CHICAGO — When offering wash-dry-fold (WDF) service, consistency isn’t just a quality goal — it’s the foundation of customer trust, operational efficiency and repeat revenue. Yet delivering the same finished product, on time and to specification, day after day requires far more than good intentions. It demands clear systems, disciplined training and a culture that treats every order as a reflection of the brand.
To better understand how successful operators build that consistency into their WDF programs, American Coin-Op spoke with four laundry owners and managers who have refined their training processes, documentation and quality controls. Their insights reveal practical strategies for turning new hires into confident producers — and for keeping standards high as volume grows.
In Part 1, the group defined “consistent” service, described the written systems or checklists they use, and detailed how they train their new hires during their first days/weeks on the job. Part 2 focused on mistake-prone areas and communicating customer preferences. Let’s continue:
Q: What role do senior staff members or supervisors play in coaching, reviewing, or spot-checking WDF orders?
Brian Henderson, owner, Liberty Laundry, Tulsa, Okla.: Our management team is super-critical for ongoing spot inspections of finished orders and observing attendants in action while they process WDF orders or interact with customers. The leadership team is a necessary component of settling disputes and providing accountability for laundry attendants.
Each of our stores has a full-time salaried store manager who is required to work at least 30 hours weekly on the floor in their store, with an additional 10 hours or so reserved for various tasks such as fetching supplies, writing performance evaluations, drafting work schedules, and so on. They report to our operations manager, who helps keep the team unified across locations in operations and supplies and serves to give the store managers guidance and helps to distribute labor when someone is needed from another location to cover a gap in the schedule. Our WDF service and self-service laundromats are busy enough that most days and shifts require at least two and sometimes three attendants on duty at any given time.
Linda Simmons, owner, Super Suds Laundromat, Long Beach, Calif.: We have a shift supervisor who is there (to answer) questions. The attendant that returns drop-off orders and the drivers notice when something is not right and it is corrected before giving it to customers.
Travis Unema, owner, Brio Laundry & Cleaners, Bellingham, Wash.: Managers do their audits on WDF/PUD weekly. Inspections include what is listed in our Methods binder: packaging is neat, order includes handwritten card, packages labeled correctly for pickup, order placed on correctly labeled shelf/locker, and software matches real-time location of the order. If any of these are out of order, then that’s a great sign to check in further to ensure all control points have been met. Managers train the new team members and perform audits on their orders until they are up to par with the rest of the team.
Ramona Buckner, operations manager, Bubbles Laundry Service, Anaheim, Calif.: Your senior staff are one of the most important parts of your team. They can help keep an eye on things when you are not around and are often the last layer of defense against mistakes. Senior staff should work with new staff for the first few weeks to make sure they are getting the best foundation. Having someone always there that your staff can refer to for questions or check on things is an amazing tool.
Q: How do you balance speed and productivity with quality and attention to detail in your training approach?
Simmons: We start with quality and learning to do things right. My general rule of thumb is that after two weeks of training, the attendant should be at 100-125 pounds. After two weeks of working on her own, she will be at 150. After another month, she will be at 200. We encourage the attendants to get to 220-240 unless it is all linens, and then we expect a lot more. We give the new attendants time to build up speed. Quality is the most important aspect.
Unema: We prioritize following the method over speed. Speed is not trained! Perfecting the method will increase a team member’s speed over time. You can still monitor how many pounds per hour your team can WDF and use that to identify where in the method they are spending too much time. Is your team stain-treating white socks and underwear when they really should be treating white laundry by the load, not individual pieces? Use the metrics like pounds per hour to find out where you need to improve your system, which in turn will improve your team’s production.
Buckner: You want the process to feel like an assembly line without necessarily being one. When an order comes through and an attendant gets that ticket, they should have a multi-step process to doing the order that’s the same every time.
If you do the same thing, the same way every day for years, you will get more efficient and faster. Truthfully, WDF is a skill. You start to build up on tips and tricks that work for you the longer that you do it. Always knowing what to do next or where to go next in your process is key.
Something as simple as knowing your machines by weight capacity will cut out having to guess which machine your order will fit in, potentially get it wrong, and have to reload. Even a few seconds of trying to figure out what machine to use or where the soap your client requested is can really add up the minutes when you are processing 30 orders a day.
When everyone folds the same, you can have senior staff jump in to help on an order, and both be folding the same order, knowing that the final product is going to look cohesive.
Henderson: We have an expectation of increased output (pounds per hour) after an initial 90-day probationary period. We place an extreme focus on details and quality in the first few weeks, as we feel that producing quality is more important than speed when one is still learning the basics of our processes. Our POS system tracks the team’s work performance in an easy-to-read report so we are able to tell who is “pulling their weight” in terms of number of orders processed and number of pounds of laundry or pieces (comforters) cleaned in a given period of time. Over time, you start to see certain ratios for each store and team member, so it is pretty simple to compare how they are doing.
Q: What tools or methods do you use to reinforce training over time — such as refresher sessions, audits, or feedback loops?
Unema: Monthly staff meetings where we take the time to review the wins from the prior month, and the losses … mostly how we can learn from losses and not point fingers. Mistakes happen and it’s important to handle those as a team.
Buckner: Retraining on specific processes or skill sets when mistakes are made. And highlighting strengths during performance reviews. I find that letting your staff know what they’re doing very well helps them refine and hone their skill, which naturally cuts down on mistakes.
Henderson: Videos are remarkably useful to serve as a source of truth for initial training and to settle disputes between team members about technique. Modern smartphones make it easy to record and upload demonstration videos you can record for your team showing exactly how you would like standard procedures to be done. We simply store our training videos on YouTube.
Simmons: My [POS] software tells me how many pounds each launderer does each day. If someone is falling behind, we have a talk. If someone’s quality is bad, we talk. If someone makes a lot of mistakes, we cut their hours significantly. If someone is doing particularly well, we issue them a gift card to reward them.
In Thursday’s conclusion: Turning mistakes or complaints into training opportunities, and where training most impacts customer satisfaction and repeat business
Miss an earlier part? Read it here: Part 1 — Part 2
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
