Layout of wash/fold

[anonymous]

Hi Everyone

What type of layout do you use for your wash/fold business?

Thanks,
Chase13

[mike]

I can't help but wonderimg if the machines may have been added to an existing room, rather than specifically planned that way.

[anonymous]

Currently I am using the regular washers for mt WDF, but as it becomes busier I can see a bottleneck at my machines, For larger machines I only have 2 35lb milnor and 3 25lb speedqueens.

I have a large rotating clothes rack (for sale, see classifieds), which will be removed when sold and I am adding a nice 30lb Wascomat that I found on the market. I hear everyone talk about Wasco's being good so we shall see

[anonymous]

Mike, the laundromat was actually set up that way. Back in the 50's there were a number of shops set up strictly for drop-off. The coin-op was added a few years later in a different area of the building. We have kept the same set-up and it has worked for us.

[Anonymous]

Seems strange to me that you would have such a backup. We find WDF to be a very nice compliment to self-service. Most of our WDF is during the day M-F, while most of our self-service is weekends and M-F evenings. Thus, there is never a conflict.

[anonymous]

Kirby, it's really different than any set-up I've seen. It's not that it's a back-up area for machines, it's totally separate. We have customized racks all over for in house pressing and air drying rugs, lots of shelves for storage of items, a clothes rack for our drycleaning. It's really a completely different business than the coin-op. We just happen to be right next door to the coin op and maintain it as well.

[Kitty]

Like Kirby, we only provided the wdf service during the week m-f 8-4, pick up or drop off available anytime during the mat hours which was 8am-10 or 11pm. The attendants used any machine in the mat, but tried to work around the customers, although the attendant was always parked at the same folding table. We had at least a 20x20 room for the items to be stored prior, and after the service. At the begining of my employment I suggested an idea for a shelving unit for the baskets to rid the items from being stored on the floor. The shelving unit holds at least 20 spaces. We also had a 2-5 foot hanging racks for hanging items. If you have a high volume wdf service I can see a storage problem, but usually during the week the machines are usually free.

WDF was never done on the weekends to avoid a problem with self service customers.

[anonymous]

Like most mats we use the same equipment as the customer but my employees are told to try to stay out of the way of the customers. I have toyed with the idea of using seperate machines in the backroom... but why add the expense and take up room in the back where I need it.

[MichaelCa]

Now this is a useful poll.
Makes me wonder about completely separate spaces though - i'll post a new Thread topic for that.

[Kari]

My mat is set up a little different it was an old Gas station with a two bay service area. The service area is where the main Laundromat is located at. Where the main check out counter was is where we have our office and WDF drop off area and our WDF washers. Then there is another room adjacent to that where our dryers are located at. We also use this room to fold as it has glass walls so we are able to watch the front office. This area also is set up with steal racks that hold the baskets and hanging rack for the hanging items. once in a while when we get a lot of clothes and there is a lull in the main laundry we will also use the machines out there. Or if it is a really large order we will use the 60# washer in the main area. But for the most part we use the separate machines for our WDF. If the mat is at full capacity and I have people waiting for machines I will let them use our WDF machines.