The advent of technology and the booming Silicon Valley scene doesn't only benefit the masses, but also helps spawn incredibly niche and boutique services. Are you sick of packing your own suitcase, cleaning your own clothes, and taking it all with you on your many trips around the country? Well, if you're willing to pay a hefty price, DUFL will take care of all these things for you and now can do so via a new Android app.

I can't decide if this is solving a problem that doesn't exist or if DUFL just solves a real problem in a really inefficient way. Here's how it works:

  1. Sign up and have DUFL send you a suitcase plus a few knick-knacks.
  2. Put the clothes and toiletries you want to use while traveling in the suitcase and send it back to DUFL.
  3. DUFL will inventory all your stuff, including taking pictures (?), and provide dry-cleaning service each time they receive your clothes.
  4. Tell them where you're staying on your next trip and they will FedEx your bag to that location.
  5. Schedule your bag to be picked up before you leave that location. Once DUFL gets it back, they re-inventory and clean your things again.

You pay DUFL $9.95/month for storing your stuff in a "virtual closet," which is their way of describing where your bag is in between trips. A standard round trip with 3-day shipping each way is $99. If plans change at the last minute or you have two trips back-to-back, you will pay an extra $49 for each overnight service you need (so $99 extra for a round trip).

There are a few different downsides here beyond the price. First of all, you relinquish access to your clothes in between trips. If you want them back or to switch things out, you'll pay for a round trip.

If your hotel room is not registered in your name, there's a decent chance your "package" (your DUFL bag from FedEx) will be refused. Yikes! Maybe more practically concerning for some is that this service only serves US locations. They encourage international customers to use DUFL, but only if they are traveling in the US.

If this all sounds appealing to you, now it can be at your fingertips via Android as well. Let us know how it all works out.