&pshf=0&tmp=1&xtreferrer=20603&h=98871e50
You won't make tons on this panel every week but it takes only about 30 seconds a day to answer two questions ( 12p) and about once a week you get a survey which is between 50p-£1 for 5-10 minutes.
Every few weeks you get a bigger task which is usually £5.

I have to say this is not money for zero effort
However I do them in front of the TV, on public transport , at lunch on a work day and make a few hundred each month so it is worth it.
I started them when I was on maternity leave many moon ago with two completely different panels who I ditched when I found You Gov and then Swagbucks in the last few years.
Ask for any help you want.

I agree with the baking comment. You don’t necessarily even need to even set up a website. Have a look at www.cakeuniverse.co.uk it’s a marketplace for cake sellers and really easy to join. The commission is something like 5% so ridiculously low in comparison to other sites. Food hygiene licenses are very easy to get and it could work well around your free hours.

Sorry not sure if you’re allowed to post links to websites so please delete if not

I know a friend of mine Dad used to use a service like that for his shirts. He however worked for a big company and she used to do shirts/blouses for a lot of the people there.

Most people don't iron anymore or they iron one item of clothing like a shirt. You might be better off doing something else.

This suggestion seems to come up a lot on MN when people are looking to earn extra money and I'm dubious how profitable it is, or how quickly you would earn extra money.
I live in an area where most people seem to have a lot of disposable income and outsource loads of stuff but I don't often see ironing come up when people are looking for recommendations.

It would be worth investigating business insurance too. Not only for any damage to garments but also if you're using your car to collect/deliver.

Have you thought about matched betting? You could probably make 1k quite easily over 2 months.

Sorry to jump on OP, @Puffthemagiclizard is there an easy guide to matched betting anywhere online please?

Does the matched betting affect credit ratings?

That was my first thought as well, especially if you have a lot of mumsnetters in your area

Can you sew? I see a lot of requests for alterations on my local Facebook pages.

@doverper have a look at Oddsmonkey, they do good explanations.
@ThirdAidKit no it didn't ever show up on mine.

Thanks @Puffthemagiclizard !

I run an ironing and laundry service and I beg to differ lol yes I do it full time snd I earn a few hundred a week, you would be very surprised how many people want their ironing done! And I have a lady who irons for me as well....
1/ research! Check out other ironing services in your area on Facebook, see what they charge to give you an idea of if you want to do it per kg, basket/box or per hour
2/ decide whether you want to collect and deliver or just have customers bring it to you and collect, although most prefer a collection and delivery service.
3/ make sure you have a decent iron, I use a steam generator iron and a brabantia large board, and a rails for hung up items.
4/I am fully insured with public liability, business car insurance, business home insurance hmrc registered as self employed
5/ do NOT undercut other services, work out how much electricity, water rates, fuel you'll use and charge accordingly
5/ I buy garment covers, hangers, bags for folded items all free for customers
Last of all unless you enjoy ironing don't do this! Lol but if you do go for it!!

I had forgotten this thread but I agree with you @IrishJakIroningLady and my friend is still doing it so it must work for her and charges by the hour. She has regular clients who recommend her to their friends and she absolutely loves ironing ( I hate it so she does mine while I stick with doing my surveys!)
How did you get on OP?

What iron do you use @IrishJakIroningLady? Are the more expensive ones better?

I find the more expensive the iron the more steam pressure you get so I'm on a £600 steam generator iron at minute, just compare the bar and steam shot...also I use an intellitemp iron, mines the Phillips Perfect Care Elite plus