I make up to $1,000 a month doing people's laundry in my house. The flexibility allows me to support my autistic son.

• Angelina Viglione works as a barista and has a side hustle doing other people's laundry.
• She typically makes between $600 and $1,000 a month on her side hustle, depending on how much she works.
• The flexibility allows her to balance work with caring for her autistic son.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Angelina Viglione, a 36-year-old based in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, who works as a barista and laundry professional. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I work around 35 hours a week as a barista, and have a side hustle doing other people's and small businesses' laundry in my home.

My laundry gig has given me the freedom I need to balance multiple jobs and my family's needs. My son is severely autistic, and either my husband or I always need to be available to support him, which makes it difficult for us to work traditional jobs.

Being able to work from home is such a great privilege, allowing us to give better care and attention to our son. I'm able to be more present with my family, and I can take a mental health day when life gets too overwhelming, without fear of losing my job.

The extra income has helped me pay for things that I normally wouldn't be able to afford, such as my son's birthday party, sensory equipment for him, Christmas presents, home repairs, and our car payment.

My side hustle gives me flexibility

I first started my laundry gig in 2022, but started taking it more seriously in 2023. I initially found out about Poplin — the platform I use — by accident, after seeing an ad for it while looking for a job I could do from home.

At that time, my son was having a lot of struggles in school, so finding a typical W-2 job was next to impossible. I was a little skeptical at first — it was nerve-racking having other people's belongings in my possession — but I decided to try it out. After my first couple of clients, I started to get the hang of it and liked being able to make my own hours.

Now, my husband helps me — often assisting with the pick-ups and drop-offs while I'm at my barista job. On a typical day, I work until about 3 p.m. at my barista job, do my laundry pickups and drop-offs until 4 p.m., and then work on orders when my son is home from school.

Depending on my workflow, I sometimes work as little as 50 hours a month, while other times it's closer to 30 hours a week. In a month, I wash anywhere from 20 to 60 loads of laundry, and it takes me about two hours for a small order of one bag.

I'm paid per load, based on the weight of the completed order. In my area, customers are charged $1 a pound, and we're paid $0.75 a pound. It averages out to about $13 to $14 an hour, plus a tip. I can bring in anywhere from $600 to $1,000 a month.

However, I cover my own laundry supplies, gas, and other business expenses. I buy my detergent in bulk; I buy about five containers of Tide PODS at a time, each a 42-count, at a total cost of about $60, which breaks down to about $.29 per load.

There's also wear and tear on my washer and dryer. For example, the heating elements for my dryer go out more often because of the amount of use it gets, but I've learned how to replace them myself to save money.

I'm able to do other things while washing and drying clothes

I find jobs on Poplin's platform; potential customers make requests that I'm then able to accept or decline. In the platform's ranking system, I'm currently ranked around 30th in my state, which allows me to see orders in my area first.

Once the laundry is picked up, I take it home and sort it to avoid discoloration. I wash everything on a cold water cycle to prevent shrinkage, unless the client requests something different, and dry on a medium to low heat. I fold everything neatly straight out of the dryer to avoid wrinkles and accommodate different folding styles if requested.

After I bag everything in clear trash bags, I weigh it and load the car for delivery. I'm usually able to turn around an order by Poplin's default deadline of 8 p.m. the next day, but I'm able to coordinate directly with my clients on the turnaround time. As long as there are no complaints, I have some flexibility.

During the washing and drying processes, it's relatively low stress, and I'm able to get things done around the house.

I love working with my regulars

Before starting with Poplin, I did DoorDash for about a year. I made a bit more money, but when I considered things like wear and tear on my car and being away from home, it wasn't the right side hustle for me.

Handling someone's laundry is more personal than delivering food. You have to put in effort to build your own network by being personable and connecting with your clients.

I can't even count the number of regulars I have at this point; it's rare that I have time to take on new clients. I have one client — a small business — who I sometimes get three to four orders from a week.

Another one of my regulars is a sweet man who lives in an assisted living facility. When I come to do a pickup, we always stand there and chat for 15 minutes or so because he likes the company and talking about random things.

It's been life-changing to be able to be there for my son

Everything right now is tough and expensive.

The biggest downside to this side hustle has been learning how to avoid burnout. There have been times when I've wanted to make extra money and have taken on more orders than are ideal for me.

However, it allows me to provide for my son. He had a hard year last year, and to be able to be there for him without having to worry about work has been life-changing.

I plan to continue my side hustle moving forward. I like knowing that if I ever lost my W-2 job, I'd still have this income to get by on until I could find something else.

Do you have a story to share about your side hustle? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at [email protected].