What do laundromats charge for wash and fold?
Most wash and fold services charge $1.50 to $2.50 a pound, with most orders in the middle of that range, according to Poplin’s laundry service cost guide. Drop-off is the cheapest tier; pickup and delivery, same-day return and one-off orders cost more.
Here is what three real price sheets show:
| Service | Drop-off | Pickup and delivery | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed Cycle Express, Mayfield Heights, Ohio | $1.65 a pound, next day | $1.75 recurring, $1.95 as needed | 10 pounds drop-off; $25 delivery |
| Super Suds, Long Beach, California | $2.19 next day, $2.75 same day | $2.19 recurring, $2.29 one time, plus $2.50 fuel surcharge | $25 drop-off; $45 delivery |
| Poplin (app-based, independent laundry pros) | Not offered | Starting at $1 or $1.60 a pound depending on the area, Trust and Safety fee included | $30 or $40 depending on the area in its estimator |
Three things stand out. Recurring customers pay less than one-off customers. Same-day service costs about 25% more. And every service sets a minimum, either in pounds or dollars, because a small bag costs almost as much to handle as a big one.
For the setup side (models, equipment, care labels, permits), see how to start a laundry business.
What does a pound of wash and fold cost you?
Most of your cost per pound is labor, then utilities and supplies, then rent and overhead. Work it out per 100 pounds, because that is easy to measure in a week of orders.
For labor, O*NET reports a 2025 median wage of $16.78 an hour for laundry and dry-cleaning workers. The rest of this table uses hypothetical numbers for a small shop with its own machines; replace each line with your own bills.
| Cost per 100 pounds | How it is worked out | Amount | Per pound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor: sort, load, unload, fold, bag | 25 pounds per labor hour = 4 hours × $19.55 ($17 wage plus 15% payroll costs) | $78.20 | $0.78 |
| Water, sewer, gas, electricity | From your utility bills ÷ pounds processed; $0.20 assumed | $20.00 | $0.20 |
| Detergent, softener, bags, tags | $0.08 assumed | $8.00 | $0.08 |
| Rent, machine wear, insurance, software | Monthly fixed costs ÷ monthly pounds; $0.30 assumed | $30.00 | $0.30 |
| Total before profit and delivery | $136.20 | $1.36 |
At $1.65 a pound, that leaves about $0.29 a pound, or 18%. At $1.95 it leaves $0.59, or 30%. The single biggest lever is folding speed: at 35 pounds per labor hour instead of 25, labor drops to $0.56 a pound. Train a folding standard, time it, and price from the number you actually hit.
If you wash in a self-service laundromat rather than your own shop, the vend price is your machine cost. Super Suds, for example, lists washers from $3 for a double loader to $10 for an 80-pound machine. Weigh what each machine really holds and divide.
How should you set a minimum order?
Set the minimum so the smallest order still pays for its fixed handling time. Drop-off minimums are usually 10 pounds or about $20 to $25; delivery minimums are higher, $25 to $45 on the price sheets above, because a driver has to make two stops.
Every order has work that does not scale with weight: intake, weighing, tagging, checking pockets, separating whites and special-care items, bagging, payment and a “ready” message. Call it 15 minutes. At $19.55 an hour, that is about $4.90 an order before a single shirt is washed. On a 6-pound bag at $1.65, you would collect $9.90 and spend most of it on paperwork.
Pound or dollar minimum?
- Pound minimum (10 pounds is common for drop-off) is easy to understand at the counter and on the scale.
- Dollar minimum ($25 to $45 for delivery) works better online, because the customer sees the order total, not the weight.
- Charge the minimum, do not refuse the order. A customer with 7 pounds pays the 10-pound price and usually brings more next time.
How should you charge for pickup and delivery?
Pickup and delivery is charged one of four ways: a higher per-pound rate, a flat fee per pickup, a fuel surcharge, or free above a minimum. Poplin’s guide says services that charge separately typically ask $5 to $15 per pickup, depending on distance and frequency.
The price sheets above show the other approaches:
- Speed Cycle adds $0.10 a pound for a recurring route and $0.30 a pound for as-needed pickups, with a $25 minimum.
- Super Suds keeps the recurring rate equal to its drop-off rate, adds $0.10 for one-time orders, and puts a $2.50 fuel surcharge and a $45 minimum on every order.
What a delivery really costs you (hypothetical)
On a planned route, assume 10 minutes and 3 miles for the pickup and the same for the return: 20 minutes of driver time at $19.55 an hour is $6.52, and 6 miles at the IRS standard mileage rate of 76 cents (July to December 2026) is $4.56. That is about $11 an order.
| Order size | Delivery cost per pound | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 10 pounds | $1.11 | Loses money at any normal per-pound rate; needs a minimum |
| 20 pounds | $0.55 | Covered by a flat $10 fee or a $0.50 a pound premium |
| 40 pounds | $0.28 | Can be free above a minimum, as a selling point |
Fixed pickup days by neighborhood cut the drive cost more than any fee does. On-demand pickups across town are what make a delivery laundry unprofitable.
Do laundry subscriptions make sense?
Yes, for weekly customers: a subscription turns a variable order into a fixed monthly charge and a fixed route stop. Price it so the included pounds cost about the same as your recurring per-pound rate, and charge overage per pound.
Poplin’s guide also describes flat-rate bags at $25 to $40 a bag regardless of weight, and monthly or tiered plans. Its estimate of weekly laundry by household is a good base for plan sizes:
| Household | Weekly laundry (Poplin) | Plan idea (hypothetical) |
|---|---|---|
| Single person | 8 to 12 pounds | Every other week, up to 25 pounds a pickup |
| Couple | 14 to 20 pounds | Weekly, up to 20 pounds: $149 a month |
| Family of four | 20 to 30 pounds | Weekly, up to 30 pounds: $219 a month |
| Family of five or more | 28 to 40 pounds | Weekly, up to 40 pounds: $289 a month |
Check the plan math: $219 a month for up to 30 pounds a week is 130 pounds a month at most, or $1.68 a pound if they use it all. Most families will not hit the cap every week, so the real rate lands higher, near your one-off price. Add overage at your recurring rate ($1.95 a pound, say), decide whether unused pounds roll over (it is simpler if they do not), and bill on the 1st to a card on file.
How should you price comforters, bedding and special items?
Price bulky and slow items per piece, by size, with a premium for down. They take a whole machine, dry slowly and do not fold into a per-pound workflow.
| Item | Speed Cycle Express (Ohio) | Super Suds (Long Beach) |
|---|---|---|
| Comforter, twin | $22 | $18 (twin or full) |
| Comforter, full or queen | $24 | $25 (queen or king) |
| Comforter, king | $26 ($28 California king) | $25 |
| Down comforter | Add $5 | $25 twin or full, $30 queen or king |
| Mattress pads, covers, duvets | Same as comforters by size | Not listed |
| Pillows | Not listed | $6 regular, $10 down |
| Sleeping bags | Not listed | $18 regular, $25 down |
Other lines worth a price
- Same-day or rush return: Super Suds charges $0.56 a pound more ($2.75 against $2.19).
- Hang dry or delicates: a per-item or per-bag charge, because they take rack space and hand work.
- Customer’s own detergent, fragrance-free or hypoallergenic products: free or a small flat fee.
- Heavily soiled items (pet bedding, work clothes): a separate wash and a per-bag surcharge.
Write in your terms that you follow care labels, and what happens with items labeled dry clean only. The laundry startup guide covers care labels and damage policies.
A worked price sheet for a new service (hypothetical numbers)
Using the cost of $1.36 a pound and about $11 per delivery from the sections above, here is a price sheet for a small wash and fold service with drop-off and neighborhood pickup days. Check every number against your own costs and two or three local price sheets.
| Service | Price | Margin check |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-off, next day | $1.75 a pound, 10-pound minimum | $0.39 a pound over cost, 22% |
| Drop-off, same day | $2.25 a pound | Covers overtime and the disrupted schedule |
| Pickup and delivery, weekly route | $1.95 a pound, $35 minimum | A 20-pound order earns $39; cost $27.20 + $11.08 = $38.28, so push for 25-pound-plus orders |
| Pickup and delivery, one time | $2.25 a pound, $40 minimum | Pays for the off-route drive |
| Comforters | Twin $22, queen $26, king $30; down add $6 | In line with the price sheets above |
| Hang dry | $5 per order | Rack space and handling |
The weekly delivery line is the warning: at 20 pounds it barely breaks even. You can raise the per-pound rate, raise the minimum to $45 like Super Suds, add a fuel surcharge, or get faster at folding. Most new services fix it with the minimum, because customers accept a minimum more easily than a higher headline rate.
How to present wash and fold pricing and raise it
Publish the per-pound rate, the minimum and the delivery terms on one short page, weigh every order in front of the customer or photograph the scale, and raise prices once a year in small steps.
- Lead with the per-pound rate and the minimum. That is what people compare. Put the per-piece bedding list right under it.
- Show the weight on every receipt. A scale photo or a printed ticket ends disputes before they start.
- State the rules: care labels followed, dry-clean-only items returned unwashed, items left in pockets not your responsibility, a claim window for damage or loss.
- Sell the recurring plan. A cheaper rate for a fixed pickup day fills your route and steadies your workload.
- Raise by $0.10 a pound once a year, with 30 days’ notice to subscribers. On a 25-pound weekly order it is $2.50 a week, and it compounds.
The price list maker lays out your rates, and booking software such as Broombook lets customers book a pickup slot, keeps recurring routes on a calendar and charges the card on file. A cleaning company can also add laundry as a line next to its cleaning services; see the laundry business plan guide if you are building it as its own business.