Do you run a business that requires you to have either staff uniforms cleaned and ironed on a weekly or daily basis, or do you run a business such as a Bed and Breakfast, restaurant or hotel, all of which require fresh linen on a daily basis?
Well if you do then the chances are that you are using the services of a commercial laundry. So what makes one tick? And is it worth considering buying in commercial laundry equipment yourself and setting up your own laundry in house? You may find that at some point it becomes worthwhile setting up your own operation, but what does this involve? To do this you are going to find out how a commercial laundry runs.
Firstly, it is all about speed. It is very plain and simple when it comes to running a commercial laundry, time is money, and the faster things are washed, dried, ironed and folded, then the higher the throughput of the laundry and the more money it can make.
Every time a machine breaks down then it means less washing that can be handled, and less money that can be earned. Hence everything is geared up for speed.
The washing machines are designed to clean clothes as fast as possible, yet at the same time use as little water as possible, as given the high volumes of laundry they do, water is a very big outgoing cost to them.
They also use very high capacity tumble driers, which are intelligent and sense when the washing is dry and turn themselves off to save energy.
Also, all of the heating in the tumble driers and the washing machines is done using gas not electricity, whilst this is partly for cost, it is also for efficiency. By using gas for heat, the heat is instant as there is no waiting around for the heat to build up, and once again this is done for speed. The faster the clothes are dried then the higher the throughput the laundry can achieve
They also use a device you will not have at home, which is a hydro extractor. It has a vertical top loading drum, which spins at very high speed to remove as much water as possible after the laundry has been taken out of the washing machine. These can be so effective that some laundry need not be dried but go straight to the finishing process.
Lastly the final stage in the laundry process is the ironing, where large roller irons are often used, that can iron garments in seconds, far faster than achievable by hand, they also often feature folding machines.
Well if you do then the chances are that you are using the services of a commercial laundry. So what makes one tick? And is it worth considering buying in commercial laundry equipment yourself and setting up your own laundry in house? You may find that at some point it becomes worthwhile setting up your own operation, but what does this involve? To do this you are going to find out how a commercial laundry runs.
Firstly, it is all about speed. It is very plain and simple when it comes to running a commercial laundry, time is money, and the faster things are washed, dried, ironed and folded, then the higher the throughput of the laundry and the more money it can make.
Every time a machine breaks down then it means less washing that can be handled, and less money that can be earned. Hence everything is geared up for speed.
The washing machines are designed to clean clothes as fast as possible, yet at the same time use as little water as possible, as given the high volumes of laundry they do, water is a very big outgoing cost to them.
They also use very high capacity tumble driers, which are intelligent and sense when the washing is dry and turn themselves off to save energy.
Also, all of the heating in the tumble driers and the washing machines is done using gas not electricity, whilst this is partly for cost, it is also for efficiency. By using gas for heat, the heat is instant as there is no waiting around for the heat to build up, and once again this is done for speed. The faster the clothes are dried then the higher the throughput the laundry can achieve
They also use a device you will not have at home, which is a hydro extractor. It has a vertical top loading drum, which spins at very high speed to remove as much water as possible after the laundry has been taken out of the washing machine. These can be so effective that some laundry need not be dried but go straight to the finishing process.
Lastly the final stage in the laundry process is the ironing, where large roller irons are often used, that can iron garments in seconds, far faster than achievable by hand, they also often feature folding machines.