Laundry shops provide a convenient service for washing, drying, and folding laundry. Instead of doing it yourself at home, you can drop off your dirty clothes and pick up clean ones a few days later. But have you ever wondered what exactly goes on behind the scenes at a laundry facility? Let’s take a closer look at the step-by-step process.
Intake and Sorting
When you first drop off your laundry, an attendant logs it into the system and inspects each item. This allows them to take notes on stains or damages and determine the best cleaning method for each fabric type. The laundry is then sorted into loads – lights, darks, delicates, and household items like sheets and towels. This sorting ensures clothes get washed properly at the right temperatures with compatible items.
Washing
After sorting, the batches of laundry are loaded into large capacity commercial washers. These machines can handle very large loads – up to 75 pounds! The attendants add specific amounts of detergent, bleach, and other chemical cleaners tailored to each load’s soil level and fabric type. The machines wash with intense cleaning action at high spin speeds. This specialized equipment allows thorough cleaning in less time.
Drying
Once washed, the wet laundry moves to commercial dryers that can hold massive loads. Attendants regularly check dryness levels to prevent over-drying. They may re-sort items mid-cycle based on dry times. Proper drying is key to avoiding shrinkage and wrinkles. The powerful dryers quickly remove moisture even from heavy items like bedding using very high heat.
Finishing
After drying, laundry may need additional processing like ironing, steaming, rolling, folding, and hanging. Laundry facilities often have large automated machines to speed up finishing. Employees will hand finish finer items like dress shirts. Quality checks ensure no leftover stains, odors, or wrinkles remain before returning cleaned laundry to the customer.
As you can see, there’s a lot more going on at the laundromat than throwing clothes into a washer! The heavy duty commercial equipment and streamlined processes allow them to efficiently clean high volumes of laundry to quality standards. So next time you drop off a bag dirty clothes, you’ll know what’s happening behind the scenes to get them fresh and clean again.
References
Linen Technology. “The Commercial Laundry Process Breakdown.” LinenTechnology.com. Accessed January 18, 2024. https://www.linentechnology.com/commercial-laundry-process.html
Ocean Park Laundry. “What Really Happens at the Laundry Facility?” OceanParkLaundry.com. Updated December 15, 2023. https://www.oceanparkl laundry.com/laundry-facility-process
Sullivans Launderers & Cleaners. “Behind the Scenes at a Commercial Laundry Plant.” Sullivans.com. Accessed January 18, 2024. https://www.sullivans.com/resources/how-commercial-laundry-plants-work
Laura has had an enthusiasm for laundry ever since she was a teenager experimenting with wash cycles. She went on study textile science in college before working in product testing.
Soon, Laura found friends and family constantly asking her laundry advice, realizing she had become an unofficial laundry guru. The questions kept coming in, so Laura decided to start sharing laundry tips online to help more people. The enthusiastic response led her start the blog “Laundry How”.
Now in her late thirties, Laura uses Laundry How to tackle all kinds of laundry topics – stains, fabric care, detergents, and more. She provides advice from both her studies and experience testing techniques out firsthand. Laura continues to grow an engaged community of laundry learners, feeling fulfilled empowering people to make laundry an easy, confidence-building ritual rather than a dreaded chore.