Paid Laundries: Simple yet effective
The hospitality industry forms one of the largest customers in Australia for comercial laundry suppliers. This is unsurprising when having an efficient laundry is one of the most vital and luxurious services offered to guests within an accommodation complex.
The installation of paid laundry facilities is a cost effective way of providing laundry facilities to the general public – however, investing in a new system requires careful consideration. Deciding what type of equipment to install is somewhat easier if it is required for a new building but many more owners will need to replace existing outdated laundry equipment. In this case, there are several factors that will define their choice of equipment.
For a successful paid laundry installation, the consumer must have the most up-to-date technology available to meet the required standards. Investing in the newest technology can be expensive but the savings made will often pay for itself in just a few short years. Coin operated machines should attract users and thus encouraging guests to use the facilities is paramount to making a profit. Consideration must be given to how easy the machines will be for guests to use and to what payment system will be made available; whether coin or card operated. Simplicity and convenience are key to ensuring maximum user friendliness.
The installation must also be designed to fit the physical, or spatial, constraints of your property. The following advice outlines some basic rules of thumb when installing a paid laundry facility:
- Have sufficient floor space for a well-planned layout, allowing for laundry pre-sorting areas, which may include a pre-soak sink.
- Allow for an adequate installation and service area around the machines plus room for a worktop or table for sorting and folding.
- Separate clean and soiled work areas, to prevent contamination.
- Match the size of the dryers to the washing machines. For instance, a medium sized motel may install an 18kg front-loading washing machine and then match it with a 23kg tumble drier. The machines can then be used consecutively ensuring that a bottleneck is not created.
Naturally, the technology must work with a very high reliability rate and it must also meet all operational requirements. In house laundry equipment is a workhorse as it can be used by a large variety of people for 24 hours a day. Over time, labour for servicing and repairs is potentially the biggest cost to the consumer and therefore acquiring the correct size equipment to fit the consumer’s needs is essential. If equipment is too small to handle the usually vast volume of washing guests usually have, then the machine will be over-worked and operating for longer hours; therefore it will require more maintenance and additional costs. Equally, energy will be wasted if equipment is too large for an average load. Most importantly, the system must be maintained and commercial warranties along with nationally available servicing are crucial to keep in mind when choosing a particular brand of machine.
Water containing detergent is one of the biggest waste products coming from commercial laundries. Investing in new machines that reduce water is therefore one of the best strategies that you can implement. The type of detergents used and the method of distribution should also be considered and advice from the supplier is highly recommended. Having the option of using environmentally friendly products is always preferable, as these are gentler on laundry and the facilities themselves.
Acquiring new laundry systems should present an opportunity to ensure better water efficiency. According to the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, “Commercial laundries and dry-cleaners are increasingly considering environmental performance as part of their planning and operational procedures. Adopting eco-efficient business practices will not only benefit the environment, they will also improve business operational efficiency and reduce costs.”
Optimum energy and water efficiency is a huge consideration and both the customer and the supplier should be involved in order to improve the environmental performance and to reduce the operational costs. Guests should be informed about all the green strategies and achievements that the accommodation provider has made. The efforts made for the environment may be the extra persuasion that guests need to use the property in the future over a competitor. Remembering that innovative accommodation owners are those who do their best to build their green credentials and subsequently their businesses.
Acquiring new paid laundry equipment must meet all of the customer’s financial criteria but remember the old adage – you get what you pay for. It usually makes more sense to pay that little bit extra to ensure that you get the best quality environmentally efficient equipment that you can buy and to ensure that the size and design is exactly right for the space this philosophy could save thousands of dollars over the long term.
We have managed to put some essential questions to experts from leading laundry suppliers in order to clarify the choices available to hotels.
 Lisa Horne managing director from Aqualogic: |
What space saving laundry products do you market for the hospitality industry?
“We offer a full line of laundry equipment, meeting the needs of any size laundry. From large commercial hospitality laundries to on premise laundries, right down to small guest laundries. Our entire equipment range boasts a “small footprint” as a space saving advantage. In particular, our space saving high production range of ironers, the Chicago Tristar combination feeder/ironer/folder/stacker offers the ability to feed, iron, fold and stack all types of flatwork, from king sheets to small napkins, with one operator in a fraction of the space of competitive ironing lines.
“For the guest laundry, we offer a space saving washer/dryer stack combination,allowing maximum use of space in a small laundry room. Our range of stack dryers give double the drying capacity in the same space for those laundries struggling with floor space. Ipso professional washer extractors have an even smaller footprint, smaller than competitive models, which provides space for more equipment, trolleys, and gains efficiency by having a greater working area and better access for servicing.”
What are their energy efficiency/water efficiency/environmentally friendly qualities?
“Aqualogic is proud to introduce a new range of energy efficient washers and dryers. Aqualogic’s new Ipso D-Line washers come standard with an inbuilt Smartwave system that accurately determines the minimal amount of required water to achieve the desired wash result. The microprocessor achieves this by calculating the water retention of the load type without the need of operator intervention. This is a unique feature to Ipso and far moreaccurate than competitor weighing systems which do not consider linen type and absorption rates.
“Aqualogic’s range of Huebsch tumble dryers now come standard with Over Dry Protection. While competitors may claim to sense levels of dryness, Aqualogic dryers have a far greater surface area (two complete internal cylinder baffles) of sensing, calculating at 1000 times per second. This results in a dramatic reduction in drying time; decreases of 50% are common, which extends linen life and halves gas consumption; reducing time and labour costs.
“Our manufacturer of continuous batch washers, Milnor, has made the laundry industry’s most significant innovation in decades with the introduction of their Pulseflow concept for tunnel washers. This technology has seena dramatic reduction in water usage with rates as low as two and a half litres per kilogram of linen.”
What commercial warranties do you offer?
“Our products all provide industry leading warranties. These include coverage for up to five years on the most expensive components.”
What washing machine and tumble dryer sizes do you offer?
Washers: 5kg – 200kg capacity
Dryers: 8kg – 200kg capacity
Continuous Batch Washers: 2t+ production per hour
Detergent distribution methods?
“Aqualogic’s range of washers have the flexibility to cater for all types of chemical connections or basic manual chemical dose. Ipso microprocessors allow chemical providers to tailor a wash program in conjunction with chemicals usage providing the customer with a list of programs specific to their requirements.”
What makes your laundry products standout from competitors?
“Our focus on sustainability; our continually improving water efficiency; our insistence on reducing use of power and chemicals; investment in advancing microprocessor controls providing greater control over programming. As well as maintaining strength of build with high quality raw materials, which lead to increased longevity and reliability. Our serviceability also means we can provide easy, cost effective long term service.
“Ours is a company-operated service department with the largest team of specialised, factory trained technicians, providing fastest response to emergency break downs and repairs. Our fully documented maintenance procedures assist in the implementation of quality management of equipment. We also focus on developing customer friendly operating and service training and procedures to ensure economical laundry operations.”
Payment systems – coin operated, card or other?
“The standard equipment available is push to start, either coin operated or with advanced card operating systems.”
Where are your products manufactured?
“Primarily across the USA and Europe.”
Do you supply and service nationally?
“Yes.”
What is planned for the future?
“We have planned further investment in expanding our markets and service apabilities; our manufacturers continue to develop resource and labour saving equipment.”
Where do you see laundry technology in five years?
“Continued improvement on environmentally friendly qualities, as well as improved microprocessor controls for customer interface and service diagnostics.”
 Gabrielle Worthington, owner/director of Dependable Laundry Solutions: |
What space saving laundry products do you market for the hospitality industry?
“Maytag engineers recognise that space is a premium in most laundry outlets and so all Maytag products are designed with space saving in mind. That said, the Stack washer/dryer combo is the equipment of choice when space is at a premium. It is a full size, high efficiency washer and a super capacity dryer that fits in the floor space of a washer alone.”
What commercial warranties do you offer?
“Maytag offers the best warranty in the commercial laundry equipment business; a whopping five years.”
What washing machine and tumble drier sizes do you offer?
“We have a wide range of Maytag products available from the 7kg commercial top loader washing machines through to our 57kg industrial front loaders. We also have Maytag dryers that range from 9kg right through to the industrial 55kg machines. We can also do special orders on bigger equipment. As distributors for Huebsch tumble dryers we carry the range from 13kg to 55kg. Anything above is custom ordered.”
What makes your laundry products standout from competitors?
“Quite simply, our dependability. Maytag has built an excellent worldwide reputation for dependability in its robust built-to-last products. It is this dependability that allows Maytag to offer a five-year warranty when their competitors usually only offer two, or sometimes, three years. This reliability is demonstrated by the absolute faith our purchasers have in the Maytag product which has been ongoing and continues strongly by way of our repeat sales.”
Payment systems – coin operated, card or other?
“Our Maytag equipment is currently coin drop but plans are being formulated to gradually introduce the card systems that are already in place in the United States.”
Where are your products manufactured?
Maytag commercial laundry equipment products are manufactured in USA.
Do you supply and service nationally?
“Dependable Laundry Solutions is the exclusive distributor in Western Australia and the Northern Territory for the Maytag range of products and also distributes Huebsch tumble dryer equipment. We supply multi-load machines anywhere in Australia and we provide spare parts backup anywhere in Australia from our Welshpool warehouse.”
What’s planned for the future?
“Unlike America, apart from a few rare exceptions, Australian laundromats do not offer much in the way of extra, or add-on, amenities. Thus our next challenge, in our distributorship areas, is to establish and sell the advantages of invitingly modern, well designed laundries full of sparkling new machines, perhaps with a coffee machine and a lounge area for while-you-wait customers. Perhaps also a couple of vending machines to help increase the profit; a drop-and-go bag wash service; an ironing service. A clean, well-lit, well-appointed and well-run modern laundry provides an opportunity for an excellent cash revenue stream for our clients.”
Where do you see laundry technology in five years?
“Enviro-laundry is the future. With utility costs spiralling, we see the future design and operation of washing and drying machines as catering for doing things more efficiently with less impact on the environment. By designing equipment that uses less energy, less water and is more efficient in every sense of the word there are, by extension, substantial savings to be made in the operation of coin, and non-coin, laundries. And this is of great importance to our customers because the most significant costs to operators over the life of the equipment are the utility costs.
“Innovations such as detergent free washing by using reusable plastic beads are being trialled overseas and there are many examples available on the Internet of how the future of laundry is changing. But unless people go downto the river and hand wash by beating their clothes and using the free dryer called the sun, there will always be a need for commercial washing and drying machines.
 Libby Baldwin, marketing manager at Richard Jay: |
What space saving laundry products do you market for the hospitality industry?
“We market the Maytag commercial washer and dryer stacked unit. This smart space saving stacked washer and dryer takes up half of the floor space of a conventional full size washer and dryer pair, making it easier to fit into smaller laundry area. Despite the smaller floor space needed, the washer still has a large 8.5kg capacity, with the dryer also having a 9kg capacity.
“This washer and dryer pair are designed with energy and water efficiency in mind, saving you up to 60% on energy and water costs, while retaining the built-to-last toughness that only Maytag can deliver. This machine also comes with Maytag’s five year limited warranty on parts, the best warranty in the business. The machine comes in a choice of coin or non-coin operated, with the dryer coming as either electric or gas operated.”
What commercial warranties do you offer?
“The longest warranty in the industry is offered with the Maytag commercial laundry range: five years limited parts warranty and one year labour warranty.”
What washing machine and tumble drier sizes do you offer?
“We offer the largest range of laundry machinery in Australia, from 6kg up to 200kg with tumble dryers to match.”
Detergent distribution methods?
“Auto detergent feed is available on our range of Primus washing machines including the coin operated range.”
What makes your laundry products standout from competitors?
“The reliability of our Maytag and Primus range are second to none. Maytag boasts the longest warranty in the industry, this speaks for itself. Most important when selecting laundry equipment is that the right equipment capacity and quantities of machinery is offered to ensure the on site laundry keeps up with demand. Richard Jay has being suppling laundry machinery since 1969 – our knowledge and experience in commercial laundry means you get sound advice and our experienced technicians take care of your installation and service requirements.”
Payment systems – coin operated, card or other?
“We offer coin, token and card operated machines. At present we are testing a new card system that will be a swipe payment system with a facility to top up the cash on your card virtually.”
Where are your products manufactured?
“Maytag Commercial is manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation in the USA and Primus machinery is manufactured in Europe.”
Do you supply and service nationally?
“Yes we are the only national laundry equipment company in Australia with offices and warehouses in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Our after sales department offers machinery services nationally and spare parts are generally sent overnight, eliminating machine downtime. Richard Jay offers preventative maintenance contracts on all brands of laundry equipment as specified by the manufacturers.”
Where do you see laundry technology in five years?
“Reduced water and energy usage in washers and dryers, smartphone applications that will advise the user what machines are available and how long the cycle has to complete and when the cycle is completed. Payment systems that operate the laundry facilities via customer smart phones are also likely to come into vogue.”
 Mark Stathakis from Australia’s Speed Queen & UniMac: |
What space saving laundry products do you market for the hospitality industry?
Speed Queen and UniMac machines are designed with efficiency in mind. Laundry room space is always a factor. We have designed our Stack tumbler with two large 20.8 kg pockets with space saving features. This unit processes 20% more linen than the standard 34kg unit. Many other space saving options are available in our machines ranges. We have the added ability to design floor plans for their specific space, incorporating machines to maximise the space efficiency for the direct purpose of the space.
What are their energy efficiency/water efficiency/environmentally friendly qualities?
Speed Queen is committed to providing customers with the tools they need to run a more profitable operation; their time, energy and efficiency is always in mind. Our industry-leading controls, the increasedthroughput and reduced energy consumption helps the bottom line.
The new Quantum Gold technology is easy-to-use and has high turnaround, while increasing water efficiency and reducing energy costs.
The control offers 30 programmable wash cycles, three cycle types and output for an external end-of-cycle signal. This cutting-edge technology gives managers unparalleled ability to reduce water and energy costs through advanced programmability. And with management capabilities, automated secure audit reports can be generated on machines to gain valuable insight on collections and usage, helping to better manage the laundry aspect of the complex’s business.
Our front-load washing machines use only 41.3l of water a saving of more the 40% to certain other models in the market, while top-load machines have been re-engineered to reduce water consumption by up to 26.5l per load using a new spray rinse feature. These efficiencies lower water costs, another benefit for laundry owners.
There are also opportunities to curb gas usage with cycle modifier options. With advanced controls, higher prices can be set for hot water usage. Therefore, if patrons choose to use hot water, the gas to heat the water is paid for by the user. Cycle modifiers also allow owners to set premium prices for medium and heavily soiled clothing that needs to be washed longer, offsetting the cost of increased energy needed to run alonger cycle.
What commercial warranties do you offer?
Our warranties range between equipment types and applications. However across the range we offer a three year parts warranty including labour for the first 12 months. Extended limited warranties are also available.
What washing machine and tumble dryer sizes do you offer?
Speed Queen and UniMac have various sizes and we are capable of providing a tailored, efficient solution for your space. From the small 7kg capacity to the large 115 kg, we have the right size to fit every budget and operation. We use commercial-grade construction in every unit regardless of capacity.
Detergent distribution methods?
Our state–of-the-art electronics are fully compliant with every detergent delivery method.
What makes your laundry products standout from competitors?
For over 100 years we’ve delivered quality laundry equipment. As market leaders, we continue to set the industry bar, with innovative technology and design that makes our customers’ lives easier, and increases their turnaround and profitability. Our machines are made to last. Each machine is built to commercial-grade. Where others chose plastic, we used metal. Our equipment goes through rigorous testing during the development phase at our state-of-the-art test lab in the United States. We can guide our customers through all stages of laundry development, including design optimisation and equipment planning. Our customer service includes ongoing servicing and spare parts to keep your laundry running. Advanced controls also give customers better control over how their laundry is done. With multi-level vend pricing, patrons can choose whether to use hot, warm or cold water, and select their soil level to ensure their clothing and linens are being properly washed. Top-off dryer time enables clients the option to purchase additional time before the initial dryer cycle has been completed. In terms of finance, we believe in the longevity and profitability of our products and never want this to be an obstacle for customers moving their business forward. This is why we offer manufacturer-backed finance options throughout Australia with affordable interest rates.
Payment systems – coin operated, card or other?
Our equipment is compatible with all payment systems, including the desire coin or card systems of your choice. Networked machines can be wired to accept various payment methods including cash/coin, pre-loaded cash cards or even campus/uni debit cards. With this technology, laundry owners can also set time-of-day pricing, or offer customer loyalty specials. This flexibility helps make the common laundry more convenient.
Where are your products manufactured?
Our products have been manufactured in Ripon, Wisconsin in the United States of America for over a century.
Do you supply and service nationally?
Yes, we service Australia nationally inclusive of after-sales support, spare parts and ongoing service.
What’s planned for the future?
We’ll continue to set the bar in the industry in terms of technology and design, streamlining how our customers do business and increasing their efficiency. We’re driven by our customer’s success – it’s a direct indication of our own achievements, so we’ll continue to provide the high standard of quality and customer service.
Where do you see laundry technology in five years?
As laundry professionals, we continue to demand more out of our products while increasing environmental efficiencies. Speed Queen and UniMac machines are renowned for their longevity. We attribute this to the high quality of materials, innovative system technologies and extensive testing. Our laboratory is already focused on new ways that we can propel the industry forward in energy efficiency, providing sustainable solutions to power and water usage. We’re happy to maintain our solid customer focus position at the forefront of the industry and in the mean time, will continue to introduce strong, reliable and efficient laundry systems, backed by high service levels and knowledgeable people on the ground.
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