Given the nature of clients and the level of competitiveness present in the commercial sector, laundry mistakes are something most businesses cannot afford to make.
While laundry best practices abound, commercial laundries are prone to making inefficient choices that hurt their operations and clients. These include overloading or underloading washers and continuing to operate with outdated machines.
While these may seem like cost-effective practices, we’ve found that these hinder efficiency and profit growth effectively. Diving into more of what can hurt your business, our blog this week takes a look at common commercial laundry mistakes. Continue reading to find out what these are!
Neglecting washing machine maintenance
While it may be hard to find the time to clean washing machines in a commercial laundry, this is absolutely crucial to ensure that items are laundered effectively.
Now, it may be baffling as to why washers need to be cleaned. The truth is, however, that not all water leaves these machines at the end of a wash cycle. This can stagnate and lead to unpleasant odours, which, in turn, can be transferred onto linen.
It is important, therefore, that washing machines are cleaned at the end of each day. In this way, water remaining in the drum is not allowed to accumulate overnight, making for an easier and odourless wash cycle the next day.
Excessive use of cleaning chemicals
While it’s tempting to believe that loading your laundry with detergents and other chemicals will clean linen more thoroughly, this can also damage fabrics and cause colours to ‘leak’.
Given that this is unacceptable, especially within the commercial sector, such laundry mistakes need to be avoided at all costs. In this regard, operators must ensure that all chemicals used are measured and used according to manufacturer guidelines, load size, and the types of machines being used.
Using outdated equipment
Another one of many laundry mistakes that can really hurt businesses in the commercial sector is the use of outdated equipment.
Given the impetus to move towards more conscious consumption through energy-efficient, water and heat-saving machines, commercial laundries simply have to take the dive when it comes to hardware investments.
While this is certainly a considerable investment, these machines pay for themselves over and over through utility savings. These not only save electricity and water, but they also cut down on the use of chemicals that are harmful to the environment. They also improve washing operations, cleaning and protecting fabrics considerably better – compared to their older counterparts.
Overloading washing machines
When considering laundry mistakes, another crucial failing is the practice of overloading washing machines.
While you may think that doing so will get the job done much faster, this is a counterproductive practice that can land laundries in hot water. Even with large industrial washing machines, overloading linen must be avoided at all costs.
This is because stuffing linen can prevent detergent and other cleaning fluids from being distributed evenly, leading to a poor cleaning service. It also places an undue burden on the washers themselves, leading to damage and breakdowns before too long.
Underloading washing machines
While it may seem illogical, underloading washing machines is just as wasteful as overloading.
Given that washers typically consume significant water and energy, not loading up the washer to optimum capacity can clam down on operational efficiency. This can affect a laundry’s delivery rate, which, in the commercial sector, can prove to be very damaging.
Failing to adjust machine settings
For commercial laundries, meeting the cleaning requirements of each client is necessary to boast exceptional service delivery.
In this regard, one of the biggest laundry mistakes businesses make is the failure to adjust wash settings for each load. Given the different cleaning standards required and the differences in the material of each laundry set, using standard wash setting can run laundries out of business if they’re not too careful.
Key takeaways
Commercial laundry clients are tough and unyielding when it comes to their demands being met. By committing laundry mistakes such as those outlined above, laundries may find that their service is not up to the standard expected of businesses within this industry.
If left unaddressed, these can quickly prove to be a nightmare for companies trying to reach their zenith.
How else can I avoid commercial laundry mistakes?
For more insights on how to avoid commercial laundry mistakes, head to the Bundle Laundry blog today!