From Preventive Maintenance to Equipment Repair, Store Owners Share Key Strategies for Keeping Their Laundromats Running Smoothly and Profitably
[This is the second of a two-part feature article. You can read Part One here.]
In a continuation of PlanetLaundry‘s March cover story, five more successful store owners discuss the preventive maintenance and equipment repair programs that keep their laundry operations running smoothly and profitably:
Ken Abreu
Shoreview Wash & Dry
San Mateo, Calif.
Number of Stores: 2
Percentage of Gross Sales That Repair/Maintenance Represents: 1 percent to 3 percent
For equipment maintenance, we prefer the DIY method. However, we will call our manufacturers’ tech support for help and advice over the phone, if needed. We’ll only utilize our distributor’s service technicians when we can’t fix the problem ourselves.
This approach gets the problem fixed sooner and at the lowest cost. Waiting for a tech can take a week and be quite costly.
Preventive maintenance is key. Keep a log of what work is done on each machine so that you know the history of that piece of equipment. Also, follow up on customer complaints, as these can identify problems in their early stages. Look for leaks and other signs of problems. Use the machines yourself to see if there are any issues.
With regard to stocking parts, we keep extra water valves and diaphragms, drain valves, computer boards, screws, and coin drops on hand for our washers. For dryers, we stock belts, computer boards and coin drops,
Acceptable Downtime for Equipment: Our goal is no machine out of order. Typically, we’ll fix a problem in a day or two. We try to make sure that all machines are working before the weekend. If machines aren’t working then, customers will notice – and they’ll look for another laundromat.
Best Advice: Fix problems fast, use quality parts and do the job right.
Megan Willette
St. Peter Laundry Co.
St. Peter, Minn.
Number of Stores: 1
Percentage of Gross Sales That Repair/Maintenance Represents: 7.3 percent in 2021
I handle all of the small repairs myself, and I have a local HVAC technician who tackles any of the next-level repairs. When the complexity of the equipment maintenance goes beyond my local repairperson, I rely on my distributor’s service program.
I try to teach my attendants how to do simple repairs. For instance, I’ll use the Snapchat app to take photos and write notes about frequent maintenance issues, such as coin jams – and then I’ll share that information with my attendants.
I also keep parts on hand for reoccurring repairs, including washer door parts, dryer sensors and fuses.
Best Advice: Watch and learn so that you can handle more repairs yourself.
Barrett VanDame
WashStop Laundry Center
Lansdale, Pa.
Number of Stores: 1
Percentage of Gross Sales That Repair/Maintenance Represents: Under 1 percent, which is partly due to having new equipment
When it comes to maintenance or repair, the task will dictate what method is used. The daily machine and dryer lint cleaning is performed by our staff, while my son, Jeff, handles most of the repairs and deep cleaning maintenance.
From time to time, an issue will come up that has us stumped. In such cases, we’ll first contact the manufacturer’s tech support, which has been great. They’ve seen and heard it all before and that usually gives us a resolution to the issue, or at least a plan to troubleshoot the problem.
However, depending on the issue, we may call our distributor tech support. They also have been very helpful, and sometimes it may require them to troubleshoot a stubborn problem on-site in order to get a downed piece of equipment back up and running quickly. Of course, if we can resolve an issue without having to have a factory rep visit, it’s quicker and more cost-effective.
We keep detailed notes on our equipment repairs and maintenance, so we can track machine activity. All of our machines are networked, and most error codes are automatically texted or emailed to alert us of any issue so that it can be quickly addressed.
We keep an organized parts inventory, and source quality replacement parts. OEM parts may cost a little more up front, but in our experience, they tend to last longer and be more trouble-free than aftermarket parts.
I’d love to say we follow the OEM maintenance schedule, but the reality is most issues are taken care of as they come up. Since our equipment is all relatively new, we have had little maintenance issues overall. However, we schedule a periodic dryer cleaning, where we pull the front and rear panels for a thorough vacuuming.
In addition, we use an ozone system in all cold-water cycles, and we conduct annual preventative maintenance on this system, as well as our water heater.
As far as parts inventory, we keep dryer belts, dryer temperature probes, thermistors, gas ignition modules and screens to repair lint trays. We have water valves and water valve repair kits for the washers. And, thus far, we haven’t had an issue with obtaining parts when needed.
Best Advice: Equipment down time should be kept to a minimum, especially going into a busy weekend. If parts are not on hand, you need to be prepared to get them quickly to finish the repair. If customers see machines are down, it reflects badly on your brand. A meticulously clean store and all equipment in working order is our primary goal. That and friendly attendants helping customers as needed are keys to our success.
Rob Maes
Express Laundry Center
Houston
Number of Stores: 4
There’s no right or wrong strategy for maintenance. I know owners who buy new equipment every seven to 10 years. If that’s their plan, they probably don’t need to maintain their equipment as well as someone like me, who chooses to try to keep it for 14 to 21 years. It’s like leasing a car. If you know you’re going to get a new one every three years, you’re probably not going to maintain it as well as if you plan to keep it for 100,000 miles or so.
As far as owners doing their own maintenance, I urge operators to consider the amount of opportunity cost involved in having downed equipment. Perhaps a repair tech can fix your problem for $65 an hour, and you might value your time at $200 an hour – but it can still be worth your time to make the repair yourself on the spot, rather than having that machine sit idle for an extended period.
If I’m in a store and have the needed parts in stock – and I know I can fix an issue in 30 minutes or so – more likely than not, I’ll just knock it out quickly.
With that said, I’m at the point now, with four stores, where I have a full-time maintenance/repair person on staff. This employee works on the washers and dryers, along with a lot of the other routine maintenance that goes along with owning laundromats that I simply don’t have time to do anymore. For me, a full-time “maintenance” staffer is the way to go.
Of course, your company culture will dictate how your deal with maintaining your equipment. Personally, I make it clear to our employees that there’s nothing I hate more than walking into a store and finding equipment that’s been placed out of service that I don’t know anything about.
Theoretically, it would be easiest for attendants to simply put every single piece of equipment “out of order,” which would make their lives a whole lot simpler. But the reality is that the only way the business can make money is if those machines are running.
So, we stress to our employees that we don’t want to any machine placed out of service until they’ve tried to troubleshoot the problem over the phone with me or a repair tech. Our employees must receive permission before taking a piece of equipment out of service.
Maintenance Hack: I’m an advocate of buying a used piece of equipment, comparable to what you have in your laundry – and using it for parts. You can buy an old, used washer for $500 and get thousands of dollars in parts from it – especially right now, with a lot of the parts being hard to source.
I also suggest using your entire laundromat to help resolve maintenance issues. If you have a problem with your equipment, move the suspect part from one machine to another to help diagnose the issue and confirm which part is causing the trouble.
In the laundry business, we’re fortunate to have several samples of whatever we’re working on. It’s not uncommon for me to look at the washer next to the one I’m fixing to make sure I’m doing it correctly. I’ll use the one next to it as a reference.
Acceptable Downtime for Equipment: 24 hours. You don’t want to create any doubt in a customer’s mind about your business.
Best Advice: It’s a fallacy to view the laundromat business as an absentee-owner business. Machines are going to break, customers will break them, and utilities will go down.
Even if you’re an owner who doesn’t plan to do any maintenance at all, you still must know enough to be able to diagnose maintenance issues and how to service them. You have to know how your laundry equipment – and your overall operation – works, and understand it at a mechanical level.
Dan Marrazzo
Laundry Depot
Morrisville, Pa.
Number of Stores: 4 laundromats across 2 states
Percentage of Gross Sales That Repair/Maintenance Represents: Most of our machinery is 10 years old or less, so our maintenance represents less than 1 percent of sales.
We handle our maintenance with four employees. We keep schedules in each store, as well as having them in phone schedules.
As that classic Fram Oil Filter commercial reminded us: “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” Avoiding maintenance is the same as driving your car and never changing the fluids or filters. You’re just tempting fate.
Dryers seem to require more maintenance, so we schedule a thorough cleaning twice a year. This involves removing the front covers and using a vacuum. The rear ducts inside the dryer, along with the dryer vents to the exterior, are cleaned at this time. We use a chimney brush from the roof or exterior wall to remove all the lint. Because of the use of dryer sheets, the lint can be very sticky and difficult to remove.
Washers are repaired as necessary, and we use a sewer jetter machine to clean the drains twice a year – before they clog.
Washers typically require more parts, and we keep several water valves and drain valves in stock. For parts, the recent supply challenges seem to be easing, but continue to be difficult at times.
Our best practice is to fix issues as we see them, and avoid the dreaded out of order stickers on too many machines. We find that we can do emergency measures on a Sunday afternoon during game time, or we can follow a regular schedule and avoid lost time and money.
Acceptable Downtime for Equipment: We strive for 100 percent uptime, but realize that with so many machines running there will be four or five problems in each store.
Best Advice: Remember the Boy Scouts of America’s motto, as well as that of the United States Coast Guard: “Be Prepared” and “Semper Paratus.” They both work well in your laundromat, too.
