Points to remember while planning a

laundry

Made By: Vidya Anant

Location :• The location of the laundry must be

strategic enough to obviate transportation problems and because of the noisy and humid nature of the area.

• The laundry should, if at all possible, be easily accessible from the linen room so that heavy bundles of laundry can easily be transported from one location to another.

• It should be located away from guest areas, however, because of acoustic reasons, vibration, and humidity problems anticipated in a laundry.

• It should preferably be along the outside wall of the building to provide adequate venting.

Size:• The rule of thumb for hotel

laundries is 7 sq ft per room (not including soil storage).

• For soil storage, 1 cubic foot for every 3.6 kg (upto a height of 4 feet) is usually allotted, though it is difficult to state an optimum size because of individual institutions’ needs.

Ventilation:• This is essential to exhaust moisture-

laden air from the dryers out of the laundry room.

• Laundry rooms also require adequate ventilation through regular doors or windows to take in a supply of fresh air equal to the amount of air removed from the room through exhaust fans or similar.

• Without ample intake through regular doors or windows, or at least a separate forced dry-air supply, dryers will not operate at their specified efficiencies.

Equipment selection :• Laundry equipment must be considered in

relation to initial cost, life expectancy, maintenance, and depreciation.

• Overhead costs of utilities such as electricity, water, and gas need to be considered.

• Generally it is wise to install two washers instead of one because:

1. It takes less time to accumulate a full load for a smaller machine.

2. There will be some back-up if one machine needs servicing.

3. Small, odd lots can be handled more efficiently.4. It will be possible to wash two different kinds of

goods concurrently, for example, heavily soiled uniforms and lightly soiled sheets.

5. Small machines impose less of a shock load on the hot-water and electrical systems.

Labour• The rule of thumb for a small

institutional laundry is that one person should be able to handle a weight of about 36 kg an hour.

Other costs of laundry aids such as soap, bleach, detergents, and other chemicals should be estimated and consideration should be given as to how bulk quantities of these supplies will be stored.

• Decisions have to be made as to who will maintain and supervise the laundry and what workforce will be utilized.

There should be uninterrupted provision for valet service, as it is easier for a guest to get there laundry washed through them.

There should be ample number of laundry outputs especially in large hotels so that the guests or valet would not have to stand in queue.

As a thumb rule in hotels there should be at least 18inches gap between each machine.

The ceilings in laundry area should not absorb moisture otherwise bad ceilings might cause seepage problems.

Walls should be durable and moisture resistant. As in suitable walls should be used in such areas so that there is no scratch made on the walls by movement of machines.

Floors should have concrete slabs and they should be slip free

Wet laundry must be moved from the washer-cum-extractor to the dryer, while dry laundry must be moved to storage shelves and hence to shower areas and ‘equipment issue’ areas.

To facilitate these transfers, utility baskets, hampers, and carts must be provided.

A worktable (4 ft x 6 ft) with castor wheels on the legs is very convenient for folding towels and other laundry. It can readily be moved about the room as needed too.

There should be cupboards or bins as well, for the storage of detergents, soaps, bleaches, and other cleaning agents.