How to Run a Laundromat: Daily Operations, Maintenance, and Monthly Costs

More on coin laundry and laundromats: Coin laundry and laundromats — Guides for laundromat customers and owners, from what to bring to starting, buying, and running a store.

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Running a laundromat comes down to four jobs: keeping it clean, keeping the machines working, collecting and tracking the money, and managing any staff. CLA, The Laundry Association, names janitorial work, maintenance, collections, and employee management as the four basic areas of coin laundry operations, with bookkeeping and banking usually handled off-site. On the cost side, the big monthly bills are rent, utilities, payroll, and repairs.

Last updated: November 14, 2026.

This guide covers the daily routine, maintenance, cash handling, pricing, added services, and the monthly cost to run a laundromat. If you have not opened or bought a store yet, start with how to start a laundromat or buying a laundromat. All of our owner and customer guides are on the coin laundry and laundromats page.

Attended or unattended

CLA’s step-by-step guide lists attended versus unattended as one of the first business-model choices. An attended store has someone on site during some or all open hours to clean, help customers, handle wash-dry-fold orders, and report problems. An unattended store relies on the owner or a service visiting on a schedule, plus cameras, good lighting, and quick responses to out-of-order machines. Many stores mix the two, staffing busy hours and running unattended at quieter times.

CLA’s industry overview says stores usually open from about 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., which is a long day to cover with staff. Payroll in a typical laundromat, according to CLA, is usually limited to on-site work such as janitorial duties or attendants.

Daily routine

A short, written checklist keeps the store consistent no matter who is working. A typical daily routine covers:

Opening walk-through. Check that lights, doors, restroom, and payment systems work, and that every machine starts.
Cleaning. Wipe machine tops and doors, folding tables, and seating; empty trash; sweep and mop; clean the restroom.
Dryer lint screens. Clean them regularly, and more often when the store is busy. Dryer designs make this easier; Dexter’s published specifications for its vended stack dryer, for example, note a hinged lower service door for quick access to the lint screen. Lint buildup is a fire risk, which we cover in can a dryer catch fire when it is off.
Out-of-order machines. Tag them right away so customers do not lose money, and log the problem for repair.
Change and supplies. Refill the bill changer and any vending machines before they run out.
Closing. Check for left-behind laundry, follow your policy for holding it, and lock up. Our customer-side guide on leaving clothes at the laundromat explains why clear posted rules help.

Cleanliness is not only cosmetic. Customers often worry about shared machines, as our guides on whether laundromat washers are clean and bed bugs at the laundromat show. A visibly clean store answers those worries before anyone asks.

Maintenance and repairs

Machines that stand idle do not earn. CLA lists maintenance, including parts and labor, as a standard expense category, and its published useful-life standards give a sense of how long equipment should last with good care: 5 to 8 years for small top-load washers, and 10 to 15 years for front-load washers, dryers, heating systems, and coin changers. CLA adds that real life varies with usage, sales volume, and maintenance.

Good habits include keeping a log of every repair by machine, following each manufacturer’s preventive maintenance schedule, keeping common parts such as belts, door seals, and lint screens on hand, and having a technician or distributor you can call quickly. Dryer exhaust ducts and the water heater need scheduled attention, too. See our guide to dryer vent cleaning for why vents matter.

When a machine’s repair bills start rising, compare them with the cost of a replacement. Our guide to laundromat equipment costs lists current published prices.

Collections and cash handling

Collections are one of CLA’s four basic operating areas. In a coin store, that means emptying coin boxes, counting, and depositing on a schedule, and keeping the bill changer stocked. Vary collection times, keep records by machine or by group of machines, and compare collections with past weeks so you notice a problem early. Card and app systems reduce coin handling and usually provide reports by machine. Our guide to converting coin laundry to card covers the trade-offs, and our guides on tricking coin machines and bypassing coin laundry explain the kinds of tampering owners guard against.

Setting prices

Vend prices drive revenue directly. CLA says prevailing vend prices in the local market are among the factors that affect how often machines are used, and its white paper on demographic analysis and site selection tells owners to check what competing laundries charge. Many commercial controls allow different prices by machine size or cycle. When you change prices, watch turns per day afterward to see how customers respond. Our guide to laundromat revenue per machine shows how price and use combine.

Adding services

CLA lists vending, dry cleaning, and wash-dry-fold service as “other income” on a laundromat’s profit and loss statement, and its step-by-step guide mentions full-service options such as wash-dry-fold and pickup and delivery. These services use the store’s machines during slower hours but add labor and supplies, so price them to cover that work. Gold Coin Laundry Equipment, a distributor, notes in its FAQ that an attendant can add a wash-dry-fold service, and that vending and other services can add more income.

Monthly cost to run a laundromat

Wolters Kluwer suggests planning for about $4,000 to $8,500 a month in ongoing expenses, and says those expenses can be 65 percent or more of gross income. Your real number depends on your rent, local utility rates, store size, and staffing. The table lists the main categories CLA includes on a standard laundromat profit and loss statement, with published benchmarks where they exist.

Expense	What it includes	Benchmark
Rent and CAM	Base rent plus common area maintenance charges such as real estate taxes and shared upkeep	CLA suggests targeting rent at no more than roughly 10 to 25 percent of gross sales
Utilities	Gas, water, sewer, electricity	Gold Coin: often 15 to 25 percent of monthly gross with efficient machines; can exceed 30 percent with older equipment
Payroll	Attendants and janitorial staff	Depends on staffed hours
Maintenance	Parts and labor for repairs	Rises as equipment ages
Insurance	Liability, property, workers’ compensation if you have employees	Quote from your insurer
Other	Accounting, advertising, legal costs, licenses, personal property tax, vending, and wash-dry-fold supplies	Varies by store and region

CLA notes that interest, depreciation, and the owner’s salary usually appear on tax returns but are left out of the standard statement used to value a store. Track them separately so you know what the business actually pays you after its loan payments.

Keeping utility costs under control

Utilities are often the biggest variable cost. ENERGY STAR says certified commercial clothes washers are on average 9 percent more efficient and use about 45 percent less water than standard models. Other steps include fixing leaks and stuck valves quickly, keeping dryer lint screens and exhaust clean so dryers run efficiently, servicing the water heater, and reviewing utility bills each month for sudden jumps that may signal a problem.

Keeping customers coming back

CLA’s white paper says customers feel most secure in a store that is brightly lit and busy, and that parking and visibility matter because people carry bulky loads in and out. Inside, clear posted prices and rules, working machines, clean folding space, and a way to reach someone about a problem go a long way. CLA’s step-by-step guide lists local search listings, social media, and community outreach as marketing basics. Keeping your store’s hours and prices current online helps customers who search before they leave home.

How much time it takes

Gold Coin says new owners spend many hours learning the business and the equipment at first, and can manage the store with fewer hours once they are familiar with it. It also notes that many owners go on to run more than one store, and that management systems make multi-store ownership easier. How much time you personally spend depends on whether you do the cleaning, collections, and repairs yourself or pay others to do them.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a laundromat each month?

Wolters Kluwer suggests about $4,000 to $8,500 a month, but rent, utilities, and payroll in your area will set the real figure. Utilities alone often run 15 to 25 percent of monthly gross income, according to Gold Coin.

Is a laundromat passive income?

Not entirely. Someone has to clean, collect, repair, and handle customer problems. You can pay staff or a service to do much of that, which makes the business less hands-on, but those costs come out of the store’s cash flow.

Do you need employees to run a laundromat?

Not always. Some stores run unattended with the owner visiting on a schedule. Stores that offer wash-dry-fold or longer staffed hours need attendants. CLA notes payroll in a typical store is usually limited to on-site work such as janitorial duties or attendants.

Can you run a laundromat remotely?

Partly. Card and app payment systems, cameras, and remote monitoring reduce the need to be on site, but machines still break, floors still need cleaning, and lint screens still need emptying. Plan for someone local who can respond quickly.

What supplies does a laundromat need?

Cleaning supplies, trash bags, restroom supplies, spare parts for common repairs, coins or tokens for the changer, and stock for any vending machines. Stores with wash-dry-fold also need detergent, bags, and tickets or labels for orders.