How to start a laundry business: wash and fold, pickup and delivery, or an add-on to cleaning

Which kind of laundry business should you start?

There are four common models, and they need very different amounts of money and space. Most new owners start with wash and fold, with or without pickup and delivery, because it can begin small and doesn’t require a storefront.

Some owners also serve businesses: linens for vacation rental hosts, towels for gyms and salons, or uniforms for small offices. These bring larger, steady orders, but often need commercial-capacity machines and pickup on a fixed schedule.

What a laundry business does not include

Dry cleaning is a different business. Many dry cleaners use perchloroethylene, a solvent whose emissions the EPA regulates under national air emission standards for dry cleaning facilities (EPA). If customers ask for dry cleaning, partner with a local dry cleaner rather than doing it yourself. If that side of the trade interests you, see how to start a dry cleaning business.

Healthcare linens are different too. OSHA defines contaminated laundry as laundry soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials, or that may contain sharps, and its bloodborne pathogens standard sets handling rules for it (OSHA). Stay out of medical laundry unless you are set up and trained for it.

Laundry as an add-on to a cleaning company

If you already run a residential cleaning business, laundry is one of the simplest add-ons. Start with in-home laundry during visits, then offer take-away wash and fold to the same clients once demand shows up.

In-home laundry during visits

Sorting clothes, loading washers, and folding dried items is already part of the job description for maids and housekeeping cleaners in O*NET, the Department of Labor’s occupation database (O*NET). Price it as a per-load add-on or extra time, and set limits: how many loads fit in the visit, whether cleaners put clothes away, and what they won’t wash (dry clean only items, delicates, anything stained with chemicals).

• Changing and washing bed linens is the easiest add-on to sell, especially for weekly clients.
• Vacation rental turnovers often need linens washed and dried between guests. Our Airbnb cleaning business guide covers how hosts buy that service.
• Add a line to your quote or price list so clients see it when they book.

Take-away wash and fold for existing clients

Once several clients ask, offer to take laundry with you and bring it back folded at the next visit or within a set number of days. You already visit their homes on a schedule, so pickup and delivery costs you almost nothing extra in driving. That is the advantage a cleaning company has over a laundry start-up.

Equipment, space and utilities

Pick machines for the volume you expect in your first year, check that your space can legally and physically handle commercial laundry, and plan the workflow from dirty bag to clean bag.

Where you wash

• At home. Cheapest to start, but zoning, a home occupation permit, a lease or HOA rules may limit it. The SBA notes that zoning ordinances can still apply to home-based businesses and says to check with your city planning office (SBA). Check that your water heater, plumbing and electrical service can handle running machines most of the day.
• At a laundromat. Some laundromats offer wholesale rates or reserved machines to route businesses. You avoid buying machines but depend on their hours.
• In a commercial space. Needed for a drop-off counter or high volume. Expect a lease, build-out and commercial machines.

Machines

Residential machines wear out quickly under all-day use. If you buy commercial washers, ENERGY STAR says certified commercial clothes washers are on average 9% more efficient and use about 45% less water than standard models (ENERGY STAR). Water, energy and detergent are costs on every pound, so efficiency matters more in a laundry business than at home.

The rest of the kit

• A hanging or platform scale for weighing every order
• Large folding tables and rolling carts
• Numbered or tagged laundry bags so orders never mix
• Detergents, including a fragrance-free option; EPA Safer Choice lists certified laundry products (EPA)
• Stain treatment, mesh bags for delicates, and clear bags or wrap for finished orders
• A vehicle that keeps clean laundry dry and separate from dirty bags

Handling customers’ clothes: care labels, sorting and damage

Treat every order as someone’s property in your care: weigh it, tag it, check pockets, follow the care labels, and have a written policy for stains, shrinkage and missing items before the first complaint.

Follow the care label

Under the FTC’s Care Labeling Rule, manufacturers must attach care labels to clothing, and the labels must state what regular care the item needs for ordinary use (16 CFR part 423). That label is your instruction sheet. Set aside anything marked dry clean only, hand wash, or line dry unless your service and price include that care.

A simple intake routine

1. Weigh the bag and record the weight with the customer’s name and order number.
2. Check pockets for pens, cash, lip balm and tissues.
3. Note visible damage and heavy stains before washing, with a photo if it is serious.
4. Sort by color, fabric and care instructions. Never mix two customers’ orders in one machine.
5. Wash and dry each order separately, then fold and bag it with the same tag.

Your service terms

• What you won’t accept: dry clean only items, heavily soiled work clothes, items contaminated with chemicals or bodily fluids.
• Stain removal is attempted, not guaranteed.
• How the customer reports a problem, how fast, and how you resolve it, including any cap on what you pay for a damaged item.
• What happens to orders not picked up within a set time.

How to price wash and fold and delivery

Most wash and fold services charge per pound with a minimum order. Pickup and delivery is either built into the per-pound price, charged as a flat fee, or offered free above a minimum. Build the rate from your real costs, then compare it with what services near you charge.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Say a typical order weighs 20 pounds, takes about one hour of hands-on labor to sort, load, unload and fold, and needs a 20-minute pickup and a 20-minute delivery. For labor, O*NET reports a 2025 median wage of $16.78 an hour for laundry and dry-cleaning workers (O*NET); we use $17 here. Replace every number with your own.

Notice how much of the cost is driving. If you pick up several orders in one neighborhood, or collect laundry during cleaning visits you already make, the price per pound can come down a lot. That is why routes with set pickup days work better than on-demand trips across town.

Other price points

• A minimum order (by weight or dollars), so small bags still cover the trip
• Per-item prices for comforters, pillows and sleeping bags
• A rush fee for same-day or next-day return
• Weekly or monthly subscriptions with a set allowance, which smooth out your workload

Use the price list maker to show laundry next to your cleaning services, and the profit calculator to see what a month of orders leaves you.

Licenses, taxes and insurance for a laundry service

Register the business, get any local licenses and permits for where you wash, ask your state whether laundry services are subject to sales tax, and insure the customer property in your care.

1. Register. Pick a name, register with your state, and get an EIN, which the IRS issues free (IRS). Our guide on LLCs covers the business structure choice.
2. Local licenses and zoning. A general business license, plus a home occupation permit or zoning approval if you wash at home. See what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business for the general process.
3. Sales tax. States treat laundry services differently, and some tax them. Ask your state revenue department before you set prices, so the tax is on the invoice rather than out of your margin.
4. Insurance. General liability covers injuries and some property damage. Ask your agent specifically about coverage for customers’ property while it is in your care, and about commercial auto for pickup and delivery. Our insurance guide for cleaning companies explains the common policies.

Running pickup and delivery routes

Set pickup days by neighborhood, give every customer a tagged bag, confirm each pickup and delivery by text, and charge a saved card when the order is weighed. Predictable routes keep driving costs down.

• Zones and days. Monday in one part of town, Tuesday in another. Customers choose a day, not a time window across the whole week.
• Turnaround promise. Pick a standard you can always hit, such as back in 48 hours, and sell faster turnaround as a paid upgrade.
• Contactless handoff. Customers leave the bag at the door; you leave the clean order in a closed bag with a receipt.
• Payments. Charge the card on file after weighing, and send the receipt with the weight.

Broombook is built for residential house cleaning rather than laundry routes, but if laundry is an add-on to your cleaning visits, you can list it as an extra on your booking form so clients add it when they book. See cleaning booking software for how extras and recurring visits work.

Finding your first laundry customers

Start with people who are short on time and have a lot of laundry: busy families, older adults, vacation rental hosts and small businesses with towels or uniforms. If you already clean homes, your own clients are the warmest audience.

• Your cleaning clients. A note after the next visit offering laundry pickup costs nothing.
• Apartment buildings without in-unit laundry. Ask property managers if you can post a flyer or offer residents a first-order discount.
• Vacation rental hosts. Linens and towels on every turnover, often on a tight schedule.
• Gyms, salons and small clinics. Towels and uniforms on a weekly route. Avoid anything that counts as contaminated medical laundry.
• A Google Business Profile and neighborhood groups. Show your price per pound, your minimum and your pickup days.

For more ways to reach local customers, see how to get clients for a cleaning business. Our home cleaning guides are a handy resource to share with customers who want to care for their homes between visits.