ways to cut water cost

[bodman]

my front loaders have a 1) pre wash cycle 2) wash cycle 3,) 3 rinse cycles . To cut down on water usage but get clothes clean which cycles can I delete and still have good results

[KJD]

In my opinion just the prewash if you need to save water.
Usually three rinses are required for the oversoapers.

[William]

As an alternative, why don't you advertise the fact that customers get more cycles at your store than your competition? Customers will notice if you cut a cycle, and customers will seek you out if you offer a better value.

[Andy]

I charge extra for the prewash on my 80 lb machine.

I do not charge extra for the prewash on the other machines.

[goingtoarizona]

Here our water is fairly inexpensive, .0001 per gallon. you might be lucky enough to save a penny and a half. Some of our customers have noticed the lack of a prewash when they accidentily have a front loader (SQ) on gentle. If a customer has kids, or extra dirty clothes, they won't get as satisfactory results. If you save 15 gallons or 1.5 cents on one turn, and loose just one wash because someone notices no pre wash etc, it would take 200 turns to recoop the loss based on your water savings. You if fact would probably loose a customer, and drive business away. But you would save a penny and a half on each turn, you would save even more money when they end up their laundry elsewhere. I beleive there are better ways to save or increase revenue, I have spent too much time on this, I'll let someone else speak up.

[Von Hef]

I agree with "goingtoarizon"

I don't know how many times I have heard customers come from another mat saying that their machines just don't clean as well. I am not sure if this is a factual reality or just percieved by the customer. I do know that his machines turn in less time than ours... but it may be something as simple as the lighting, or no-prewash, or any other unknown reasons. The point is, I believe that the risk of loosing customers for a few pennies savings may not be the best practice.
With new washers being installed in our store next week... I will be very attentive on how the machines are programed to ensure that the pre-wash, water levels, and rinse cycles are at least similar with the old equipment so the customers will not think the old equipment worked better.

[ajay]

pre wash - remove. not particularily for saving water but for customer experience. Unless you have a separate section for soap, the pre wash water when drained will remove all the soap. People generally watch the machines fill up for the first 2-3 minutes. I had to remove it since customers were complaining that "....their isn't enough water" "...not seeing suds". After removing pre-wash, no comlaints!! I do have a option for extra wash - .25 cents additional, so I market as such.

You may pleasantly surprise if you were to remove 3rd rinse but once again not necessarily for "water savings".

ajay

[ajay]

pre wash - remove. not particularily for saving water but for customer experience. Unless you have a separate section for soap, the pre wash water when drained will remove all the soap. People generally watch the machines fill up for the first 2-3 minutes. I had to remove it since customers were complaining that "....their isn't enough water" "...not seeing suds". After removing pre-wash, no complaints!! I do have a option for extra wash - .25 cents additional, so I market as such.

You may pleasantly surprise if you were to remove 3rd rinse but once again not necessarily for "water savings".

ajay

[Amex]

Ajay what type of washers do you have? Dexter? With almost every brand of front there are 3 compartments in the soap box. New wasco 4 comp. in soap box. People look for the prewash at my stores. I would leave the machine to factory setup.

[PeterH]

I wouldn't remove the pre-wash unless you can extend the time on the main wash.

I wouldn't remove a rinse unless you supply detergent and softener and control the amount used.

[pete f]

this was discussed a couple years ago. I think the concensus was you really only need 3 cycles, wash and 2 rinse. I have stores with 3 cycles, I have stores with 4 ( prewash) and I have options to buy more cycles at 2 of them.
The deciding factors vary. The brand of washer would determine if you cut a pre wash or rinse, depending on the soap box flush on each cycle. Some washers you may not have much choice what to cut. The type of clientel has some wieght on thuis, some want to see suds everywhere, while others just want clean clothes with no suds. In your case it is probably easy to cut a rinse or the prewash.