Routine Maintenance Tips for Commercial Laundry Equipment
Whether you own a laundromat or manage an on-premise, or multi-housing laundry facility, keeping your commercial laundry equipment operating at peak performance is a priority. Routine, preventative maintenance is a simple and effective way for laundromats and other commercial laundries to reduce service and repair costs, avoid costly downtime, and keep the facility running smoothly.
Effective commercial laundry maintenance involves routine equipment cleaning, plus inspecting and replacing washer, dryer, and bill changer parts regularly. Proper care can extend the life of your machines, but not everyone knows how to do this right, and sometimes you’ll need to call in a technician. Read on for our pro tips on commercial equipment maintenance you can do to maximize your investment, and which tasks should be left to professional technicians.
10 To-Dos for Routine Laundry Equipment Maintenance
1) Read the manual.
While this may seem basic, this is a crucial first step that many commercial laundry operators overlook. Your equipment manual has important information about utility requirements, specific cleaning products to use, and how frequently to perform laundry equipment maintenance tasks. Reading through the manufacturer’s guide is time well spent and will help you better understand machine upkeep.
2) Keep the exterior of laundry equipment clean.
Whether you own apartments with multi-housing laundry equipment or you run a hospital’s on-premise facility, your machine maintenance must include routine cleaning. Not only does clean equipment improve the overall look of your laundry facility, but it can also remove lint and other debris before it falls into the machines and causes damage. When you wash off leftover soaps and spilled detergents, it prevents the solutions from corroding the exteriors and damaging the machines.
3) Clean soap dispensers.
Soaps, powdered detergents, and boosters can quickly gum up dispensers. Commercial washing machine maintenance requires regularly cleaning out these dispensers manually or by soaking them in water. This helps prevent major clogs or corrosive damage that, if left unattended, could require costly replacements.
4) Maintain water filter inlet screens.
Commercial washer filter screens can become blocked by small particles or debris over time, which may prevent proper water flow into the machine. Blockages slow the water fill rate, reducing efficiency, and severe clogs can potentially damage hoses and other components.
5) Check the washer inlet and outlet hoses regularly.
Sediment can build up in hoses and cause tiny leaks, cracks, or bulges. Inspecting these as needed can help prevent water loss and high water bills. It’s recommended that hoses be replaced every three to five years for the best commercial washer machine maintenance.
6) Inspect the machine belts from the motor to the drum.
Belts are essential for laundry equipment performance and should be inspected as part of your regular commercial washing machine and dryer maintenance. Routine replacement—about twice each year—is recommended. If you see signs of fraying or splitting, it may be time for early replacement.
7) Clean and inspect washer door seals.
Regularly checking for and removing buildup around the seals on your washers can help make sure your equipment always has a water-tight seal to prevent leaking.
8) Air out washers when possible.
Leaving the washer doors open when they are not in use helps air circulate to the interior so the machines dry properly between loads. This prevents mold and odors that can drive away laundromat customers.
9) Check lint filters after each load.
Customers may forget to clean out the lint filter on dryers between loads. You should consistently be monitoring this in your laundromat equipment to help prevent potential fires and overheating. The manufacturer may provide specific maintenance timing, but be prepared to clean the lint from the screen compartment daily, and from the front controls and in and around burners monthly.
10) Monitor machine vibrations and leveling.
Make it a habit to watch machines while running to identify any unbalanced or vibrating equipment. Correcting this can sometimes require a simple re-leveling, but other times this can be a signal that shock absorbers or suspension springs need maintenance.
Laundry Equipment Parts to Replace Regularly
Stockpile a few key spare parts to reduce downtime if a machine needs service. Martin-Ray Laundry is your trusted source for commercial laundry parts for Milnor and Chicago Dryer, ADC/Whirlpool, Continental Girbau, and all other leading brands. Our experienced team is ready to answer questions, offer advice, and help you with your unique laundry equipment and replacement parts needs. Here are a few of the components we recommend keeping on hand for commercial laundry maintenance:
- Drive belts
- Bearings
- Water and drain valves
- Drain hoses
- Switches and fuses
- Airflow components (lint screens and filters)
Call a Commercial Laundry Technician for In-Depth Maintenance
Industrial and commercial washers and dryers are highly sophisticated, requiring specialized knowledge and skills for proper maintenance. Commercial laundry machines should be serviced by a professional at least annually to help catch potential issues and give the machines an in-depth inspection and cleaning. Higher-use or high-volume facilities may need to call in laundry service technicians as often as quarterly. In addition to routine inspections, it’s advisable to enlist professionals for intricate procedures involving internal wiring or hard-to-reach components.
How To Find a Commercial Laundry Service Provider
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. If you’re in our service area (CO, NM, WY, west TX, western NE), you can contact us today to discuss your service and maintenance needs. If you're in another area of the country, we can refer you to one of our EVI Industries affiliates with similar expertise and services.
A Laundromat Owner’s Guide to Bill Changer Maintenance
Customer satisfaction depends on well-maintained equipment, and not just your washers and dryers, your payment systems need to be functional too. Bill changers are essential components of an effective, profitable laundry business that laundromat owners must understand how to service.
Like most electromechanical devices, bill changers require preventative maintenance to reduce the risk of downtime. Maintaining a laundromat’s bill changer requires weekly cleaning using compressed air and rubbing alcohol, plus checking for wear and tear and buildup on other components. To help you with this process, Martin-Ray Laundry Systems is sharing a preventative maintenance guide for keeping this integral component working at top performance.
Pay Attention To Bill Quality—It Matters
Unlike coin dispensers, bill changers are sensitive to dispensing. Paying attention to the quality of your paper money matters when loading your bill changers. A quality bill includes these characteristics:
- No deep creases within the paper
- The bill has not been folded over to create “dog ears”
- The bills have some stiffness to them
- The edges are uniform and straight, free from any irregularities
Once you have identified a stack of bills in good condition, make sure that you or your staff are taking proper care when loading the machines. The paper money should be stacked neatly, with all edges lined up and straight.
Monitor Customer Interactions With Bill Changers
When you or your employees are present at your laundromat, you should keep a close eye on customers’ interactions with your bill changers. An easy indicator to watch for is if patrons reinsert their paper bills multiple times before they receive change. Quickly identifying dispensing issues gives you a head start on fixing the situation so it doesn’t impact the customer experience or prevent people from using your services.
Clean Your Hoppers Weekly
Weekly cleaning should be part of your commercial laundry maintenance routine for bill changers. This frequency ensures that all of the mechanisms are functioning properly for customers. It’s important that you are using the correct cleaning agents on your bill changers for efficacy and to protect them from damage. Keep these cleaners for bill changers on hand:
- Compressed air cans to blow out dust, lint, and dirt
- Damp, soft cloths to wipe down the outside of the changer
- Rubbing alcohol to take off ink buildup
- Cleaning cards to remove dirt, oil, and other contaminants from magnetic heads, photo, and optic sensors
After your dispensers are thoroughly cleaned, make sure to test the bill acceptance and payout to ensure that there are no further issues with the machine.
Pay Attention to Error Codes
Routinely check bill changers for error codes and out-of-service messages. We recommend you keep a log of error messages. Recording issues or recurring themes can help you see patterns that can facilitate troubleshooting. You can also call the manufacturer or a service technician to see if they have recommendations to prevent recurring issues. Also, check in with the bill changer’s service department periodically to see if any available software updates will keep the dispenser running more efficiently.
Martin-Ray Offers a Full Range of Commercial Laundry Service Solutions
At Martin-Ray Laundry Systems, we offer our customers a variety of installation and post-sales support, including commercial laundry maintenance. Our team of experts can offer technical assistance and equipment service to get your machines up and running. We also provide specialized training in servicing commercial laundry equipment. With Martin-Ray, expertise and services are only a phone call away. We service laundries in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, west Texas, western Nebraska, and can refer businesses outside of those areas to our EVI Industries affiliates.
