Own Laundry or Outsourcing

[suze]

We currently launder our own bedding and towels. We are considering using a laundry service who will provide bed linens etc. It seems a really expensive way of doing things - compared to doing it ourselves. We have 7 bedrooms and also do evening meals so time is limited. Has anyone compared the cost of outsourcing to doing it yourself?

[greenbarncottages]

I'm guessing that you're a small hotel, guesthouse or B&B, so your situation is obviously a bit different from ours, but there are close parallels. We're in self catering with a total of seven bedrooms in three units, all of which can be superking or twins.

We haven't done the cost breakdown comparison, but we're actually looking at the opposite to you; we currently hire in linen and towels, with the exception of fitted sheets. Based in Cumbria, we've been using a company called Shortridge, but the biggest problem we have is with quality.
We hold a certain amount of stock as part of the rental contract, which is designed for very last minute use, emergencies or whatever. We frequently find that there will be an item of bedding delivered that is not useable; either marked beyond what we consider acceptable (ie it's noticeable), or even ripped. Typically this comes to light as the bed is being made, hence we're constantly diving into the stock.

Looking at doing our own laundry, there's a number of aspects - and these presumably would be the opposite for you!

We'd have full control of quality, both in terms of the actual linen and its condition.
We'd have to find space to hold a lot of stock.
We'd have to invest in the stock.
We'd have to invest in the necessary machines, say £2k - £2.5k.
We'd have to spend the time required to launder and iron the linen.
We'd reduce our ongoing costs.
We wouldn't have to keep getting on the phone to the laundry telling them to get some decent linen over NOW, or beg and borrow from the local hotel.

In fact for us, if we disregard the set up costs, it boils down to a choice between having full control over our own standards, and not spending endless time doing laundry by paying through the nose instead.

We've had another suggested approach from a different forum, which is a halfway house solution of owning all the stock but using a laundry only service for servicing it. If we could find somebody fairly local who is small enough to care and big enough to take it on, that could be our ideal solution.

Be interested to hear your thoughts on the whole issue. Difficult, innit?

[Raincliffe1]

I'm sure a large hotel near us as part of a major refurbishment has invested in a new on-site laundry. They have recently won awards for their 'green' credentials of which their laundering methods are a factor. I can only deduce that on a large scale that it is more cost effective and energy effective to do your own laundering.

We have only 14 rooms (with 21 rooms in a previous hotel) and I have always done the laundry. Less busy establishments than us send their laundry out which makes me wonder if on a smaller scale it is more costly to do your own. It depends on your overheads e.g. if someone is trading sub VAT they are instantly gaining 15% more in revenue than you for a comparable room therefore they have more leeway in their costs per room to send laundry out if they wish. I simply like the fact that I have complete control and that I can get all the laundry done in a much faster turn round time than sending it out. I guess it is what you get used to.

Katherine

[Manors]

As a 14 bedroom hotel we send our laundry out to a local firm, although we do wash our hand towels and bath mats in house. Our monthly bill in the height of the season is between £400-£500 (inc VAT) depending on long stayers etc. but I really do not have the time, or the inclination to do it myself. The business we use also makes every effort to remove some awful stains and I feel it is worth it at the moment! As a general rule of thumb you can say 70p for a flat double sheet, 39p for a pillow case and 72p for a double duvet cover. Is this comparable with other businesses?

[suze]

Thanks for all your comments. We have been informed by the only laundry service in the area that they are not taking on any more customers! So no decision to be made! Back to the ironing board! o:)

[_grockles]

We are a caravan park and holiday cottage business. At height of season we do about 80 beds per week. We launder it all outselves. We have a giant (£5000) high speed sluice wash option front loader and a large gas powered tumble dryer. We have a 20 year old ROTARY press (miele) which is fabulous, and which the cleaning ladies fight over using. All this industry takes place in a room 6x8 or thereabouts. 3 large bottle bins for dirty laundry, shelving down one wall for clean laundry. It works fantastically well, and we all love the relaxation of doing the laundry. At approximately £2.50 to £3.00 per bed to end out, think what we are saving. Plus, our linen is always immaculate, repaired by hand if possible, and crisp and fresh. We are often complimented on our linen. The only problem that has ever occurred has been on dryer or washer breakdown. THIS IS A DISASTER. Maintenance contracts help, but are pricey. The laundry is NOT a big job with the right equipment and would recommend buying the absolute best that you can afford. And the rotary iron. Godsend

[_Sharpe]

We are a seven bed guest house that does a busy restaurant service so we feel your pain. it's the linen table cloths and napkins and the cotton king size sheets! We bought a steam press and we advertised and hired a family mom to do all our ironing. She picks it up each day and drops it off and it has made life so much more wonderful.

[Joyce Taylor]

We have gone down both routes we have 18 beds mainly single nighters as we are on a long distance walk.The sheets are sent out 98p for 2 flat sheets the rest (pillow cases, hand and bath towels, tea towels etc.) are done in house it is a compromise that is working for us. I couldn`t do all of the sheets but doing the small stuff keeps the laundry bill down.

[Somerset Cider]

Hi,
We send our sheets & duvet covers to the local laundry (which charges the same whether they're single or superkingsize - works out at a little over £3 per bed) and do pillowcases, tablecloths, towels etc ourselves, since it costs nearly the same to have a pillowcase laundered as a sheet. This hybrid system works well for us - worth paying the extra to avoid having to iron the big stuff.
Recently, though, bought a steam press which has made the ironing so much faster, and will make it easier if we have to do an 'emergency' duvet wash, as happens sometimes...

[Der Alte Fritz]

We have done our own laundry in-house and have now moved to a hybrid system where the sheets are sent out to the local laundry and we do the towels. The limiting factor in laundry is the drying. Washing no problem, ironing with a roller iron no problem. Drying 50 plus sheets/duvets plus towels a week especially in winter means you need a tumble dryer or a large warm room. As we are space limited we use tumble dryers or washing lines when available and just do the towels. We have just invested in two brand new, high capacity, sensor controlled, vented tumble dryers (to be a green as possible) to dry the towels alone. I worked out the electricity cost for the last quarter (mainly because the bill was an eye watering amount) and I think those two tumble dryers just cost me £500 to run for three months.

How do other people manage their drying of these enormous piles of laundry?