Speaking with TechGraph, Bajrang Saharan, Founder & CEO of Pressmate.in, discussed how changing consumer expectations are pushing India’s fabric care industry beyond the convenience of a nearby cleaner, and how this shift is pushing the industry to bring more structure to an experience that has historically depended heavily on individual operators and informal processes.
Saharan further highlighted how Pressmate is building its experience around this changing expectation, with routine garments moving through standard processes while delicate pieces receive specialist handling, as customers increasingly place greater value on the safe return of their garments than on saving a few hours on turnaround time.
Read the interview in detail:
TechGraph: India’s fabric care industry has traditionally been driven by neighbourhood businesses, with service quality often varying from one provider to another. What changes have convinced you that customers are now looking for a more technology-driven and standardised experience rather than relying primarily on convenience and familiarity?
Bajrang Saharan: The biggest change is that customers have become less forgiving of uncertainty. Earlier, a nearby cleaner was enough because convenience carried the relationship. Now people expect a pick-up slot, a clear bill, digital payment, delivery updates, and some assurance that the garment will not disappear into a black box.
This shift is visible in the wider market too, with India’s online laundry service segment expected to grow at a 41.6% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.
For us, that says the customer is not rejecting neighbourhood familiarity. They are asking for familiarity with the systems behind it. When someone gives a blazer, silk saree, or expensive shirt, they want both convenience and proof of care. That confidence is now part of convenience itself.
TechGraph: Many offline service industries have embraced digital ordering, yet maintaining consistency in execution remains far more difficult than building an app. What operational challenges have been the hardest to standardise in fabric care, and how has technology helped overcome them?
Bajrang Saharan: The hardest part to standardise is the work nobody sees. Taking an online order is simple compared with sorting fabrics, identifying stains, checking colour fastness, tagging every piece, choosing the right process, finishing properly, and sending garments back without mix-ups. Fabric care is full of exceptions. Two white shirts may need completely different treatment because of fabric, age, stain, or construction.
Technology helps by reducing dependence on memory. Digital tagging, garment notes, process checkpoints and quality logs create discipline across teams. It also helps managers spot where errors repeat. But technology works best when it supports trained people. In this business, a system can guide the process, but judgement still matters. That is where standardisation begins in real operations today.
TechGraph: Pressmate positions itself as a technology-led fabric care platform rather than a conventional dry cleaning business. Beyond digitising bookings and deliveries, what operational challenges have you found technology genuinely solving in an industry that has traditionally relied on manual processes?
Bajrang Saharan: The real value of technology is in removing guesswork from the back end. Fabric care has traditionally relied on handwritten slips, visual memory, and individual follow-up. That may work for a small shop, but it becomes risky when volumes rise, and garments move between pickup, sorting, cleaning, finishing, inspection, and delivery. Technology creates a trail for every item. Teams can see what came in, what issue was noted, which process was chosen, and where the garment is now. It also helps identify delays, repeat complaints, and process gaps.
For customers, the result should feel simple. For operations, the system quietly makes the work more accountable and less dependent on one person’s memory. That is the difference customers eventually notice most.
TechGraph: Premium fabrics, leather products, and designer wear all require specialised handling, where consistency matters as much as speed. How do you balance rapid turnaround times with the level of quality control customers expect for garments that often carry significant financial and sentimental value?
Bajrang Saharan: With premium garments, the first rule is to slow down at the right moment. A quick turnaround should never mean careless handling. A designer lehenga, leather jacket, embroidered saree, or luxury coat needs inspection before it enters any process. Teams must check fabric, lining, trims, buttons, embroidery, colour bleed risk, and existing damage.
Once that assessment is done well, the rest of the workflow can be planned properly. Routine items can move faster through standard processes, while delicate pieces need specialist handling and extra checks.
Customers may ask for speed, but what they truly remember is whether the garment returned safely. In premium care, protecting trust is more important than winning a few hours. That is the real service promise.
TechGraph: Traditional dry cleaning has long relied on chemical processes that are increasingly being questioned for their environmental and health impact. At the same time, consumers are becoming more conscious about sustainability in their everyday choices. How do you see these changing expectations around fabric care, and is environmental responsibility becoming just as important as convenience and service quality?
Bajrang Saharan: Sustainability is becoming part of the fabric care conversation because people are more aware of waste, water use, and chemical exposure. At the same time, the category itself is growing. India’s laundry care market generated about $6.02 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $8.97 billion by 2030.
As more households use organised services, responsibility matters more. This includes safer chemical handling, efficient water use, better machine loading, reduced reprocessing, and processes that help garments last longer.
A damaged garment is also waste. So, sustainability in fabric care is not only about the environment. It is about cleaning responsibly while extending the life of what people already own. This is where everyday garment care becomes climate-conscious behaviour too.
TechGraph: Pressmate has built a technology ecosystem that provides visibility across every stage of the garment care journey, from pickup and processing to quality checks and final delivery. How important has this level of operational transparency become in building customer trust, particularly in a category where people hand over items that are often expensive, delicate, or difficult to replace?
Bajrang Saharan: Transparency matters because the customer loses control the moment the garment leaves their hand. They may not know who handles it, where it goes, what process is used, or whether it has passed inspection. That uncertainty is the biggest trust gap in fabric care. A visible operating system reduces that anxiety. Tagging, tracking, stage-wise updates, and quality checkpoints tell both the team and the customer that the item is being handled with care. It also builds internal accountability. When every garment has a record, mistakes become easier to prevent and investigate. In this category, trust is earned item by item. One lost or damaged garment can undo years of loyalty. That is why transparency now feels like basic service hygiene.
TechGraph: Looking ahead, do you see fabric care evolving into a more integrated lifestyle service where technology, sustainability, and specialised garment care become standard consumer expectations rather than premium differentiators? What changes do you believe will shape that transition over the next few years?
Bajrang Saharan: Yes, fabric care is moving towards a broader lifestyle service. Customers are not looking only for washing or dry cleaning anymore. They want stain care, steam finishing, shoe cleaning, leather care, bag care, minor repairs, wardrobe maintenance and hygiene-focused cleaning, all delivered with convenience.
The next shift will come from three things: better technology, better fabric knowledge and more responsible processes. Ordering will become easier, but execution will decide who keeps the customer.
Sustainability will also stop being a premium claim and become a basic expectation. The winners will be those who combine skilled hands with visible systems. In the end, people want their clothes handled as carefully as they would handle them at home. Not a premium add-on anymore.
