Offering laundry services for your residents isn’t a huge moneymaker, but it does bring in some revenue and provides great convenience to the residents and their families. T & L Laundry Equipment has been providing large commercial washers and dryers to nursing home and skilled care facilities for more than 40 years. Whether you need one pair of machines or several, keeping your residents' clothing and bedding clean and sanitized is important.
Choosing Energy Star rated units by Speed Queen allows you to provide a valuable service to your residents while keeping your costs low. Ask your T & L sales representative about our planned maintenance program which can save you time and money. Unsure about which machines are right for you? As the top Speed Queen dealers in South Carolina, our expert staff can help you evaluate the needs of your facility and choose the right machines for the job.
When providing laundry services, it is important to have policies and procedures in place, so residents' personal items don’t go missing or get damaged. Enlist your patients' family members in helping to ensure that sorting and organizing your residents' laundry is a breeze for your staff.
• Names on items: Requiring last names and first initials on every item will help make sure that items are returned to their rightful owners. Shy away from writing room numbers, as these can change with new room assignments and facility changes.
• Checking pockets: Of course, your facility will rely on the residents to do this, but having laundry employees double check would be ideal. Checking for valuable items or items that would ruin the wash is important.
• Be upfront about washing cycles: If you are using a certain brand of detergent, let the residents know. Decide whether or not you will honor requests to wash items in a different brand if needed. Do the residents need to sort their whites from their colors? Will everything be washed at the same temperature? Can they request cold water washes or special care for delicates?
There are some things you can ask residents and their families to do to make the laundering process a bit easier.
• Encourage them to purchase items that are durable and will be able to withstand being worn and laundered regularly. Choose items with colors that won't draw attention when they start to fade. Cotton may not be the best option, even if pre-shrunk, as it will continue to shrink over time. If the resident has a favorite dress, suit or outfit, it may be best if they are kept at a loved one’s home, so they are well taken care of.
• Delicates and socks: Have these items placed in a separate smaller mesh bag that can be thrown in the wash and dry cycle itself. A simple lingerie bag from the dollar store will cut down on the missing sock mystery that can occur every time things get washed.
Sometimes running items through large commercial washers and dryers just doesn’t do the trick and a little extra help is needed. Here are some tips that can help anyone:
• Those pesky odors can be eliminated with a 2-hour pre-soak of ½ cup baking soda for every gallon of water. When washed in the machine add ½ cup white vinegar to the rinse cycle.
• Linens and cotton have a bad habit of turning yellow. Mix ¼ cup baking soda and ¼ cup salt with a gallon of water in a cooking pot. Add small items that are yellow and boil for 1 hour. For many facilities, boiling linens may not be feasible, so replacing bed linens and larger items like towels may be the best option for keeping them white.
Affordable Speed Queen Dealers in South Carolina | T & L Laundry Equipment
If you’re ready to talk with T & L about purchasing washers or dryers, contact us. We are here to help you with all your Speed Queen Laundry equipment needs. Don’t hesitate to call with any questions or concerns you might have about our products. We hope to work with you soon, to help you start saving time, money and energy with the best equipment on the market! When you're searching for affordable Speed Queen dealers in South Carolina, call T & L.
