If you have laundry on your premises, you’ll want to take advantage of any opportunity for cost savings. One way to save money is to increase the efficiency of your laundry system. Using more efficient practices is a team effort for both your staff and guests. An efficient laundry room experience can benefit the environment while enhancing the user experience.
Continue reading to learn more about making your on-premise laundry more efficient.
On-premise laundry is when a business has laundry facilities at its physical location. The primary difference between traditional commercial and on-premise laundry is who can access the machines. In an on-premise laundry, the facility’s staff or occupants typically have exclusive access to the equipment. In contrast, most conventional commercial laundries are open to the public and often require a payment system.
Another difference is how much control a business has over its operation. With on-premise laundry, a facility has complete control over all the laundry processes, enabling managers to ensure that users operate the equipment according to specific instructions or standards. Public facilities typically have a hired attendant and minimal supervision, with little control over how patrons utilize the washers or dryers.
Offering laundry facilities either in the same building or on the same property as your business — compared to sending laundry to another site — comes with many benefits, including:
On-premise laundry facilities are prevalent across a comprehensive industry range, including:
Making the following changes to your laundry equipment and practices will allow you to increase your efficiency and productivity.
Increasing the efficiency of your business’s on-premise facility begins with laundry equipment. The best way to reach peak efficiency is to have the latest high-quality, eco-friendly washers and dryers available.
Higher-quality machines use less electricity and water, which saves money and speeds up the laundry process. Some advanced models even allow you to control the amount of water they use, and they can detect and notify you if there are leaks before you notice. These features can save you water, money and time.
If your equipment needs an update or is a little old, it is essential to have technicians who are ready to help should something go wrong. Local technicians can get to know you and your needs, making their service calls more efficient and easier for you and your staff.
All businesses must have several people trained on how to run the laundry room efficiently, especially operations that are open 24/7. Having staff that knows how to run the laundry equipment properly will increase efficiency as they will take less time working through loads, and there will be less risk of equipment misuse.
Your staff should have continuous training to keep your business running at peak efficiency. Conduct meetings with individuals and groups to take and implement feedback. You should also schedule regular training sessions to refresh your staff on pertinent information and introduce training on any new models or practices.
Performing preventative maintenance on your commercial laundry equipment will keep your on-premise laundry facility efficient. When laundry equipment receives regular maintenance and proper care, you can limit downtime from broken machines and catch issues before they become problematic.
Preventative maintenance includes everything from wiping down the outside of the machines to more deep cleaning. In-depth maintenance includes:
To prevent mold and mildew accumulation, keep washer doors open between loads so the basins can air dry. You might also institute a weekly cleaning schedule to prevent detergent buildup by running a load with a dedicated washing machine cleaner or a mixture of hot water, vinegar and baking soda.
This tip also keeps your repair costs low and your customers happy. Preventative maintenance will also lower utility costs because it ensures your machines are at the top of their game and don’t need to work as hard. Plus, it will likely increase the life span of your laundry machines.
Though you may feel like commercial laundry equipment should be able to handle any size load, continually overloading machines will likely cause problems for your systems down the road. Ensure machine users do not overload washing machines by providing appropriate signage and training your staff on proper loading techniques.
Certain types of clothes and bedding should also receive different treatment — large comforters, quilts and blankets should go in separate washers and dryers to prevent overworking the machines. While it may seem like doing small loads will decrease efficiency, dividing laundry will keep machines working longer, making it a more efficient strategy in the long run.
Hot water is not always necessary to get your loads clean. Choosing the best detergent for the type of materials you are washing — along with the appropriate wash cycle — is more important than the water temperature. Using cold water for your wash cycles reduces heating costs and preserves energy.
Consistently using cold water in your laundry room can significantly affect electricity costs. As a bonus, cold water may also reduce fading and shrinking and help clothes last longer.
It can be hard to know when to use cold water for laundry and when to use warm water. Ideally, you should use cold water for wash cycles that contain delicate items, wool fabrics and dark-colored items. With that in mind, here are a few instances when you should wash your clothes in warm or hot water:
While over-measuring laundry detergent or softener may not significantly impact each load, it can cause issues over time. Using more detergent than is necessary can hurt clothes. When a cycle produces too many suds, the clothes don’t rub against each other, which helps eliminate the dirt and grime.
Additionally, overusing detergent can cause messes in the dispensers and build up on the basin, leading to more frequent deep cleaning. Be sure to provide options to correctly measure detergent and offer guidance on how much to add to each machine.
Even your choice of lighting could make a huge difference in your efficiency. You could use renewable energy resources to light the space. Switching to energy-efficient bulbs or using motion-activated lights can decrease energy costs.
Tankless water heaters are another efficient way to save money. Tank-style heaters operate around the clock to keep water warm, while tankless models heat water only when needed.
Since laundry machines use significant power, conserving energy where possible saves money, which you can reinvest in your business to create a better customer experience.
When choosing which laundry equipment is best for your business, it’s essential to choose machines that can keep up with the volume of your laundry while ensuring all items are clean. At Caldwell & Gregory, we can help you find the right laundry solution for your needs, regardless of your business’s size.
The Caldwell & Gregory team goes beyond the traditional laundry service provider by listening to your needs and creating a strategy specifically for your facility. When you partner with us, you’ll access the most advanced industry technology and professional services that streamline your operation and save you money. Our team of consultants can determine the most effective equipment to ensure your laundry program is successful.
As we partner with you to choose laundry equipment, we will consider factors like:
At Caldwell & Gregory, we provide a consultative approach, easy-to-understand collections and preventative maintenance for your commercial laundry room. We are proud to be the industry benchmark for collegiate laundry programs and strive to provide students with the best laundry room experience — and with 30 years of experience, we’ve built our legacy on doing just that.
Because we want your on-premise laundry facility to be productive and highly efficient, we manage every aspect of the machines we lease out. Your business deserves an efficient laundry system, so we offer 24/7 customer support to ensure you are always taken care of and your laundry room experiences minimal downtime due to repairs.
Contact us today to learn more about renting our laundry equipment and how we can further transform your on-premise laundry program into what you’ve always hoped it could be.
