Wash with Wally: Finding Quality Attendants

By Wally Makowsky | Aug 03, 2009

I’m considering expanding my coin laundry staff beyond just my wife and me. Can you give me any tips about locating and attracting potential employees?

As long as you and your wife are still attending the store, you’re probably not in a great hurry to find attendants. This is an advantage because it enables you to wait for the right type of people to hire.

The most effective method for attracting attendants is in-store signage. Hang attractive, legible signs in your coin laundry’s front window. Be sure your signage can be read from the inside of your store, as well as outside.

This is the best way to attract people who live in the area, especially those who are already customers of yours and, as such, are already familiar with your business. You probably have a number of customers who are looking for either part-time or full-time work. Typically, in such cases, you’re getting a person from the neighborhood who already knows many of your customers and potential customers. In addition, such a person will tend to be more reliable, because she won’t have to travel a long distance to get to work.

I recently had a customer who brought in a load of clothes that were stored in mothballs for several years. This customer has already washed and dried the clothes once, but the smell is still there. Any suggestions?

If the garments you’re dealing with are whites, one method to try is to soak the items in a chlorine bleach solution of no more than one-half of 1 percent per volume, for a period of five or six hours. Then proceed to wash the clothes in a customary fashion. Generally, if you repeat this process a couple of times, the mothball odor will disappear. Sometimes, it will disappear after the first soaking and wash.

Another suggestion is to use an odor eliminator, such as Febreze. Of course, if you chose, you also can purchase a commercial-grade odor eliminator from your local distributor. Odor eliminators can be applied as sprays; however, I suggest applying them into the washing machine. Basically, use anywhere from three to six ounces in a pre-wash, and three to six ounces more in a regular wash with your detergent in warm-to-hot water. Repeat this process one or two times, and it also will eliminate those mothball odors.
 
On busy days, I notice that some of my machines take a long time to fill with water. What could be the problem?

You may have one or more problems. First, check the screens on the mixing valves. Be sure that they’re not plugged up.

Next, see if your problems occur on the hot water setting. If so, your hot water pipes may be corroded and could require replacement. Typically, the hot water line rusts long before the cold water line, which reduces the inner diameter of the pipes, allowing less water to flow through.

Lastly, your incoming water line may be too small. This is often the case with older stores that were built when most of the washers were small, and then remodeled to feature larger washers that demand more water. If this is the case, you may need a booster pump or a larger incoming water line.

As a rule, when dealing with water, you need to consider two things: volume and pressure. If you lack either one, you will not receive a proper, timely fill.

One of my customers recently used a washer that was leaking transmission oil, and the oil stained her white, cotton garments. Now her clothes have brown spots all over them. What can I do?

First of all, call your laundry distributor and order a quart of either Laundry Wetspo or Laundry TarGo. If the stains have not pre-set, simply follow the washing instructions on the container.

However, if the stains are already pre-set, soak the garments in a tub of hot water, using approximately a quarter- to a half-ounce of either product per one pound of laundry. Soak the items for about three hours in the hot water. Next, place the stained garments into a frontloading washing machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

During the final, hot-water wash, use a detergent with chlorine bleach. When you’re finished washing, you may have to dry the items more than once to remove any odors.

Also, don’t use a liquid fabric softener on that last wash; instead, use a softener sheet on the last dry.