a community of practitioners

Laundry?

It was one of my biggest problems when I started out. How do you do yours? Or are the therapists responsible for their own? I had a refrigerator for them to keep their food in and washer and dryer in the 2nd Center.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Wilson on October 15, 2009 at 12:43pm

I provide linens for them and I have someone who I barter massage for doing it when the amount became more than just a few loads a week I also added money to the barter still keeping as much on the barter side so it was at no cost or little cost out of pocket.

Permalink Reply by Kari Stewart on October 22, 2009 at 7:28am

Ah...the laundry..what a drag! I have always supplied the linens for my employees. I haul them home at the end of the day, wash them and bring them back in the am. It's a pain, but here in NJ the laundry services are way to expensive. However, I have worked in other spas as an independent contractor and I was required to provide everything I used. Sheets, oils, aromatherapy oils, candles, etc. but now as an owner with employees I provide everything for them. I want their focus on what is important...the client.

Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on October 22, 2009 at 10:45am

Same way I did it!

Kari Stewart said:

Ah...the laundry..what a drag! I have always supplied the linens for my employees. I haul them home at the end of the day, wash them and bring them back in the am. It's a pain, but here in NJ the laundry services are way to expensive. However, I have worked in other spas as an independent contractor and I was required to provide everything I used. Sheets, oils, aromatherapy oils, candles, etc. but now as an owner with employees I provide everything for them. I want their focus on what is important...the client.

Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on March 12, 2010 at 10:52am

Send it out. $1 a pound dried cost. Well worth it.

Permalink Reply by Emmanuel Bistas on March 20, 2010 at 12:33pm

We used a sheet rental service for the first few years of operation. We didn't own the sheets, the rental company did. They would supply clean sheets once a week and would pick up the dirty ones. They charged us around .42 per sheet, based on 'inventory'. What that means is that if they supply us with 100 sheets per week, they supposedly needed to have another 100 sheets to be washing so that them can drop them off when they pick up the dirty ones. This meant pricing was done based on 200 sheets, not 100. It worked out okay, as long as the numbers stayed constant. But, if the number of appointments went up for a week and we used more sheets than previous weeks, the inventory numbers went up. And that's where the problems arose, because once inventory numbers went up they would stay at that new level. Monitoring inventory levels became a nightmare eventually, so we ended buying our own sheets and started using a laundry service.

The laundry service was $1/lb, with pick up and delivery. It seems to be the standard price in the area for laundry and folding. After 7 months I thought it was too high, especially since the machine does the washing and it's really the folding and hauling where the work is. I figured I would bring the sheets home and between me, my wife, and the older kids we could do it. It actually worked pretty well and saved us a lot of money, but now we opening a new location and we expect higher volume, so that may no longer be possible. I just found another rental company and this one bills on sheets used, not on inventory, and it is .35 per sheet. They will do the sheets and we will continue to do towels and face cradle covers in-house (our new location will have washer/dryer).

Permalink Reply by Tonya Brooks-Taylor on December 14, 2010 at 11:22pm

I lug them home every night and wash them. I went out and bought a ton of sheets so I really don't have to wash them every night but I do so anyway out of habit, plus I don't want the oils/lotions to stain the sheets or turn smelly :-). Luckily I just bought a new high efficiency washing machine (with steam and sanitizing function) a few months ago so my sheets are kept in great shape plus my water bill hasn't increased by much.

Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on January 10, 2011 at 5:07am

I remember it well. lol Glad I don't have to fight that battle any more.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

I lug them home every night and wash them. I went out and bought a ton of sheets so I really don't have to wash them every night but I do so anyway out of habit, plus I don't want the oils/lotions to stain the sheets or turn smelly :-). Luckily I just bought a new high efficiency washing machine (with steam and sanitizing function) a few months ago so my sheets are kept in great shape plus my water bill hasn't increased by much.

Permalink Reply by Exie Buehler on March 22, 2011 at 7:47pm

Oh yes, I've told my husband to engrave my tombstone when I die like this: Wife, Mother, Friend, Laundry Washer

Permalink Reply by Maryanne Kamau on July 22, 2011 at 7:43pm

I have a son who always asked for a weekly allowance, like they all do. So I told him he would need to work for it-so he does one load of laundry everyday after school and folds. I gather since I am providing the washer/drier/detergent/water, I would pay him $4 per load (usually 5 sets + face cradles etc). He makes $25-30 per week. My laundry is always done, keeps him busy after school and he now is very hard on his money. It is a win/win situation for me for now until my practice grows bigger.