WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A SPEED QUEEN WASHER CARD READER FOR BUSINESSES?

Is your commercial laundry business thinking about upgrading its Speed Queen washer machines from a coin-operated system to a card reader?

A Speed Queen card reader is associated with numerous benefits for commercial businesses that offer laundry services. Whether you operate a laundromat or apartment complex with laundry facilities, you can benefit by outfitting your Speed Queens with card reader systems that will help modernize and improve your laundry-related services.

What’s a Speed Queen Washer Card Reader?

Traditionally, commercial laundry facilities relied on coin operation to function. Today, however, advanced card reader systems can be installed on commercial washing machines.

Instead of inserting coins in the washing machine to operate the appliance, customers or residents insert their card to operate your facility’s Speed Queens or other washers. Customers can transfer funds from their bank account to their laundry card in order to pay for laundry services.

With a Speed Queen washer card reader, your business can transition from coin-operated payment systems to a smart system that offers loads of functionality and benefits.

What Are the Benefits of a Speed Queen Washer Card Reader?

When your commercial laundry business updates with its Speed Queens with a card reader system, it can expect the following benefits:

Convenient Use for Customers

When customers or commercial property residents want to use your Speed Queen washing machine, they do not have to hunt for change or carry a large amount of coins with them. They can simply rely on their laundry smart card to pay for each load of laundry they wash.

Customers can easily load funds onto their laundry card using their smartphone or other connective devices. The card reader subtracts the funds from their card and applies them to your business account. The process is simple and convenient.

Convenient for Businesses

When you install a Speed Queen washer card reader, you no longer have to physically access your machine–or suite of washing machines–to collect payment. That means that your staff doesn’t have to empty each washing machine of coins and physically take them to the bank for deposit. The entire payment system is digital–and immediate. When customers make a payment, the funds are immediately applied to the vendor’s account.

Improved Security

With washing machine card readers installed at your facility, you can reduce the risk of theft. A card reader system is a cashless system. There are no funds available for thieves to steal in your commercial laundry room or laundromat business.

Count Your Profits at a Glance

Commercial businesses that install card reader systems on their laundry machines can enjoy digital access to their payment system. Not only can they see how much each of their Speed Queen washing machines has earned each day; they can also rely on the system’s reports to determine the heaviest periods of use, which can help them improve their access and business operation.

When you install a Speed Queen washer card reader, you can enjoy these benefits. Bring your laundry business into the digital era by outfitting your Speed Queen washers with a card reader system.

Contact us to learn more about Speed Queen card readers.

How the Clothesline Mobile App Will Make Laundry Days a Breeze

The laundry services and dry cleaning market is expected to be worth US$ 14.41 billion by 2028. This fact indicates the high demand for these services, and if you have a laundry room in your building, there is an opportunity to make a significant amount of money. One way to maximize your profits is to use the Clothesline laundry app.

But how can the Clothesline mobile app modernize and streamline your building’s laundry room procedures? If you’ve had the same laundry room processes for a long time, you may be unsure about making changes in case they make things more complicated.

That’s why this brief laundry app guide will highlight the multiple benefits that you can bring to your residents with our intelligent software.

Read on to learn more.

Cashless Payments System

One of the most convenient Clothesline app benefits is that your residents can add money to their laundry room accounts using credit or debit cards. You will also no longer need to collect coins from the machines, and you won’t have to spend time adding up your week’s income from your laundry room.

This is because you’ll be able to see a full report on our online system. You’ll then have more time to get on with other tasks for running your building while the laundry room takes care of itself.

Less Laundry Room Downtime

When your laundry room isn’t in use, you are missing out on revenue. But, when your residents are using our laundry app, they can see when machines are available and when their loads are dry. This means they can collect their clothes rather than blocking a machine that another resident would like to use at that time.

Your laundry room can then function more efficiently at all times as the Clothesline app helps to keep the flow of laundry users steady throughout the day.

Increased Laundry User Satisfaction Levels

Many people already use apps in their daily lives, and using the Clothesline app is simple. As your residents will know precisely when the laundry room is available rather than having to continually check if a machine is free, they’ll have more time to themselves. Residents will also be able to plan their day around their booked laundry slot in your building.

As 43% of customers would be willing to pay more for convenience, this can be a fantastic selling point that can help boost your building’s revenues.

Clothesline Mobile App Is Easy to Set Up

You may think getting all these advantages would mean the app is difficult to set up. You’ll be glad to hear this isn’t the case. You can download our app from the iPhone App Store or Google Play and set up an account.

Within minutes, your residents could be benefitting from using the Clothesline app in your building.

Contact FMB Laundry Today

When using the Clothesline mobile app, property managers can look forward to generating more money while dealing with fewer issues.

At FMB Laundry, we specialize in helping you maximize profitability while improving your residents’ experience when using your laundry room. We look forward to demonstrating how our app can help modernize your laundry room processes for the benefit of all parties.

To learn more about our many laundry app benefits, contact our team today.

How to Design the Perfect Commercial Laundry Space

5 Things to Consider When Designing Your Commercial Laundry Room

Companies of all sizes require on-site laundry facilities to help keep their day-to-day business running smoothly. The right commercial laundry design can make all the difference in the flow of a laundry room. Consider some of these ideas when you are ready to design a commercial laundry room for your business.

1. Size of Laundry Equipment

The type of business you have determines in large part the size of the laundry equipment you will need. Hospitals and hotels are more apt to require industrial size washers and dryers, but apartment complex and university needs can usually be filled by smaller machines. Some facilities, for example a retirement community, might choose to have smaller washers and dryers conveniently placed for someone in a wheelchair to use.

2. Location of Laundry Room

The location of your laundry room in a commercial setting will help determine the convenience and speed at which dirty laundry can be washed, dried, and distributed to its respective spots. A central location is best in most cases. Very large properties might require more than one laundry room so that they can service various areas with ease.

3. Adequate Common Area Space

common area for most laundry facilities needs to offer space enough to complete the tasks at hand. Open areas and/or aisles need to be able to accommodate people and laundry carts comfortably. It’s important to take into consideration space for wheelchairs to navigate. Tables located around the laundry room in several places will allow more than one person to fold. Chairs for those waiting for their laundry in some facilities will allow for a brief respite while waiting for the wash and dry cycles to conclude.

4. Laundry Space Ventilation

Regardless of the business your commercial laundry space serves, adequate ventilation needs to be a priority. Laundry rooms are usually already hot and stuffy, so an air conditioner will make working in a commercial laundry facility easier. Hot air from the machines can often be rerouted to provide heat to other areas of the property. This does not negate the need for proper ventilation in other regards, like how to direct the laundry equipment heat and fumes during sweltering temperatures of summertime.

5. Maintaining Washers and Dryers Cost Effectively

The power needed to run a commercial laundry facility can be expensive if you have not made plans for energy efficient equipment and the means by which to run it all. Many areas offer deals for using energy saving machines or installation of solar paneling to cut down on costs. This can often save your company thousands of dollars in utility bills. Maintaining your laundry equipment regularly will help cut down on overall repair costs as the years go by.

Contact us at FMB Laundry, Inc., today to discuss your commercial laundry room needs. Hotels, hospitals, universities, and multi-family properties are just some of the commercial laundry facilities we have designed to help streamline the laundry process. We offer the same dedication and service to you.

The Benefits of Smart Laundry Card Systems

With technology on the rise and a coin shortage in the United States, laundry card systems are the way of the future for commercial services. This smart laundry card system is one more way to put you a step above your competition and keep business flowing through your doors.

Already carrying their laundry to another location, customers are looking for places of business that require them to bring and do less. Let’s take a look at how card system options are a way to benefit not only your business but your customers and tenants as well!

Laundry Card Systems

Laundry card systems are a method of paying for laundry services without having to carry cash or change. It replaces the need to stop by your bank or an ATM to withdraw cash or to collect and save your change after every purchase. Instead, customers carry a card or even use an app to start their wash and dry cycles.

How Smart Laundry Benefits Businesses

These card systems have benefits for your business that you’ve probably never realized. Some of those benefits are…

  • Easy Accounting
  • Better Banking
  • Digestible Price Increases
  • Customer Satisfaction

Easy Accounting

With every card swipe, transactions are electronically recorded. Any time you need to, you can retrieve that data from the archive to complete your audit. It’s accurate and easy for your bookkeeper.

Better Banking

Remember the days of emptying out coin receptacles, counting individual coins, and hauling them to the bank? Laundry cards have made that a thing of the past for you. All of your banking is electronic and can be deposited as such!

Digestible Price Increases

Maybe one of the biggest incentives to make the switch to card systems is the ability to quickly increase and decrease prices in small increments. If you want to charge more during peak hours or lower prices during slow times, you can.

Because it’s electronic, price changes aren’t as noticeable. As long as you aren’t charging dollars more at a time, residents and customers aren’t going to care about a few more cents here and there. It may even spread out some of your business so your laundry room isn’t crowded and overrun.

Customer Satisfaction

Your customers and residents want this perk. They don’t want to be collecting and inserting cash and change that are inconvenient and probably carrying germs.

People want a simple swipe or push of a button on their phone for most things in life now. Laundry services are no exception!

If there are refunds that need to be made, they can be done immediately instead of waiting for a check. Their happiness means more business for you. As we know, more business for you means more money.

Enjoy the Benefits

It might be time for you to make the switch to laundry card systems before you fall behind. When it comes to residents making a decision the last thing you want is to come second to someone else simply because their laundry service is more up to date than yours. If your business is laundry, the same applies to you.

We hope this has been educational for you! If you think you may be interested, check out our smart card payment systems while you’re here.

The Importance of Laundry Room Etiquette

There are currently about 35,000 laundromats in the United States. Even with so many available, not everyone has experience using this service.

If this is your first time managing a laundromat, apartment, or dorm with on-site laundry, you may not be familiar with laundry room etiquette.

How can you provide a necessary service without risking complications with tenants? How can landlords encourage tenants to do their part?

Read on to learn more about laundry room rules to share with your tenants or guests.

Come Prepared

Encourage tenants to bring their laundry in a hamper, basket, or laundry bag. Trash bags are wasteful and can clutter up the space at the laundry room. It’s a good idea to write their name on the laundry bag or basket to avoid confusion with others.

Tenants should bring detergent, dryer sheets, lint balls, hangers, and anything else they might need for the laundry room. Remind tenants to bring their own coins if you have a coin laundry room. Tenants repeatedly asking others for coins or detergent can annoy their neighbors.

Keep the laundry room Clean

Picking up after yourself is one of the biggest rules of laundry room etiquette.  While waiting for their clothes to wash, encourage tenants to pick up trash or sweep the floors.

Remind tenants to leave the washer lid open to signal its availability and prevent mold growth and collect their lint from the dryer before they leave. Almost 27% of house fires are caused by a dryer lint buildup.

Be Responsible with Time

Leaving clothes unattended for hours or days at a time is a big no-no. Not only does this prevent another person from using the machine, but mold and mildew on wet clothes can make the whole laundry room stink.

Encourage tenants to plan ahead on laundry day. They will generally need to clear their schedule for about two hours per load. If they decide to leave the laundry room while their clothes are still washing, they must accept the risk that clothes might be moved or stolen.

Don’t Reserve Machines

To save time, tenants might be tempted to “claim” a dryer while their clothes are still washing. This is a rude move. Washers and dryers should be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

If another person takes the last open dryer, tenants will just have to wait for a new one to open up. Providing baskets or tables in your laundry room allows guests to remove their clothes from the washer while waiting.

Don’t Touch Other People’s Belongings

This is one of the most annoying aspects for tenants sharing a laundry room. If they can see that a dryer cycle has ended, should they remove someone else’s things?

In general, no, it’s not okay to remove someone else’s clothes from the washer or dryer. However, if a guest has waited a long time with no luck, they can carefully remove someone else’s finished laundry.

Encourage tenants to place the clothes neatly on top of a nearby washer or table. It’s a great idea for laundry rooms to have rolling carts available for setting clothes aside.

Tenants should never rummage through clothes, throw them on the floor, or place them in a dryer. They could potentially ruin someone’s delicate items by drying them.

Respect Others’ Space and Privacy

Of all laundry room rules for tenants, the biggest one is to respect others’ space and privacy. If the tenants bring children, they must behave well in the laundry room. Discourage laundry room guests from talking on the phone or watching movies out loud.

Not everyone in the laundry room is a social butterfly. Most people are there to do their laundry and leave as quickly as possible, so they may not be interested in a conversation. It’s polite for guests to read a book, put on headphones, or study while they wait.

Emphasizing Laundry Room Etiquette

Now that you are familiar with the rules of laundry room etiquette, you’re ready to climb Mt. Laundry. Providing this on-site service can boost tenant satisfaction and make your property a more desirable place to live.

Are you a property manager looking to update your on-site laundry facilities? FMB Laundry is your expert commercial laundry guide. Contact us today to learn more!

5 Hidden Costs of Maintaining an On-Premise Laundry Room for Residents

Did you know that you should wash your white shirts after every single wear? Gym clothes should also be washed after every wear and jeans after every five wears.

Laundry facilities on premises can make the life of residents easier. If you are considering on-site facilities, keep in mind that laundry room installation costs can be higher than you anticipate because of hidden costs.

It’s not just about the cost of your equipment. Before you make a decision to maintain an on-premises laundry room, keep on reading to understand all the hidden costs.

1. Cost of Space

First, consider the cost of the space. Your communal laundry room will need its own space. If you don’t have any space, you will need to spend money on renovations to create the space.

The renovations will involve wiring and plumbing, and sometimes a complete overhaul of your premises. It also includes potential upgrades in the future to accommodate changing needs.

2. Laundry Room Repair Costs

The cost of a laundry room includes repair costs when the equipment breaks down. Even the toughest commercial laundry facilities will have to deal with repair costs. Repair costs for a washing machine include the labor costs, cost of replacement parts, and the brand of the washing machine at an average cost of $50 to $180.

3. Ongoing Laundry Room Maintenance

To avoid repair costs, you will want to conduct ongoing maintenance to ensure that your equipment runs well. This can save you money in the long term, including damage to your building caused by leaks. Ongoing maintenance includes replacing water hoses, cleaning filters, and cleaning the equipment.

4. Utilities

You will also have to deal with utility costs, including water and electricity. These costs will increase as your equipment ages, or your equipment breaks down.

The cost will also vary depending on usage. While a portion of the utilities can be offset by the profits, inefficient machines can end up increasing this cost.

5. Liability Insurance

Your on-premise laundry facilities can lead to damage to your building, including water damage, fire, and vandalism. To protect your commercial property from these damages, you want to make sure that you have the right coverage with liability insurance. You can also get sued if someone gets hurt in your laundry room.

However, this will add to the cost of your laundry room. The premiums that you pay will depend on the age of your equipment, the number of apartments and residents, and the location of the building. You can get coverage for property damage, loss of income, equipment breakdown, and sewer backup.

Contact Us for Your Laundry Room Solutions

You now know all about the hidden costs of a laundry room. It’s not just the cost of the equipment that you have to keep in mind, but the cost of the space, repair costs, and ongoing maintenance.

Contact us to find your laundry room solution today.  We provide coin-operated equipment and services while offering generous commission and flexible lease terms. With our top-quality service, you don’t have to inconvenience residents or lose out on profits with equipment that doesn’t work properly.

Tips for Designing a Great Common Area Laundry Room

Have you ever gone down to the basement of your apartment complex, which doubles as a dark storage space as well as a laundry room? These are the kind of spaces where you get the laundry started and then moved back to the sanctity of your apartment, knowing that you’ll have to go a few more times before you’re through. All while hoping that you’ll be able to handle your laundry without exterior interruptions. Apartment complexes benefit from the creation and upkeep of common areas in laundry rooms that make their tenants feel safe and welcome. At FMB Laundry, we know what makes for a quality common area laundry room.

Light It Up

Keep your space brightly lit. This will add to a sense of security. We like to consider what color walls are suitable to the area and the building’s ethos, too. Something bright and soft is usually a safe bet. To add some flair, we might consider throwing up a string of soft bulbs or two.

Fill the Space Accordingly

We don’t think a closet-sized laundry room is practical, especially if you have more than one tenant. We prefer a bigger space, wide enough for several machines, folding space, and maybe even tables and chairs. Topical magazines are a nice touch and communicate that this is a space to relax while the laundry is being cycled. Consider, too, the ratio of machines per number of tenants. The last thing you want is neighbors waiting on each other before they can get their wash or dry going.

Keep It Safe and Clean

Security is mandatory and keeping a space that isn’t dingy is a must. You want to make sure that only your tenants can access the room, and that when they get there, there is evidence of it being well-maintained.

Contact us at 410-324-3654 or email us to take care of all of your commercial laundry needs, from hospitals to hotels to college campuses. We’re ready to keep you clean!

How Often Should People Wash Their Clothes?

How often people should wash their clothes has been an age-old debate in the media and behind closed doors. Some people claim that humans have become too sanitized and that it negatively impacts our natural immunity. Others claim that washing clothes often plays a crucial role in public and personal health. What do the experts say?

Office Clothes
Most people rarely break a sweat in their white-collar work clothes. They get dressed, go to the office, and work in air conditioning. Experts suggest people can wear work clothes for an entire workweek before they need to toss them into the hamper or washing machine.

Casual Wear
How often you need to wash your casual clothing depends on where you wore them to and what you did. Casual clothes worn at home can sometimes be worn four or so times before a wash. However, casual wear worn on public transportation or while out running errands should ideally be washed after each time you wear it.

Underwear
Undergarments come into direct contact with the skin and should be worn only once before putting them in the wash. Failure to do so could lead to skin infections, rashes, or hygiene problems. Even socks should only be worn once, even if you only wore them inside the house.

Outerwear
Your coats, jackets, hoodies, and scarves might not need as frequent washing as other clothes. They do not come into direct contact with the skin, so you can often wear them up to four or five times before it’s time to wash them.

Gym Clothes
Needless to say, workout clothes should be washed after every use. That’s because the body breaks into a sweat during a workout and the clothes can begin to smell or even have a rougher or stiffer texture.

At FMB Laundry, we help businesses and residential communities provide residents and visitors with an easy and convenient way to wash their clothes. This reduces the risk of a smelly and unhygienic environment, while also generating additional income for the business. Contact us at 410-625-2010 for more information.

How To Increase ROI for Your Laundry Business

Laundromats have been effective turnkey operations for as long as washing machines have existed. By balancing the upkeep costs of your laundry business against the monthly income that your store produces, you can make a tidy return on investment. It may be possible to start increasing the profits you earn from your laundry business. If your profits are slipping, or if you’re seeking to boost your ROI, it’s time to look at possible improvement solutions.

Build a Marketing Strategy

Marketing is a key component in any business’s success. Which is all the more important in a competitive field like the laundry industry. Laundromat-goers will tend to use the nearest and most convenient location, so it’s important to use physical advertisement mediums such as flyers or street signs to direct potential clients to your store. Building a special pricing campaign and distributing coupons is another way to appeal to a thrifty clientele. Utilizing social media platforms is a great method for communicating limited-time deals and engaging with your audience as much as possible.

Prioritize the Customer Experience

Creating a positive customer service experience is the key to ensuring repeat visits. Accessibility and cleanliness are the bare essentials for creating a strong and lasting first impression in the laundry industry. However, the most important thing that customers will expect at your laundromat is functional equipment. It is well worth the investment to keep all machines maintained, or to replace them as needed in order to continue to meet industry standards across the board. It may even be necessary to increase your overall number of machines if your current inventory does not meet your demand during peak business hours.

FMB Laundry is ready to satisfy your laundromat equipment needs and offers a variety of industry-leading laundry solutions as well. Call (800) 832-6193 to get in touch with a laundry industry expert right away.