Building managers have many difficult questions they need to answer when planning their apartment amenities. One of the most important considerations is whether to offer laundry and, if they do, where? Some complexes provide in-unit machines for everyone, but this is both expensive and not environmentally conscious.
Other buildings have a communal laundry room where residents can come to wash and dry their clothing. We’re here to help you decide whether on-site laundry is right for you and provide a few ways to save money on your building’s laundry room.
Reasons To Offer On-Site Laundry
There are several reasons that offering on-site laundry is the best choice for you and your tenants. You may think it’s a hassle now, but it’s actually an investment for the future.
Social Setting
Wherever you decide to situate your laundry room, whether it’s a room on a floor of your building or a separate building in an apartment complex, the area will become a social setting. Even a task as mundane as laundry is enough to build a sense of community between renters who would otherwise have no reason for speaking.
Both new and long-term residents can get to know each other. If your building is in a big city, this is a great way to encourage people to hang out and learn more about their new city.
Premium Rent
Look at other apartment complexes in the area. We’re willing to bet that one of the biggest factors in price is whether or not they offer on-site laundry. Certain amenities like laundry and air-conditioning allow you to charge a premium for rent and have a reasonable expectation of drawing in a lot of interested renters! People are very willing to pay for convenience; avoiding laundromats is a huge convenience.
Increased convenience is also a boon for long-term renters. The more amenities your building offers, the less reason your residents will have to move when their lease is up. Think about it: would you want to deal with the hassle of moving to end up in a building with fewer services?
Promotional Opportunities
Any communal space that most residents visit is a great opportunity to promote anything you want to. Maybe there’s information you want to get out to all your renters about upcoming gym renovations, or perhaps you want to advertise a community event you’ve organized. Post a note on the door, and you can be sure that you’ll get dozens of eyes on it.
Encourage Your Patrons To:
Washers and dryers are among the most expensive appliances to operate. Your residents will constantly be doing laundry, so you have to plan for high costs. Thankfully, most people are responsive when they learn a better way to do something. We recommend posting signage around your laundry room with suggestions to keep costs down while helping the environment.
Wash With Cold Water
Hot water requires a significant amount of energy for every load of laundry. Simply switching the “hot” setting to “warm” can save about half of the electricity you’d need for a hot wash. Choosing “cold” instead saves even more. On top of that, there’s no reason not to use cold water with cold water detergents since it can achieve the same cleanness as hot water can.
Wash Full Loads
Encourage your residents to let their hampers fill up before going down to the laundry room. The washer can’t differentiate between load sizes for the amount of power—it will use the same energy whether you toss in a week’s worth of clothing or a single sock.
Use Dryer Balls
Dryer balls help get more air between your clothes, which reduces drying time. On top of that, they reduce static, so you don’t need to provide dryer sheets in your laundry room. Woolen dryer balls are also said to remove moisture! Your mileage may vary, but this can cut down on drying time too.
Dry Right-Size Loads
Dryers that are too full will take several cycles to fully dry clothing. Encourage residents to avoid overloading dryers so that they don’t need to run the machine over and over again.
Clean the Lint Filters
A clogged lint filter reduces the efficiency of your dryers. Patrons should check the lint filter before and after every load—this also ensures proper laundry room safety.
Use the Extended Spin Cycle
Setting the washer to end with a spin cycle removes excess moisture before the drying step. This helps reduce drying time, and it can also allow patrons to dry their clothes with less heat in the dryer.
Save Money With Mobile Payments
Your best bet for saving money is to make the switch to a digital laundry room. Gone are the days of coin-operated machines—the apartment laundry app is here! If you charge residents to use your washers and dryers (or even if you’re just looking to streamline the laundry process), app-operated machines are for you.
Residents Prefer It
No one wants to bother with coins. Whether the old laundry room required residents to save up quarters or purchase some from the coin machine, these are hassles people don’t want to deal with. App-operated machines are simpler, and they encourage more people to use the washers and dryers than coin-operated appliances.
In addition to easier payments, a digital laundry room is also a great way for residents to avoid wasting their time. It’s extremely annoying to lug your hamper down to the laundry room only to realize you need to wait for a machine to become available. Digital laundry machines have monitoring systems that can let you know when all the machines are in use.
Hassle-Free Upgrades
When you hear the word “upgrade,” you probably picture days, if not weeks, of a “Laundry Room Closed” sign. In truth, making the switch to a digital laundry room is a simple process that doesn’t need to take more than a few hours.
Extra Security
It’s much less appealing to break into a laundry room when there’s no cash to take. Encrypted digital payments are tough to steal for a common thief.
Now that you know these ways to save money on your building’s laundry room, put up some new signage and consider making the change to mobile payments. You and your residents will love the upgrade!
