Leveling the Playing Field

John Um wanted to make sure small business owners could get fair pricing and access to reliable suppliers without needing to have significant buying power. As a leader whose career spanned several major retail and e-commerce companies, he had seen firsthand how hard...

Staying Fierce: Haley Gould Finds Perfect Fit in Vended Laundry

Haley Gould is the Director of Partner Success for HappyNest. She manages an internal team while leading more than 100 partners across the United States building a successful pickup and delivery operation in addition to running their laundromat business. A consummate...

Metrics That Matter

Profit, Performance, and Planning in Vended Laundry The laundromat business is like most businesses in that you need to do a lot of things right to be successful. But how do you know if it’s working? According to successful owners, you just need to look at the...

Startup to Scale

How Western State Design Has Been Helping Laundry Businesses Thrive for More Than 50 Years For more than five decades, Western State Design has been a leading provider of turnkey laundry solutions across the vended, on-premises, and commercial/industrial markets....

PlanetLaundry Podcast

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My Neighbors Tree Offends Me! Can I Get Out the Ax?

Jan 22, 2015

So your neighbor has trees. Large trees. Large trees with offending branches and roots. In fact, your local fire department is considering citing you because the branches of one of these offending trees are perilously close to your chimney. One day, you notice that...

Don’t Forget to Lock Up

Jan 22, 2015

At approximately 5:00 a.m. on a day in August, a few years back, a female tenant was assaulted in her Inglewood, Calif., apartment by an unknown assailant who was later caught and identified. The culprit had apparently entered through a window in the dining area of...

10 Ways to Irritate Your Customers… Guaranteed!

Jan 21, 2015

Originally posted - Jan 04, 2012 The coin laundry business is a volume-driven business. In other words, the more customers the better – and your machines don't get tired, don't take vacations, don't complain and never refuse to wash and dry a load of clothes....

Headlines

Wash with Wally: A Sticky Situation

Originally posted - Oct 29, 2012 Can you tell me how to remove yellow wood glue from a pair of cotton pants? I haven't found anything that will work. There are a couple of ways to remove glue. In some instances, depending on the type of adhesive, you can use a paint...

Wash with Wally: Powdered Detergent vs. Pods

Originally posted - Sep 23, 2014 We have a fairly large drop-off service at our laundry. Our customers have been happy with our consistency. For detergent, we use powdered Gain. Recently, Gain has come out with a pod-type product. We have contemplated switching to the...

Wash with Wally: Unclaimed Garments

Originally posted - Jul 29, 2013 I get a lot of lost and unclaimed articles of clothing at my store. I'm not talking about just a sock or two - I mean complete loads of laundry. I make sure it is clean and dry. Then, I fold and bag it, and store it for 60 to 90 days....

Wash with Wally: Choosing the Perfect Location

Originally posted - Jun 07, 2013 I want to build another laundry, and I'm currently looking at a site that's located between two large apartment complexes, which hold approximately 1,000 people. This site is on a main street with a good traffic pattern. What do you...

Wash with Wally: Battling Smoke Odors

Originally posted - Dec 28, 2012 I have a wash-dry-fold customer who is a very heavy smoker. In the winter, it seems that the clothes he brings in are at their worst; even the plastic hamper he brings them in reeks of smoke. I have tried an odor-reducing fabric...

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Mop Heads

Originally posted - Oct 08, 2012 I recently landed a commercial laundry account, which involves cleaning closed-loop mop heads for a large nursing home in my area. Can you suggest the most efficient way to wash and dry these mop heads? The good news is that you don't...

Wash with Wally: Vetting a New Laundry Location

Originally posted - Jan 31, 2014 I'm looking to build a new self-service laundry. I already own two stores, and I have time for one more. I think I've found a great location for this new laundry. The area is mostly Hispanic, and there aren't any other laundries within...

Wash with Wally: Purchasing a Vacated Laundry

Originally posted - Nov 01, 2013 I've found a coin laundry that's been closed up. All of the plumbing and electrical are still intact. I only have to reequip it, and I'm in business. What should I look for or try to find out before I sign the lease? I would proceed...

Wash with Wally: Removing Ink Stains

Originally posted - Aug 30, 2012 At my small laundromat, I often have a problem with customers washing and drying their clothes with ballpoint pens in the pockets. This has created a major staining problem in my dryer drums. I have used rubbing alcohol and hair spray...

Wash with Wally: Wrinkle-Free Table Clothes

Originally posted - Jun 04, 2014 I service a commercial account that has just purchased some rather inexpensive, polyester table clothes that wrinkle when washed. Even the client admits that she bought an inferior product. We pretreat these items, wash them in warm...

Wash with Wally: Pricing Large Drop-Off Items

Originally posted - Nov 30, 2012 We are trying to set our wash-dry-fold pricing and have noticed a big difference in how large items are priced. In our area, drycleaners and laundromats with wash-dry-fold services charge a per item fee for comforters, bedspreads,...

Wash with Wally: Keep Store Windows Unobstructed

Originally posted - Nov 21, 2014 I'm building a self-service laundry from the ground up, and I don't want to make any mistakes, even minor ones. My question pertains to my store's windows. Should I install stained glass or clear glass? I would strongly recommend that...

This Month's Issue

Green is Good Business: Green Operations Increasingly Important to Feed Consumer Demand
Women In Laundry: Lee Ann Geurts Loves a Challenge
Store Profile: Kings Laundry Kicking it in Los Angeles
Untapped Growth Opportunities
And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Maytag Honors Leading Distributors

Maytag Commercial Laundry recently held its 58th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, welcoming 218 attendees from 22 countries to the three-day event. One of the meeting's highlights was the Fred Maytag Awards Dinner, where the company saluted its leading distributors. This...

Girbau Signs Joint-Venture Agreement with Chinese Manufacturer

Continental Girbau Inc.'s parent company - Girbau, based in Vic, Spain - has signed a joint-venture agreement with Shenguang of China. The two laundry equipment manufacturing companies signed the agreement on May 18 in Shanghai. As a result of the joint venture,...

EnviroStar Acquires Martin-Ray Laundry Systems

EnviroStar Inc., a distributor of commercial laundry and drycleaning equipment based in Miami, has announced its acquisition of Martin-Ray Laundry Systems Inc., a distributor of vended, commercial and industrial laundry equipment, as well as a provider of laundry...

Clean 2017 Boasts Impressive Attendance, Exhibitor Numbers

The Clean Show, which was held June 5-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, celebrated its 40th anniversary this year – and 12,563 attendees joined the party. In addition, the show's exhibit floor was sold out at 227,006 net square feet, representing the largest...

Metropolitan Laundry Machinery Named Huebsch Distributor of the Year

Huebsch presented Metropolitan Laundry Machinery Sales, Inc. with the manufacturer's highest honor - the 2016 Distributor of the Year - at a ceremony held June 5 at the Foundation Room inside the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. This is the 13th time...