Airing Your Dirty Laundry
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However, with the rising cost of utilities and labour, as well as the harsh chemicals used in the laundering process, it is becoming less cost effective to keep laundry services in house.
As a result, accommodation providers are increasingly choosing to outsource this part of their business to commercial laundries. These businesses are set up to handle large volumes of linen from a variety of sources, and have the facilities to wash, dry and iron hundreds of kilograms of linen each day.
Some offer a linen rental service, whereby the linen is owned, managed and replaced by the laundry, while others simply launder the accommodation facility's own linen.
Linda Farr, of Auckland's Sudserella Commercial Laundry, says there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Although there is limited initial outlay when hiring linen, she says, over the longer term this can be a more expensive option as any lost or mistreated laundry must be replaced by the accommodation provider.
"With customer-owned linen the accommodation provider faces an initial cost in the purchase of the linen but an efficient and easy service from the laundry means there are limited ongoing costs except the launder price. A good laundry will count what stock is going in and out so it can be easily established what has been sent and what needs to be returned to the accommodation provider."
David Wyness, chief operating officer at Dirty Business, a commercial laundry based in Auckland, takes a different point of view. "It works out much cheaper for us to wash 100kg of our own towels than 20kg of a small hotel's towels. Launderers also get bulk buying benefits and can ensure the linen is of a consistent quality. There is difficulty at the moment in finding linen mills that can service New Zealand's small requirements and professional launderers often have a better chance of capitalising on that," he says.
Additionally, when hiring linen the accommodation provider receives a consistent, quality product. Sheets and towels, for example, can be replaced by the laundry when required rather than it being a budget constraint which can then drop off the priority list. "We do see a lot of poor replacement programmes and sporadic replacement of linen which makes it difficult to then launder items to a high quality," says Wyness.
However, it's not just the ability to replace soiled linen or advise customers when their own linen requires replacing that makes outsourcing laundry services an option worth further consideration. There are also benefits to the business' cash flow that comes with not having to manage laundry staff, budget for additional utility usage, and invest in and maintain expensive, bulky laundering equipment.
John Bishop, group general manager for Spotless Laundry Services, operating as Taylors in New Zealand, says outsourcing facilitates a core business focus – serving accommodation customers – without the complexity of running a laundry.
"Outsourcing linen also provides a greater room vacancy rate. That is, the accommodation provider only pays for the linen that needs to be laundered," he says.
A further consideration for many accommodation providers, particularly in today's world, is the size of their carbon footprint and whether their processes are as sustainable as possible.
Laundry services on the whole, whether in house or through an outsourced contractor, are not best known for being environmentally-friendly.
The laundering of linen is a harsh process that uses a number of resources, particularly gas, electricity and water, as well as harsh chemicals during the washing process. The payback, in terms of increasing sustainability, is much more attainable by an outsourced laundry contractor than by an accommodation provider, says Wayness.
"Launderers have much more incentive to make the process more sustainable to reduce both our own costs and those of the customer. There are constant advances in technology that we, as professionals, learn about and take advantage of and, with the volume of utilities and chemicals we're using, the laundering industry as a whole is having to work in that area to make it more sustainable."
Spotless Laundry Services' Bishop agrees and says water usage has been halved over the last ten years across all Spotless laundries and energy consumption is also down by 8.8 per cent.
"A high Spotless priority is realising the environmental benefits that flow from sustainable equipment, working practices and processing techniques. In addition, Spotless works with water authorities in Australia and New Zealand to identify significant savings through its investment in the latest technologies."
As a result, outsourced laundry services are an increasingly viable option for accommodation providers across New Zealand.
