When Laundry Becomes a Hidden Expense: Why Small Businesses Should Stop Doing It Themselves

When Laundry Becomes a Hidden Expense: Why Small Businesses Should Stop Doing It Themselves

If you run a salon, spa, fitness studio, medical clinic, car wash or short-term rental business, you know the routine: linens, towels, uniforms and rags must be washed.
The question is: should your team be the ones doing it?
More and more businesses are discovering that keeping laundry in-house quietly eats into profit, staff capacity, and leadership focus, all without showing up as a neat line item on the P&L. Outsourcing, by contrast, turns a messy operational chore into a predictable cost and frees up people to do work that actually drives growth.
Laundry is a classic “non-core” activity

• It’s necessary, but not a differentiator
• It requires specialized equipment, space, and procedures, but rarely sits inside a company’s core competencies
• It diverts management attention to things like machine maintenance, supply ordering, and scheduling staff around wash cycles

When non-core tasks stay in-house, owners and managers end up spending time and money where the return is lowest.
The hidden cost of doing laundry in-house
Beyond the obvious utility bills and detergent, in-house laundry operations accumulate a surprising set of costs. If you’ve never priced it out, it’s easy to underestimate how much those “just a few loads a day” are really costing once you include:

• Extra hours on your team’s timesheets
• Downtime when a machine breaks
• Utility spikes during busy seasons
• Wasted space that could be used for revenue-producing activities

In fact, when labor, utilities, and equipment are accounted for, in-house laundry can cost small businesses an estimated $30,000–$45,000 per year. The bigger issue: what are you and  your team not doing while they do laundry?
When you outsource laundry, i.e., you partner with a trusted laundry provider, several benefits emerge:

• Focus shifts to revenue-generating work: Your team can spend time on customer service, marketing, onboarding new clients, improving retention.
• Predictable costs: Rather than hidden costs, you pay a known service fee. Experts say outsourcing can cut laundry costs by 30% or more in many cases.

Start with a quick calculation
To determine if outsourcing makes sense for your business, try these steps:

1. Estimate your in-house cost: Add up labor (wages + benefits), utilities, detergent, equipment maintenance and the space cost.
2. Get a quote for outsourced laundry: Ask a commercial laundry provider for a per-pound or per-piece arrangement, including pickup/delivery if applicable.
3. Ask yourself: “If we eliminate in-house laundry, what will our team do instead?”  Focus on whether they’ll do higher-impact work (selling, servicing, retaining) rather than washing.

If any part of this feels familiar and you think your staff could be better deployed toward growth or differentiation, then outsourcing laundry may be one of the more strategic, overlooked decisions you can make. About the Authors

Amy Knopf and Avi Robbins are the small business owners behind A+ Laundry in Peachtree Corners, where they help local organizations reclaim time and streamline operations by outsourcing their laundry. Together, they operate a modern, fully attended laundromat offering self-service, drop-off wash-and-fold, and residential and commercial pickup & delivery services designed for busy teams that need clean linens without the operational headache. Learn more at www.useAplusLaundry.com or contact Amy at Amy@useAplusLaundry.com and Avi at Avi@useAplusLaundry.com to explore commercial laundry options for your business.