Guide to Commercial Laundry Equipment Preventative Maintenance

Whether you own a laundromat or manage an on-premise, or multi-housing laundry facility, keeping your commercial laundry equipment operating at peak performance should always be a priority. Routine, preventative maintenance is a simple and effective way to save on service and repair costs, avoid frustrating equipment downtime, and keep your facility running smoothly. 

Benefits of Preventative Maintenance

There are numerous benefits to performing routine maintenance on commercial washers and dryers, including

• Lowering Utility Costs. Ensuring that hoses remain intact and lint trays clean will enable help your commercial washers and dryers run more efficiently, thus decreasing your utility costs.
• Identifying Problems Sooner. Spending time maintaining your equipment every day enables you to identify problems and concerns sooner. When you catch a problem early, it is often faster, easier, and less expensive to fix—and you can avoid costly downtime.
• Increasing the longevity of your commercial laundry equipment
• Avoiding Expensive Repair Costs. As mentioned above, when you catch problems early, you can often resolve them yourself without having to place an expensive service call to a certified technician.
• Decreasing the costs to replace failed pieces of equipment
• Increasing Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Laundromats rely on functioning washers and dryers to keep customers happy. By maintaining your equipment, you can keep it running like new and help avoid those dreaded "out of order" signs. When customers can count on your laundry equipment to work every time, they'll have a better customer experience and keep coming back.

How to Perform Preventative Maintenance on Commercial Laundry Equipment

Most preventative maintenance tasks can be completed by a laundry facility owner, manager, or employees. Develop a written preventative maintenance plan and log where you carefully document all work done in order to better diagnose and track problems in the long run.  

While you should always consult with the manufacturer’s handbook before doing any work on your machines, some basic routine maintenance tasks that apply to most commercial laundry equipment include:

• Wiping Down Equipment Exteriors. Not only does wiping down your commercial laundry equipment every day keep it looking clean and attractive, but it will also provide an opportunity to carefully assess the entire machine and identify minor problems before they become worse.
• Checking Washer Water Inlet Hoses. This is a priority item for all commercial washing machines. The average lifespan for water inlet hoses is only about five years, so you should have someone check for cracks or leaks daily. Promptly replacing worn or damaged inlet hoses can help prevent leaks that could damage your facility and render washers inoperable. 
• Cleaning Out Dryer Exhaust Systems. While you or your staff should empty lint filters after every load, don’t forget to clean the dryer exhaust system regularly as well. This is important to help prevent lint and debris buildup, which could negatively impact equipment performance and may even lead to dangerous conditions, such as a fire. 

Know When to Seek Professional Assistance

Industrial and commercial laundry equipment is highly sophisticated, requiring specialized knowledge and skills for proper maintenance. While routine tasks can be handled in-house, it's advisable to enlist the services of experienced professionals for intricate procedures involving internal wiring or hard-to-reach components. Consulting with trusted commercial laundry machine technicians, such as those at Martin Ray Laundry Systems, can ensure the longevity of your equipment and protect your investment.

Need help getting started? Martin-Ray can provide more information about specific preventative maintenance procedures. We also offer preventative maintenance services to help keep your equipment running like-new. Contact us today to learn more.