Linen hire means a commercial laundry owns the linen you use and looks after it for you. The sheets, pillowcases, doona covers, towels and bathrobes belong to the laundry. It washes, finishes and delivers them, replacement of worn items sits with the laundry, and you pay for the service rather than buying stock yourself.

It is a different thing from event hire. Tablecloths and wedding linen come from event hire companies, for a single occasion. Commercial linen hire is a standing arrangement for a business that turns over linen every week: a hotel, motel, serviced apartment, Airbnb or short-stay property, a workplace with End of Trip showers, a gym or a day spa.

What linen hire includes

  • The linen. The laundry holds the stock, so you are not tying up capital in sheets and towels.
  • Laundering and finishing. Linen comes back washed, pressed and folded, ready to go onto the shelf or the bed.
  • Replacement. Replacing worn items sits with the laundry, not with you.
  • Collection and delivery. Clean linen arrives and used linen leaves on an agreed run, planned around your changeovers.
  • A count. A record of what was delivered and what came back, so quantities are not a matter of opinion.

Hire it or own it?

There are two ways to work with a commercial laundry. With hire, the stock, replacement and laundering sit with the laundry. If you own your linen, the laundry launders it and returns it, and replacing worn items is your job.

Hire suits operators who would rather not tie up capital in linen or manage its life cycle. Owning your linen suits operators who want a specific product, such as a particular thread count or a branded towel. Either way the linen should be counted and returned on an agreed run.

What does linen hire cost?

There is no single price list, because two properties with the same number of rooms can use very different amounts of linen. A quote depends on:

  • The linen you use. Which items, and how many of each per room, bed or client.
  • Your volumes. For accommodation, that means rooms or bedrooms, occupancy and how often guests turn over. For a gym or End of Trip facility, it is the number of towels people actually use.
  • Your collection schedule. How often linen needs to be collected and delivered.

When you compare quotes, check what each one covers. Is replacement of worn items included, or charged separately? How is the count recorded, and what happens when the numbers do not match? How do you change an order for a busy weekend? Which areas does the laundry collect from? A lower rate that leaves these questions open can cost more in staff time than it saves.

How eWASH handles linen hire

eWASH runs its own industrial laundry at Moorabbin. Linen goes through a tunnel washing line and a flatwork ironer, and every piece of eWASH linen carries its own RFID code, read in and out, so the quantities moving between your property and the laundry are recorded rather than estimated.

You place and change orders through the eWASH client portal, and the team is on the phone Monday to Friday, 7am to 4.30pm. We collect and deliver across Greater Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.

To get a price for your property, request a quote and tell us the linen you use, your approximate volumes and the collection days that suit you.