In-house Laundry

Setting up an in-house laundry may not be as expensive as it is often made out to be and the benefits of having an on-premise laundry are many including extensive control over the cleaning process

Any establishment has the choice of availing the services of commercial laundry, setting up an in-house laundry or resorting to linen hire. While the third option is still catching up in India, the first two are pretty common. However, whether to go for an external service provider or to set up an on-premise laundry may depend on analysis of various factors that can range from space and manpower issues to concerns of control over the cleaning process.

Generally, hotels and especially the ones in the five-star category prefer in-house laundries driven by the belief that they help maintain high standards of quality, cleanliness and keep the par stocks low. On the other hand, most small and medium sized hospitality properties have some other arrangement. The cost of equipment and space required to house the system are some of the reasons why they get their work done at stand-alone laundry or a collective laundry.

Edge of In-house Laundry

However, no matter how good the external laundry may be, most housekeepers prefer to have their own in-house laundries for many reasons, some of which are given below.

In-house laundries can easily reduce dependence on others and self-sufficiency leads to increased flexibility. With in-house laundries housekeepers are facilitated to set their own standards and make sure the textiles are cared for the way they should be. Moreover, it is a common complaint in the hospitality industry that on many occasions, linen is being returned without undergoing the entire cleaning process. There is a frequent allegation that linen out of a hotel room is only visually clean and is returned after rinsing and pressing. This can be addressed through in-house laundries, effectively.