Laundry guide
What Is Commercial Laundry?
Commercial laundry is a professional service that collects, washes, sanitizes, dries, folds and returns linens, towels and uniforms for businesses such as restaurants, hotels, gyms and healthcare clinics. Instead of washing textiles in-house, a business hands soiled stock to a specialist provider and receives clean, folded textiles back on a fixed schedule, usually within 48 hours.
How commercial laundry works
A commercial laundry provider runs industrial washers and dryers capable of handling large volumes of textiles efficiently. The process typically follows five steps: collection, sorting, washing and sanitizing, drying and folding, and delivery. Soiled textiles are picked up from a business on a recurring route, transported to a central facility, sorted by fabric type and soil level, washed on garment-specific cycles, dried, folded, and returned clean within a set turnaround window.
Because the provider handles many businesses on shared routes, the per-pound cost is far lower than each business operating its own laundry equipment, and the labour of sorting, washing and folding is removed from the business entirely.
Which businesses use commercial laundry?
- Hotels and motels needing sheets, pillowcases, towels and duvets.
- Restaurants and cafés washing aprons, kitchen towels, tablecloths and napkins.
- Gyms and fitness studios refreshing sweat towels and microfiber cloths.
- Medical and dental clinics requiring sanitized patient linens and uniforms.
- Spas and salons cycling through towels, robes and linens daily.
- Airbnb hosts and property managers handling turnover linens.
Commercial laundry pricing explained
Commercial laundry is typically priced per pound rather than per piece, because businesses generate volume rather than individual garments. A mid-size restaurant can produce 80 to 150 pounds of towels and aprons per week; a 60-room hotel can produce several hundred pounds of sheets and towels. Per-pound pricing scales naturally with that volume.
At Love's Laundry, Standard service is $2.20/lb (15 lb minimum), Volume is $2.05/lb for 50–100 lbs/week, Bulk is $1.90/lb for 101+ lbs/week, and Emergency rush is $3.00/lb. A delivery fee of $10 to $20 applies depending on your area.
Commercial laundry turnaround
Standard commercial laundry turnaround is 48 hours from pickup to return. That window keeps recurring routes predictable: a business sets aside soiled textiles for collection on a fixed day and receives clean stock back before the next service period. Emergency rush turnaround is available for unscheduled needs.
Commercial laundry vs in-house laundry
In-house laundry requires capital investment in commercial washers and dryers, dedicated staff time for sorting and folding, utility costs, and ongoing maintenance. Commercial laundry converts all of that into a single per-pound line item and removes the labour. For most businesses generating more than 30 to 50 pounds of textiles per week, outsourcing is cheaper than running in-house equipment.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Commercial laundry is a professional service that collects, washes, sanitizes, dries, folds and returns linens, towels and uniforms for businesses such as restaurants, hotels, gyms and healthcare clinics, usually on a recurring route with 48-hour turnaround.
A provider collects soiled textiles from a business on a recurring route, transports them to a central facility, sorts by fabric and soil level, washes on garment-specific cycles with sanitizing rinse, dries, folds, and returns clean textiles within a set turnaround — typically 48 hours.
Commercial laundry is priced per pound. Standard service is typically $2.20/lb with a 15 lb minimum, Volume is $2.05/lb for 50–100 lbs/week, Bulk is $1.90/lb for 101+ lbs/week, and Emergency rush is $3.00/lb, plus a delivery fee of $10 to $20 depending on area.
Standard commercial laundry turnaround is 48 hours from pickup to return. Emergency rush service is available for unscheduled needs.