Best Preventive Maintenance Tips for Commercial Laundry Machines

A well-maintained laundry machine can serve you for years. Maintaining your commercial laundry equipment saves you lots of money and is much safer. It also reduces downtime, consequently increasing productivity. Among the best maintenance practices are preventive measures to keep your machines running smoothly. With all the benefits preventive maintenance can provide, it’s not surprising that 80% of maintenance personnel prefer preventive care over reactive. 

This article will cover some preventive tips and guidelines for maintaining your commercial washing machines. 

Table of Contents

• What Is Preventive Maintenance?
• Reasons to Maintain Laundry Machines
• Maintaining Commercial Washing Machines

What Is Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance is the process of conducting regular and routine maintenance to equipment at scheduled intervals. The aim is to prevent unexpected damage and ensure maximum machine use. 

Generally, preventive commercial laundry maintenance includes cleaning, rearrangements, repairs, replacements and occasional inspections. These preventive measures differ from reactive maintenance, which fixes problems after they happen.

Reasons to Maintain Laundry Machines

Regular and periodic industrial washing machine maintenance has enormous benefits. Some of these advantages include:

• Saves energy: Routinely maintaining your laundry equipment can reduce utility costs. Damaged electrical assets consume more power. So, your proactive industrial laundry equipment repairs can save the planet — and your wallet.
• Saves time: Unexpected failures impact time schedules. If the damages turn out to be severe, they require more time to fix. When you discover malfunctions quickly, you have the chance to prevent major breakdowns.
• Improves safety: Abrupt failures put users’ safety at risk. Maintaining your machines can keep your customers and any maintenance personnel safer.
• Cuts down costs and expenses: Time is money. Preventive maintenance allows you to focus on other productive engagements. It also prevents unplanned expenses that affect your business’ finances. Preventing significant breakdowns means you can serve your customers and reap the fruits of your labor. 
• Increases product life and component life cycle: Well-maintained laundry equipment has a longer life span. This allows you to use machines for years without replacing them until there is a real need to. 
• Increases customer satisfaction: Your reputation as a reliable organization is fundamental to its success. Having well-maintained and functioning laundry machines means customers don’t experience delays or disappointment when they visit your facilities.
• Improves productivity: A combination of all the benefits above leads to one conclusion — enhanced productivity. Put your time, money, and effort into business concerns other than your laundry room.

Maintaining Commercial Washing Machines

Implementing an efficient preventive maintenance program requires planning, discipline and technical knowledge. Here, we’ll address general maintenance tips and those specific to coin-operated laundry machines and app-based machines. 

General Maintenance Tips for Laundry Machines

Some general steps for maintaining industrial laundry equipment include:

1. Read the manual: Reading the manual is a good starting point. This helps you get familiar with the features of your washers and dryers. It helps to have a good understanding of how the machine operates. The manual provides information about specifications, parts, safety precautions and energy requirements. It also contains some troubleshooting tips. 
2. Check the exterior: Begin your physical inspection by examining the laundry machine for breaks, cracks and dents. Replace the broken parts with new ones. Determine the cause of the damage and put measures in place to prevent future problems. Also, keep the machines clean. It’ll be easier to notice breaks or leaks, and you’ll prevent debris from damaging the units.
3. Check the belts: It’s best to replace weak belts before they break. Fix cracked or damaged belts with new ones immediately. Damaged straps prevent the motors from spinning. 
4. Check the water inlet: Inspect the water inlet hose and filters and clear any blockages. Debris and dirt interfere with water flow. You should also examine the hose for splits and seepage. 
5. Clean the drums: To prevent breakdowns and odors, keep the drums clean. As a bonus, this preventive maintenance measure can keep your clients satisfied.

Tips for Coin-Operated and App-Based Laundry Machines

When maintaining laundry machines with payment methods, consider these tips:

• Stock with quality bills: Bad bills and coins can interfere with your equipment. Stack your machines with quality bills only. Both coin and bill dispensers are delicate and require great care, so get a trusted coin-operated laundry systems provider to conduct your routine maintenance. 
• Keep hoppers clean: Clean your hoppers weekly to ensure your machines work effectively. Use the cleaning agent recommended in the manual or by a professional. Then, test the dispenser to ensure it functions at its best. 
• Consider app-based laundry machines: Coin-operated machines are still valuable today. App-based machines have several benefits, as well. App-based laundry machines reduce labor and expenses for maintaining your coin or bill changers. Plus, most users find it a convenient means of payment. Cutting-edge technology and specialists make it easier to upgrade and maintain a modern laundromat. Include all payment systems to attract clients of all kinds with machines that are simpler to care for.

Other Preventive Maintenance Tips

Here are some other tips that cover how to care for laundry equipment:

• Schedule maintenance based on machine usage: Assess the periods when customers mostly use the machines, then schedule preventive maintenance during different timeframes. This will assist you in planning ahead of time without disrupting your business.
• Take seasons into account: During busy seasons, users subject the machines to intense use. Prepare for such seasons and maintain the appliances in anticipation of the busy periods. 
• Leave the door open: Leave the door open between washes to keep the drums completely dry and odor free.
• Document maintenance services: Keeping a record of maintenance services allows you to track services and determine when the next is due.
• Post instructions to guide users: Users are sometimes unaware of the proper way to use the machines. Put up instructions close by to remind and guide users on correctly using the equipment.
• Get professionals to help: If you don’t have the staff or the time to take care of preventive laundry machine maintenance, turn to the professionals. They’ll know what to look for and how to repair any issues, leading to less downtime for your business. You can even look for professional washer and dryer cleaning services to check one more thing off your to-do list.

Caldwell & Gregory: Your Trusted Laundry Solutions Company

Since 1990, Caldwell & Gregory has offered the best commercial laundry solutions to different industries. We deal in washers and dryers for various payment platforms. Your customers can pay with coins and cards or use the app option. We can also help you maintain your machines with commercial laundry equipment repair.

At Caldwell & Gregory, we have dedicated preventive maintenance providers to respond to your needs. Our 24/7 customer support is available at your service. Contact us online or call us today at 877.784.6100. Already a customer? Request commercial laundry equipment service online.