To Co-Mingle Wash-Dry-Fold Loads or Not? With Today’s Larger Equipment, That Question Very Likely is Moot
The key to a successful wash-dry-fold service is doing a better job than your customers can do for themselves. And, in past columns, we’ve discussed various ways to offer a quality drop-off service through first-rate cleaning, folding and presentation practices.
This month, I’d like to focus on the actual equipment used for your wash-dry-fold loads. At my store, we have machines that are dedicated strictly for handling wash-dry-fold orders – and we do this for two reasons.
First, I want to be able to alter the washers’ programs. All of today’s machines computer-controlled, which enables you to modify nearly every aspect of the wash cycle; and I to take advantage of this technology to help me deliver a higher quality product.
In addition, having dedicated “wash-dry-fold machines” let’s me stay out of the way of my self-service customers. After all, nothing is more profitable in this business than self-service laundry. As much as we discuss the wash-dry-fold segment, you will never – ever – get your drop-off business to be as profitable as your self-service business.
Given this fact, I’ve always located my “wash-dry-fold machines” farthest from the front door so that my drop-off business doesn’t conflict with my walk-in clientele.
As a smaller added benefit, the washers in the back typically are the least-used machines in the store, so using them for wash-dry-fold allows them to wear out at about the same rate as the other machines. This way, when it comes time to re-equip my laundry, I can keep everything looking uniform.
Perhaps the more pressing equipment question these days with regard to wash-dry-fold laundry is the fact that most of today’s laundromats simply don’t feature a lot of small-capacity washers. The trend is to build stores with large-capacity machines – 60-, 80- and 120-pound washers are now common.
So, how do you process a 12-pound wash-dry-fold order when you’ve got a bunch of 60-pound washers?
In the past, I have been a strong proponent of not mixing loads, simply because you truly run the risk of completely destroying any possible client relationship – not to mention your reputation – if you ever made a mistake with a mixed load.
However, with that said, you have to come to terms with the fact that you’re likely going to have to mix wash-dry-fold loads at some point. One order per one machine isn’t going to work all of the time, and even I will mix loads at my store when needed.
For those occasions, we have colored mesh bags. We’ll use different colored bags for different orders. We’ll write down the color on the order form; for instance, all of the blue bags in a wash cycle belong to Customer A, and all of the yellow bags belong to Customer B, and so on.
Obviously, it’s critical to secure those bags so that they don’t open up during the wash cycle.
One of the panelists for the wash-dry-fold presentation at this year’s Clean Show in Atlanta was Rita Foley of White Star Laundry & Cleaners, based in Durham, N.C. White Star does a ton of wash-dry-fold and commercial laundry, and Rita has developed a phenomenal system for mixing loads.
Like at my store, she uses mesh bags, which can be purchased from most drycleaning suppliers. She then uses what look like giant safety pins to seal off those bags – folding over the opening of the bag and looping the pin through the mesh every couple of holes to create a secure closure. Next, Rita will insert a second pin a few inches down in the same manner as the first one. This way, if one pin gives out, the second pin is there to reinforce the closure.
Rather than using different colored bags when mixing loads, Rita uses a numbering system similar to what’s used in the drycleaning process. Each of her mesh bags will include a tag with a tracking number, as well as a number indicating how many bags make up each specific customer order.
This way, she can wash several separate orders together at the same time and keep it all straight. With this system, you can put 10 to 15 orders in an 80- or 120-pound washer simultaneously.
After the wash cycle, you basically bring all of the orders back together and take the garments out of the bags for the drying process; let’s say you take six bags from one order that you washed in a couple of different washers – now you can dry those items all together, and that order is all together for the folding process.
With the way in which many of today’s modern self-service laundries are equipped, if your wash-dry-fold business is going to grow, you’re likely going to have to accept bagging and mixing loads to be able to process the work efficiently.
And, with the methods outlined above, you can do it confidently and with peace of mind.
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