ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

These tube station vending machines will save you from going home to clean your clothes

If successful, it could be rolled out across the country

These tube station vending machines will save you from going home to clean your clothes
Tom Victor
04 October 2018

Since the dawn of time, people have been trying to come up with ideas to help make your commute a little less stressful.

Sometimes it’s help figuring out where to stand on the platform to increase your chances of getting a seat.

Sometimes it’s providing a guide to which lines have air conditioning to help prevent you sweating through your clothes, even on the coldest day of the year.

However, these rarely deal with a key component of the commuter lifestyle: not having any time or energy to do all your errands when you get home. Which is where new dry cleaning vending machines come in.

As reported by Wired, a start-up called VClean Life is introducing a range of vending machines at busy tube station car parks with the sole purpose of taking your dirty clothes and returning them clean within 24 hours.

The machines, named ‘VDrop’, can be controlled by customers’ phones. You’ll be able to use your phone to get hold of a biodegradable bag, chuck in your clothes and return it to the machine, from where it’ll be taken to VClean Life’s cleaning facility and returned the next day.

At £2.50 for a shirt or £3 for other items it might not be the most cost-effective option for all of your dirty clothes, but if you need a clean shirt for a job interview the next day then it’s a darn sight cheaper than buying a new one.

According to Wired, the first machine will be outside Epping station on the Central Line, with Loughton, North Greenwich, South Woodford, and Woodford to follow.

If the trial is successful, we could well see the machines installed outside other tube stations in different parts of the capital.

Machines will also potentially be set up outside shopping centres, gyms and offices, while there are reportedly discussions over installing them outside stations in other British cities.

(Images: Getty)