Time to Hold an Inspection
Most laundromat businesses slow down a little over the warmer summer months. Customers are going on vacation, and those that remain home are wearing fewer clothes. Therefore, there are fewer items to wash and fewer people to wash them. The kids are out of school, and the weather is warm and comfortable enough to keep people in light summer clothing.
The general idea is that the same number of over all customers may be coming to the laundry, but they are doing fewer and lighter loads of clothing. As a result, most laundry operators are taking in less money during the summer months of the year.
So, while we know it will be better in the fall, right now laundry operators are not so busy as to be buried in business. There is still enough free time left to work on things in the laundry to get ready for busier times ahead. Take advantage of it.
It’s time to hold a kind of semi-annual inspection of your laundry business!
Look at your business facility and your laundry’s machines through the eyes of a stranger. Put yourself in the place of a person who has never seen your place of business.
Think of yourself as that old army captain in the movies, checking everything out at your laundromat, and keeping a written record of what he finds wrong. By the way, it is always a good idea to keep a list when you are doing an inspection, otherwise you might forget something that needs correction.
Start out with the floors and ceiling. What does the interior paint job in the laundry look like? Are there scuff marks or stains on the walls or has it faded over time? Is there a little graffiti? If anything needs touching up, there will be no better time to do it than right now.
What about ceiling tiles? Have they been stained by leaks? Have individual tiles been tilted so as to appear uneven and does that detract from the laundry look you want?
If there are too many signs and non laundry things on the walls, remove them. When the bulletin board and walls are used as a sales board for others, it detracts from the neat look that you want for your laundry.
How clean and shiny are the windows and the door glass? If there are spots and signs blocking the view into the interior, clean it up. Washing windows isn’t rocket science. Just a few rags, water, cleaner and a little time and elbow grease makes things much improved.
When it comes to the floors, don’t just see things the way you normally look at them every day. Don’t just look, examine them carefully. Look with the eyes and attitude of an army officer going through a Saturday morning inspection of the troop barracks.
Make a close examination of the floor at the corners and in front of the washer banks. Over time, as the floor is done, portions of the tile may get gray looking with the residue of un-rinsed mop water that has dried leaving a film that detracts from your desired look.
If there are rounded overlapping grey spots in the corners and in front of the washers, that can be removed with just a little effort. First of all, these are a result of mops swirling around the corners. These never dry properly and will leave marks. One concerted cleaning on your part can correct the appearance of your laundry floors for months and months.
Another thing to remember is the “Sniff Test.” As an owner, and someone who has no doubt been in the coin laundry business for some time, you get used to what your laundry looks like and smells like. Folks who are not in the coin laundry business notice the odors. They sniff the aroma of wet ink and soggy paper that gets under the washers. They detect odors that are “what a laundry should smell like” to you and your employees. That can be an unpleasant odor to customers, especially new ones. When a laundry does not smell clean, it won’t be a clean laundry to new customers.
To change that awful aroma may require moving the washers out, or tilting them back and cleaning beneath them. Some laundromat owners do that on an annual basis.
Remove the old soap boxes, waste and wet lint. Correct any hose leaks that have made the under washer areas damp. Voila! The smell is gone and it’s much more acceptable, especially to new customers.
Look over the washers and dryers. Are there any that have become a little ratty looking? Top load washers especially get to looking grungy unless they are cleaned on a regular basis. Use a small brush to get into the corners and around the slide front and control knobs. Wipe down with a damp rag and then wipe down again with a dry cloth to prevent moisture streaks from showing. This double cloth, double wipe method really works well and allows the natural shine of the washer’s finish to show through.
The alternative is to buy new washers, but that’s a very expensive correction Cleaning will be a better way to accomplish having your laundry look modern and up to date, unless it has gone too far down.
The fronts and side panels tend to get streaked by over flowing suds and look over used and old in use. These should be washed down and cleaned. If the shine is gone, spray them with a clear, quick drying gloss paint. Make sure you are careful to do your painting in areas where there is plenty of ventilation.
Clean the dryer and front load washer door glasses. Film builds up over time and makes them look cloudy. Use a good glass cleaner. This should be done on a regular basis because it doesn’t take long for normal laundry cycles to re-cloud the glass.
Make just a little effort and things will be the way you want them to look and smell. Do it right and keep it up then your laundry business will always be able to pass inspection.
In the past the News has advised that laundry owners be able to “look at their laundry business through the eyes of a stranger”. Someone who has never seen it before will give a clearer and more unbiased opinion. They don’t have preconceived ideas of how things should be. If that’s not something you can do, then bring in someone who is really a stranger to the laundry trade, such as a friend or visiting family member who will be honest and tell you what they see as wrong. Won’t that be the same things new laundry users will find wrong as well? Once you see the negatives that need correcting, go ahead and salute smartly then change the laundromat to match your ideals.
Date:-05/28/2011
By:-Admin
