Choosing the Right Commercial Laundry Equipment for your BC Business

Choosing commercial laundry equipment for your BC business–large or small—can be really confusing if you don’t know some of the basic details you’ll need to find the right machines that will work best for your laundry facilities. But once you get an idea of the basics, choosing a commercial washer and dryer for your business will make A LOT more sense. 

Here at Haddon Equipment & Supplies in Delta BC, we’ve been helping businesses throughout Lower Mainland BC (and the rest of British Columbia) purchase the best commercial laundry equipment for their businesses for decades. Haddon can help you figure out what industrial laundry machines you need and we’re going to share a bit of our process with you!

Before you can decide on which commercial laundry equipment your business needs, you first have to get a good idea of the washer and dryer capacities that will work best for your laundry needs.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this post about choosing the right laundry equipment for your business:

What volume of laundry is your facility producing each day?

If you’re not sure, below are some guidelines for figuring out what capacity you need for a commercial washer and dryer for different industries in BC.

Keep in mind that these are just basic guidelines and other factors can affect your choice of machines. We’ll cover most of them below. 

Hospitality Industry: Choosing a commercial washer and dryer for a hotel, motel, hostel, or other accommodations facility.

If you are in the hospitality industry, you’ll need to figure out the following before you can narrow down your choices of washers and dryers for your business:

• How many rooms in your facility?
• What types of rooms? Just sleeping accommodations or other amenities, such as a pool, banquet facilities, etc.?
• What’s your maximum occupancy when your hospitality facility is full?
• How many shifts are running for your commercial laundry facilities?

Once you know those details, the chart and sample calculations below will help you figure out the suggested washer and dryer capacity for your hotel or other hospitality business in BC. 

As you can see from the above examples, once you have an idea of the basics of your commercial laundry needs, it becomes easier to figure out what size and capacity of industrial washer or dryer you’ll need for your hospitality business. 

Healthcare Industry: Choosing commercial laundry equipment for your healthcare facility.

If you operate a health care business in BC, you’ll need to figure out the following:

• How many beds in your healthcare facility?
• What type of health care are you offering your residents (independent living, assisted living, or complex care.). The more involved the care, the higher the pounds of laundry per bed. 
• What’s your maximum occupancy when your health care facility is full?
• How many shifts are running in the laundry rooms at  your health care facility?

Once you know those details, the chart below will help you determine the suggested washer and dryer capacity for your healthcare business in BC.

As you can see from the above chart, the type of care you offer, the number of beds available, and the number of hours your staff is available to do laundry will determine the capacity for your industrial laundry equipment needs.

Restaurant Industry: Choosing commercial laundry equipment for your healthcare facility.

Do you run a restaurant in BC or a club that needs some laundry equipment upgrades or installations? If so, you’ll need to figure out the following:

• What types of linens are you using that need to be laundered?
• How much does a single piece of each type of linen weigh?
• How many of these linens do you use in a day?
• How many days per week is your restaurant or club open?

Once you’ve determined those details, have a look at the chart and sample calculations below to get an idea of how many pounds per cycle your establishment produces each day.

Correctional Facilities: Choosing reliable industrial laundry equipment for a correctional facility in BC.

If you are looking to buy or upgrade the laundry equipment in a BC Correctional facility, you’ll need to note the following:

• What types of materials are you washing? Clothes, linens, towels, etc.?
• What is the average weight of each of these items?
• How many pounds per week of all washables are produced?
• How often does the laundry equipment in your correctional facility run?

Once you know all that, you can use the chart below to figure out the pounds per cycle calculation that will help you determine what type of commercial washer and dryer you’ll need.

General Rules for Calculating Capacity of Commercial Washers and Dryers for large and small businesses in BC

Figuring out the size and volume capacity of laundry equipment for your large or small BC business doesn’t always fit into one of the categories above. If your BC business doesn’t fit into any of the four categories mentioned above (hospitality, healthcare, service, or correctional), there are still some general guidelines you can use to figure out a ballpark of what you need, whether you have an established laundry facility for your BC business or you are a brand new business and building your laundry facilities still.

Or, if this still seems like gibberish, you can, of course, contact Haddon and one of our seasoned laundry equipment experts can help you figure it out. 

Also, it pays to know the lingo around commercial laundry equipment and there is a difference between a regular washing machine (used in residential settings) and a commercial washer-extractor. High-powered commercial washing machines are known as washer-extractors because of the high G-force used to pull water out of linens at the end of the cycle in order to reduce drying time. They can hold up to 30 times more than a residential washer and they are known for their “aggressive” spin cycles that pull almost all the moisture out of laundry items. Washer-extractors can save a business a lot of time and money because of their ability to pull moisture out of washing materials.

Hot tips for choosing a washer or dryer for your business

• For commercial washers: Keep in mind that small loads accumulate faster, so you’ll have to choose a machine that is the right size to keep the flow of laundry moving and avoid getting backed up. Also, two machines (preferably of the same size) are always better than one. If it’s within your budget and you have the space to house them, always go with two machines. Not only does it allow for laundry flow to continue, but it can really help if one of your machines breaks down or needs to be turned off for maintenance. Imagine how backed up your laundry will get if you only have one machine and it ends up breaking down or needing repairs. 
• For commercial dryers: Always choose a dryer that has a larger capacity than your washer because issues with laundry flow come up when businesses choose a dryer that is too small to keep up with the wash cycles. The chart below gives you an idea of what you’ll need to look for in an industrial dryer:

• The number of hours you choose to run your commercial laundry machines also has a bearing on your laundry flow. This chart gives you a ballpark of what to expect:

• Lastly, how dirty or soiled the laundry is will be a determining factor in how LONG the laundry will take. Dirtier linens and towels need longer cycles to ensure sanitization.

Now that you have a basic idea of the details you’ll need to know to figure out the size and capacity of your commercial laundry machines, you’ll need to consider other factors, such as type of commercial laundry machine and costs.

Other factors to consider when buying industrial laundry equipment for your BC business. 

No matter what type of BC Business you run or what kind of laundry facilities you have, the type of industrial laundry machines you choose are never going to be based solely on their capacity. 

Every business with laundry facilities has to factor in other considerations, such as:

• how large the laundry room is and how it’s set up
• how many staff are available each day
• how many shifts run per day/week
• your budget for new laundry equipment and regular maintenance/repairs. 

It’s important to understand how each of these factors will affect your laundry output and capabilities down the road. 

Laundry Room Setup: Should you choose a hard mount or soft mount commercial washer-extractor?

Once you know the capacity you need from a washer-extractor, it’s time to figure out how it will be installed in your laundry facilities and how it will affect the long-term production of your laundry flow. 

Your laundry room setup has a lot to do with the type of laundry machines you can install. 

The two types of washer-extractors offered for commercial laundry operations are: 

1. A hard-mount washer, which is bolted into the concrete floor of a commercial laundry room. 
2. A soft-mount washer, which isn’t bolted into the floor and just sits on a base or on legs. 

Another thing that needs to be considered before you even choose which type of washer-extractor you want to purchase is what type of floor you have in your commercial laundry facility. The type of flooring determines what type and what capacity your laundry facility can handle.

The Ups and Downs of Hardmount Washer-Extractors

• If you have a ground-floor concrete foundation that is at least 6-12 inches thick, a hard mount washing machine is a good option for your laundry room. It’s going to last longer than a soft-mount because it reduces the agitation of all the moving parts inside that machine, which is going to make them last longer. Plus, hard mounts don’t result in unbalanced loads (like soft mounts do when they are underloaded). HOWEVER, the capacity of the hard mount will be determined by the thickness of the concrete—less concrete means hard mount washer-extractors with less G-force on the spin cycle, which means less water extraction and longer drying times.

• Hard mount washer-extractor capacities are versatile enough to meet the low-volume or high-volume needs of small and large on-premise laundry operations! However, the G-force measurement for these machines (based on your concrete floor thickness) will determine the length of washing and drying cycles and that will have a direct effect on your bottom line.
  
• Hard mounts can cost significantly less than softmounts, but there are extra costs associated with a longer, more labour-intensive installation!  Of course, it pays to weigh these against each other. Sure, you may pay more for the installation, but the money you save by paying generally less for maintenance and parts because of the stability of the machines will add up to some big savings over time. 

The Ups and Downs of Softmount Washer-Extractors

• If you don’t have a concrete floor (poured foundation) for it, a softmount washer-extractor can go anywhere and involves a much simpler installation process.
• Softmounts have a shock-absorbing system that handles vibrations while the washer is running so they don’t bounce around.
• Soft mounts, when underloaded, can get unbalanced loads which can cause issues over time from the wear and tear on the moving parts. It’s important to load them properly (not underload or overload) because improper loading can lead to broken down machines. In this case, it’s essential that your laundry crew is well-trained in the proper use of your soft mount washer-extractor.
• Softmounts can still handle all the needs of large-capacity laundry facilities and they can handle higher g-force spins—same as some hard mounts—so they are fantastic at pulling water out of the linens before drying.
• ECO cycles and innovative technology (such as those higher G-forces) use less water and extract more moisture, offer superior rinsing technology, and result in faster cycles—all this increases laundry room productivity and saves you money on utilities!
• Soft-mount washers are more expensive than hard-mounts, but the money you’ll save with higher productivity and less utility bills even out the initial costs in a short time. 

However, it’s worth noting that ALL commercial laundry equipment, no matter how well-built, needs regular maintenance and TLC to save you money on parts and repairs down the road.

How often will your laundry machines be running?

The difference between a good laundry room flow (one that runs efficiently and doesn’t get backed up due to lack of machines or not enough staff) isn’t just determined by your laundry equipment. Once you figure out what capacity of washer and dryer you need for your commercial laundry operation, and which type of machine you’ll want for it, you also have to decide how many machines you’ll need to get through the laundry each day and how many staff you’ll need to make sure that happens.

Good questions to ask yourself about your laundry facilities are:

• How many loads per day do we need to do to keep the laundry flowing and not backing up?
• How many staff do we need to ensure we get those loads done? 
• Can we run the laundry during the day only or will we need a night shift to keep it from backing up?
• If we have to run day and night shifts in the laundry, how much will it cost us in wages?
• If we purchase two of each machine, can we get the required amount of laundry done with only one shift per day?  
• Which will save us more money, running a laundry crew 24/7 with one set of machines or running one shift per day with two sets of machines?
• Is it worth the risk of purchasing only one set of machines on the chance that one may break down?

Again, it’s important to weigh all these other factors when choosing your new commercial washer and dryer. The more thought you put into it, the better chance you have of saving money and setting your laundry room facilities up for success. 

Our equipment experts at Haddon know their stuff and they can definitely help you to get all this straight!

Haddon’s Best-selling Commercial Laundry Machines 

Unimac 65 lb Hardmount Washer-Extractor

The Unimac 65 lb washer works well in most industries. It’s versatile, sturdy, built-to-last and it carries the most modern technology and eco-friendly systems. Click on the image for more info.

Unimac 55 lb Softmount Washer-Extractor

The Unimac 55 lb Softmount washer is perfect for 2nd floor laundries and other industrial laundry facilities without a concrete foundation available. Like its hardmount counterpart, it is durable, can handle large loads of heavily soiled materials, and carries modern technology and eco-friendly capabilities. Click on the image for more info.

Unimac 75lb Commercial Dryer

The Unimac 75 lb dryer pairs well with both the 65 lb hard-mount and 55 lb soft-mount washer-extractors. Remember that you always need to upsize your dryer capacity to keep your commercial laundry operations flowing, without backing up. Click on the image for more specs on this commercial dryer.

Continental 30 lb Washer-Extractor

The Continental 30 lb washer is ideal for smaller laundry facilities. It’s energy-efficient, packs some serious G-force for extracting as much water as possible, and has quality technology for programming cycles.

Continental 55 lb Commercial Dryer

The Continental 55 lb dryer is energy-efficient, highly durable, installs quickly, and has top-notch programming technology. It’s a favourite dryer for BC Businesses who have smaller laundry facilities because of its smaller size and big production potential.

Remember to always upsize the capacity of your commercial dryer so it’s able to keep up with the laundry flow, especially if you are running two washer-extractors at once. For example, a 30- or  40-lb washer would match well with a 55-lb dryer, like the Continental dryer above.

How to find the right commercial laundry equipment for your BC business

Now that we’ve walked you through the basic procedure for choosing the right commercial laundry equipment for your BC-based business, you should have a much better idea of how to narrow it down to a few machines that could work. But even with all this information at your fingertips, it’s understandable if you still feel you need some professional input on which commercial washer or dryer to choose. Our laundry equipment experts here at Haddon are here to find you the best equipment for your laundry needs. Get in touch with Haddon today!