Commercial Laundry vs. In-House Laundry: Pros and Cons
With more than 143,000 hospitality companies in the UK, it is easy to understand how much laundry the commercial sector produces. This also expands beyond restaurants and hotels to cover other industries, such as beauty, retail, education, and construction, to name just a few.
Although the average commercial washing machine can complete a load in 40 minutes, many other contributing factors mean this can become tiresome for employees nationwide.
Businesses that need to complete regular washes have two options: commercial laundry services or in-house operations.
As experts in all things laundry, we are here to give you a complete rundown of both options. Whether you are an exhausted business owner or a shattered employee struggling to keep up with laundry demands, hopefully, by the end of this article, you will have a better idea of what option is best for you.
What Do We Mean By Commercial and In-House Laundry?
First, let’s start by confirming what we mean by both terms.
Commercial laundry is the name of a professional laundry service provider who completes washes, dry-cleaning and ironing for businesses. This could be anything from washing hotel bedding to towels from a salon. If a company produces laundry, a whole plethora of experts are available to tackle the task of washing for you. Click the link to learn more about what commercial laundry is.
The term in-house laundry relates to scenarios where businesses carry out all their washing within the premises. This means that all equipment and products are kept on site; this usually requires additional staff focused on keeping laundry levels at bay.
What is the fastest way to do your laundry, and which option is better for companies? Keep reading to make your mind up.
What Are The Pros and Cons of In-House Laundry?
In-house laundry is an option that many companies think is the only way to complete their laundry. Due to budgets and logistics, that may be the case for some, but for many, commercial services are just a few clicks away. Having said that, though, there are pros and cons to completing laundry in-house that should be considered.
Pros
- Availability – No matter what type of machines you have or staff on the job, the option to wash is always there if you have in-house facilities. This is particularly ideal if you have a last-minute request or unpredicted customer order that comes in.
- Spend on laundry – While in-house facilities may only have regular machines, some speed benefits can still be noticed. If a business has a dedicated team and utility space, they are likely to be able to churn out large loads of laundry quickly.
- Cost savings – Although the amount you spend on commercial laundry is not too different from in-house loads by the time you factor in staffing, utilities and cleaning products, there is still a marginal money saving to be made. Companies should, however, assess if their staff’s time could be used better or if the dedicated area changed for something else to figure out ROI accurately.
Cons
- Management of delicate items – Some items will need specialist treatment. This is great if you have the facilities in-house, but not everyone will have the machinery or know-how to look after certain materials. This can lead to money lost on damaged items and, in the worst scenarios, make guests or customers unhappy.
- Reliability – Most in-house laundry facilities will use standard machines, with some choosing industrial options. Unfortunately, both represent reliability issues, which can be considered a con.
- If a backup option is unavailable, broken washing machines lead to a laundry nightmare. Standard domestic washing machines are supposed to last for 10-13 years, and industrial machines for much longer. However, issues can occur if both are used excessively and not properly maintained.
- Dry-clean only items – There is also the issue of items that cannot be safely machine-washed, which will be impossible for in-house teams to handle.
We believe that dry cleaning linen is one of these scenarios, as putting 100% linen in the dryer especially can lead to issues for some. While there are still some debates about whether you should dry clean or launder linen, this and other materials need to be handled professionally; otherwise, money can be lost due to damage to items.
What Are The Pros and Cons of In-Commercial Laundry?
The global commercial laundry sector is worth more than $1.45 billion. This shows just how many businesses already use this as a method for getting items cleaned but let’s look at the pros and cons of this method also.
Pros
- Specialist services – Many commercial laundry services don’t just wash and dry-clean items. Instead, they offer additional services. Our service offering demonstrates this via our hotel affiliation scheme and linen hire options. You can also look at the best linen services to understand how highly regarded our service is.
- For many companies, these specialist services offer a competitive advantage which strengthens their own offering to customers.
- Fast processing – Speed is also on the side of commercial laundry providers, as industrial machines run much quicker. When you also factor in the larger scale of operations and team of experts, you can see how much more laundry can be processed in this way.
- Cost-Effective – Paying for a commercial service can also save business money once cost-saving and staffing duties are considered. Businesses tend to pay by the load, which means large amounts of laundry can be shipped away for an affordable price.
- Top quality every time – Last but not least is that a professional clean is guaranteed every time. Not only do dry, cleaned clothes last longer, and commercial machines create better results, but the attention to detail provided by the laundry experts means that no stains or marks are left untreated. This even included tough-to-remove stains, such as armpit stains, which only dry cleaning can tackle.
Cons
- Not available in all locations – While most major cities and towns are covered, commercial laundry is unavailable across the UK. It is always worth checking online services, though, to see what area coverage they offer.
- Short notice bookings not always available – If you have a same-day emergency, you may not always get a slot with a commercial laundry provider. Stains such as hair dye on towels, red wine on table clothes and even beauty products on robes are all laundry nightmares that must be treated quickly for the best chance of a complete clean.
How Does Love2Laundry’s Commercial Service Bridge The Gaps?
That certainly was a lot of information to digest, but hopefully, you now know what option is best for your business. The benefit of choosing Love2Laundry’s commercial service is that every one of the above points has been turned into a pro or offering as we understand just how vital laundry can be to the stress-free running of a company.
To combat the time crunches that some people experience with commercial services, we offer same and next-day options and designated collection and drop-off slots. We work with businesses to ensure their needs are met and do the best we can to meet tough timeframes.
Our model also benefits companies in more ways than just a speedy wash, with other advantages including sustainability, affordability, and extensive service offerings. We want businesses to feel fully supported, which is why we ensure by being associated with our business, your company stands to benefit.
You can also click this link to find our laundry collection and delivery services near you. Although we do not cover all of the UK, we are based in many major cities with a wide area of coverage, so fingers crossed that our services can be used for your needs.
You can view our pricing online or contact our team of experts today to find out more
