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The Benefits of Smart Laundry Card Systems

Posted on by FMB Laundry

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

Posted on by FMB Laundry

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!

Tips for Designing a Great Common Area Laundry Room

Posted on by FMB Laundry

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?

Posted on by FMB Laundry

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.

Secrets to Longer Lasting Clothing

Posted on by FMB Laundry

They are your clothes. You would think you know them. In truth, however, as often as you have worn them, your clothes have kept some secrets from you. The good news is, as you find out what they are hiding, it will allow you to extend their lives—sometimes almost indefinitely. Make sure you like new clothes when you buy them since using these laundry tips will make them part of your lives for a long time.

Laundry Hacks to Make Your Clothes Last

Some of these may make sense to you, while others may seem counterintuitive. Give them a try and see if your clothes thank you for looking attractive and feeling comfortable a lot longer:

  • Wash in cold water except for towels and soiled whites. Warm water fades, shrinks, and is more abrasive.
  • The more detergent you use, the faster your clothes age. For most loads, a tablespoon will suffice.
  • Turn your dark clothes inside out as well as your clothes with decals. Colors rub against other exteriors and fade.
  • If you have a stain, soak it in cold water and spray it. There is no need to add more detergent for the whole load.
  • Take your time drying wet clothes. Use the “delicate” cycle, which ensures lower temps.
  • Avoid the dry cleaner, which exposes your clothes to abrasive chemicals. Place delicates in a mesh bag and use cold water and a gentle setting.

Smart Tech Comes to the Laundry Room

While we are discussing smart ways to wash your clothes, you may be interested in knowing that smart tech has found its way to the laundry room. You can utilize washers and dryers by programming your smartphone with the help of FMB Laundry, which provides smart equipment for residents of colleges, multi-family homes, and more. You can check us out on our website or give us a call at (800) 832-6193.

Why Your Facility Needs On-Premise Laundry

Posted on by FMB Laundry

When you manage a hotel, resort, hospital, or another large commercial facility, you probably know how much of a drain laundry can be on your business. Whether it be the actual cost of cleaning linens, towels, and other necessities, or the time spent dealing with items that were lost or damaged at the laundry facility. In order to maintain quality and keep costs down, many facilities are making the change to on-premise laundry. There are many benefits that come along with in-house laundry, but we think the following three will more than convince you.

Save Time

Right now, your trips to the cleaners might not seem like they take up a lot of your time. However, once you eliminate them altogether, you will be shocked at how much time you’re saving with on-premise laundry.

You can also eliminate the lengthy turnaround time you experienced with outside cleaners. These cleaners are responsible for more than just your facility’s laundry, meaning it may take up to a week or more before your laundry is ready to be picked up. Having on-site laundry solutions gives you immediate access, which means no more waiting around on backups.

Save Money

Save money without compromising quality? All business and property owners are looking for the opportunity to do just that, and with on-premise laundry, you can! The up-front costs may seem steep at first, but the amount you will save in just a short amount of time more than makes up for it.

The efficiency of on-premise laundry will save you money in ways you probably haven’t thought of before. For example, with the quick turnaround times, the number of backup linens needed will decrease. As the cost of water and energy continues to increase, so do the prices of a commercial laundry facility. By handling the laundry in-house, you will have complete control over how much water and energy is consumed.

Quality Control

With Speed Queen OPL equipment, you can be sure your laundry is cleaned at the highest of standards. By keeping everything in-house, you will be able to clean everything exactly the way you want.

Guest satisfaction will also increase when you switch to on-premise laundry. Since you no longer have to wait a week for the laundry to be ready, the odds of running out of clean sheets is greatly decreased. This means guests won’t have to wait around for fresh sheets or show up for check-in and their room isn’t ready because of the delayed linens. Has a guest or patient ever called a week later because they forgot something in the room? There is a much better chance of finding what is lost if the items never left the facility.

Are you convinced that on-premise laundry is the best decision for your facility? If so, our team at FMB Laundry can help you make that happen. If you still need some convincing, call 410-324-3654 or send us an email, we will be happy to go deeper into the benefits on-premise laundry can offer you.

We Trust Speed Queen and So Should You

Posted on by FMB Laundry

When you look around, you’ll notice a lot of different types of washers and dryers. They come in various colors, multiple sizes, varying ways they function, and a variety of other differentiating features. At FMB Laundry, we stand by the Speed Queen brand and so should you.

Manufactured in the United States

By supporting a company that manufactures products in the United States, we’re supporting everyone in the country. Not only does it boost the economy to use Speed Queen machines, it makes servicing the machines easier too. If the machine does break down, it’s easier and quicker for us to get the parts we need.

Expected To Last 25 years

Sure there are a lot of machines with flashy features and modern designs, but they don’t often last as long as the Speed Queen. The Speed Queen washers and dryers are expected to last at least 25 years, offering 10,400 wash cycles before they wear out. This is why Speed Queen is great for college dorms, apartment buildings, and other areas where the machines may experience heavy, consistent use.

Capacity To Handle Large, Heavy Loads

Speed Queen doesn’t have the largest drum out of competing washers on the market, but they are large enough for horse blankets, King size comforters, and other big items such as those. If your load contains dense blankets or towels that you worry might become an unbalanced mass, don’t worry about it. The sturdy structure allows you to get all your biggest, heaviest loads done without a problem.

Contact Us

At FMB Laundry, we are focused on the laundry needs of multi-family units, medical buildings, college campuses, and more, and we trust Speed Queen with all of them. Call 410-324-3654 or email us today to learn more!

Tips To Care for Your Winter Clothes

Posted on by FMB Laundry

When winter hits, many of you will wear more layers. You pull out sweaters, jackets, coats, thermals, and a wide variety of other clothes so you can stay warm. While this is cozy and stylish, it also creates more laundry, so you’ll need some tips to care for all those extra items.

Wear Your Outer Layers More Often Between Washes

If you have thermals or other undergarments on, you can wear the outer layers more often between washes. This helps prolong the life of those outer layers, which are often sweaters and other delicate items. You also don’t sweat as much during colder months, so your outer layers shouldn’t get stinky quite as fast.

Make Sure Your Coats Get Into the Wash

Too many people don’t wash their coats at all during the winter, causing them to smell and stain. Down coats can be washed on the gentle cycle, and this should be done about twice during the season. Gently squeeze the coat to get the excess liquid out before drying on a very low setting. If you toss some dryer balls in with the coat, the down should fluff back up again.

Avoid Fabric Softener for Under Layers

Many under layers are created to wick the moisture away from your body. If you use fabric softeners or dryer sheets, that wicking action won’t work correctly. This is only necessary on under layers or jackets made of fleece.

Treat Stains Immediately

During the winter, your clothes will probably get mud, slush, and salt on them. These elements are likely to stain your clothes, so be prepared with stain treatment products. Until you can get the articles of clothing into the wash, apply the stain treatment, and let it set.

As you can see, winter weather creates some extra steps when it comes to laundering your clothes, but with the right information, we can help you keep those clothes looking like new. Contact FMB Laundry by calling 410-324-3654 or sending us an email today!

Beneficial Technology-Driven Solutions With FMB Laundry

Posted on by FMB Laundry

FMB Laundry has implemented technology-driven solutions to make getting the laundry done more convenient for users. Whether you run a multi-family unit, manage a college campus property, or manage the laundry at a medical facility, these technology-driven solutions will make life easier for everyone.

SmartCards

A SmartCard can be purchased through a Value Transfer Machine in your laundry facility. Customers who wish to do their laundry there can put a monetary value on the card and use it until the amount runs out. It can then be reloaded using cash, EBT cards, NFC devices, credit cards, or a debit card. Using a SmartCard eliminates the need for users to carry coins, which makes doing the laundry more of a convenience for everyone involved.

The SmartCard system is easy to set up and easy to use. With software created specifically for these machines, you are able to determine a vend price, cycle times, and even set up specials you wish to implement. The software allows you to perform audits, reports, and other accounting functions.

Clothesline Mobile App

Available on Android and iPhone, the clothesline mobile app gives your customers a convenient way to take care of the wash. They can look for an open machine, check on the status of specific washers and dryers, get a machine started again, and keep track of their transactions. This allows users the ability to get other things done while their laundry is going.

When the wash or dry cycle is complete, the smartphone receives an alert that lets the user know it’s time to change the wash. They can then head to the laundry room, get the laundry switched, then use the app to pay for service and set the machine settings.

As you can see, FMB Laundry is making it easier and more convenient for your tenants to get their laundry done. With SmartCards and Clothesline Mobile, everyone benefits with improved technology systems. Contact FMB Laundry today by calling 410-324-3654 or sending us an email to learn more or to request service.