Most laundries price by imitation: they look at the shop next door and land near it. That is enough to survive and not enough to know which service actually earns.
And the surprise every laundry finds once it costs properly: the items you assume are most profitable usually aren't.
What Does One Item Actually Cost You?
The washing price looks like detergent and water. The real cost has four components:
- Labour time. The largest by far — and the least calculated. Sorting, washing, pressing, packing, and handover.
- Consumables. Detergent, chemicals, bags, hangers, tags.
- Energy and water. Very different between regular washing and dry cleaning.
- A share of fixed costs. Rent, machines and their maintenance, administrative salaries.
Time is what flips the calculation. Because items are not remotely equal in time: a shirt presses in two minutes, while a thobe or a suit can take several times that.
Why You Lose on the Items You Think Are Profitable
Because price is set on perceived value while cost is driven by time — and the two don't always align.
| Case | What the owner assumes | Usually the reality |
|---|---|---|
| A high-priced item needing long, careful pressing | The most profitable | Low margin because of time |
| Simple low-priced items in high volume | Marginal | Usually the backbone of profit |
| Express service at a surcharge | Pure profit | Disrupts the queue and raises the cost of other orders |
| Hotel contracts at low rates | Loss-making | Profitable when regular and high-volume |
The last row matters: regular volume lowers cost per item even at a lower price, because it fills capacity that would otherwise sit idle.
How to Cost an Item: Two Steps
1. Calculate the cost of a minute in your laundry
Add up your full monthly costs — wages, rent, utilities, consumables, maintenance — and divide by the actual available working minutes in the month.
The result: what one minute of operation costs you. Most laundry owners don't know this number, and every price derives from it.
2. Time each item type
Take ten items of each type and record the time from sorting to packing. Multiply the average time by your cost per minute, then add consumables.
The result may surprise you: items you sell at double another's price can cost you triple.
Three Decisions That Change After the Calculation
- Adjusting specific item prices rather than raising the whole list — a blanket rise loses you customers on items that were already profitable.
- Pricing express realistically. Its cost isn't in the garment but in disrupting the sequence of every other order.
- Accepting or declining volume contracts on numbers rather than an impression about "low rates".
For tracking and order management see laundry management software.
What the System Should Provide
- Independent pricing per item type × service type — wash, press only, dry clean.
- Multiple price lists: individuals, hotels, companies.
- A report of items processed per type — so you know where your real volume is.
- Linking revenue to costs monthly to show gross margin.
The third report pays back fastest: most owners find the distribution is nothing like what they assumed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate the cost of washing one item?
Calculate cost per minute first: total monthly costs divided by available working minutes. Then time each item type from sorting to packing, multiply by the cost per minute, and add consumables.
Why am I not profitable despite high prices?
Usually because high-priced items consume far more time. Price follows perceived value while cost follows time — and where they don't align, a high price still yields a low margin.
Are hotel contracts profitable at low rates?
Usually yes when regular and high-volume, because they fill otherwise idle capacity and lower cost per item. Decide on numbers rather than impression.
How should I price express service?
Not by the item's cost but by the cost of disrupting the queue: an express order delays others and raises their cost. Price it to cover that effect, not with a token surcharge.
Should I raise prices by a uniform percentage?
Preferably not. A blanket rise loses customers on items that were already profitable. Adjust the specifically low-margin items after timing them.
Which report should I ask for first?
Items processed per type over a month. It reveals where your real volume sits — usually quite different from your assumption, which then reorders your pricing priorities.
Conclusion
A laundry earns from volume and time, not from its advertised prices. One that knows its cost per minute prices with confidence; one that copies the neighbours discovers the loss at year end.
Calculate the cost of a single minute in your laundry this week. That number alone will reorder your price list.