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We've been trying our local CAT laundry when we've been  overwhelmed by bed changes but have yet to succeed in getting them to charge us anything other than the normal punter rate to do the sheets and duvet covers.  I'd be interested to hear what others pay if they send their bedding 'out' to be washed, dried and ironed, and what sort of quantity they dispatch.

Thanks

Jan

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Jan - That sounds incredibly reasonable.  I hate ironing fitted sheets ! !  [:(]  Definitely worth finding out local laundry costs.  Laundering also takes away the worry of drying sheets in dodgy weather.

Our gite washing machine is on its last legs and we were trying to decide whether it was worth replacing it.  We take up to 4 people but mostly get couples.  We have noticed that people will use the machine for 2 prs pants and 2 shirts which doesn't seem to be very eco-friendly.  Does anyone offer to take a machine load from their guests?  How much do you charge?  We are seriously considering this as business is down this year (too many gites in the area and we don't have a pool?) and we are not really sure that a new, or second hand, machine is really worth it.

Any comments ????

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That seems like a lot - by my reckoning that lot would have cost you the equivalent of a couple of room nights (I presume approx 20 pillowcases were also sent....) The hotel in village near us send their laundry to the CAT & are charged €1.50/duvet cover/sheet............  The price you are paying seems excessive - call me mean, but would rather buy new IKEA bedding in the sales (last year saw king duvet sets for 3.99euros in Bordeaux - 1.99 for single sets..)than pay that amount for laundering....  If the weather is good no problem for us doing the washing/drying in the high season (4 rooms + 2 gites = max of 17people/night)- its the ironing which is the problem (buy yourself a Miele roller iron - a real lifesaver + you get to sit down for a spell...)  However, as you are doing evening meals as well can appreciate that time is at a premium.

I would try negotiating a price if you are using them every week, especially if you have a lot of 1 nighters..........Gool luck & have a good season.

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What about towels and pillowcases, how much do they charge for them?

I thought I would try and work it out to see how much more it costs against doing it yourself based on four rooms all with one double bed and type it up as I went.

We run two washing machines and one dryer for whch we paid around 400 Euros each plus a semi-profesional iron at 200 Euros. We have had them for about 5 years and they still work well

We use Lidl washing liquid and fabric softner which works out at 30 cents a room (bedding in one machine, towels in the other). If we say 1 Euro per machine for the electricity thats 2.30 per room for the washing machine. According to the link I give at the bottom we can calculate that to run a drier for one hour is about 80 UK pence, about 1 Euro. I would say, based on experience, it takes 2 hours to dry a room so we end up at 4.30 Euros then add 50 cents for the iron and water (to create the steam) we are up to 4.80 Euros per room.

If we take Jans figures thats 2 Euros per sheet X 2 = 4 + 3.95 for the duvet which makes 7.95 Euros. I can only guess but to include the pillow cases (4) and towels and bath mat (say 5 items) we could perhaps double that to 15.90 per room.

If we then said that as an average per year (12 months) each beddng and towel set is washed twice a week thats 104 washes per room. Based on the above 4 rooms thats 416 washs a year. I have used this as an average because sometimes you may wash a room more than twice a week and by saying you stay open for 12 months I thought it would sort of even out. Likewise in the summer a room is dried outside so you don't need the drier (saving 2 Euros a room) but I have left it in for the whole 12 months.

Therefore, home washing would be 416 X 4.80 = 1,996.80 Euros (if you said you used the drier for only 6 months you can take off about 208 Euros)

Using the outside laudry would be 416 X 15.90 = 6,614.40 Euros.

So if you went out and bought two washing machines and a dryer today and used it straight away after six months you would be saving about 3,000 Euros in the first year and over 4,500 Euros a year there after.

I may have well have missed something so feel free to recalculate my figures and correct them if required.

The figures I used were from http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Clothes_Dryer couldn't find one for washing machines but they must be cheaper or around the same to run.

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Quillan I am overwhelmingly impressed by your calculations - have copied them to give the accountant for next year's tax calculations...couldn't have done a better job myself...  Would you by any chance be going through a quiet period due to the football???  6,614 euros is 120 room nights at the original posters room rate (from his website)..........I know some B&Bs where that is annual takings........

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[quote user="betoulle"]

I presume approx 20 pillowcases were also sent....

[/quote]

We decided that if we sent the large items to the laundry we could manage the pillowcases easily - after all at the rate of 4 per double room, you can get a lot in a 7kg machine and they dry and iron so much more easily than the big things.  I think I've seen 0.50€ as the CAT rate but that might have been the commercial rather than Jo Public rate.  I've no idea what rate they charge for washing and drying towels as we don't have enough to send them away and not see them again for a couple of days!  The idea of having masses of bedding and towels is an appealing one, but with 5 rooms that's a lot of stuff to store, along with duvets not in use even when things are interchangeable amongst the room.

Quillan's calculations are impressive............and maybe if we had more room we get could a second washing machine in to ease the load if we're busy.  The biggest pain is ironing the bedding, but that subject's been well aired here before.

Jan

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[quote user="betoulle"]

 6,614 euros is 120 room nights at the original posters room rate (from his website)..........

[/quote]

I know this is off track...........but what do you mean 'from his website'?  I may wear trousers (some say the trousers) but Richard's the bloke in this organisation!

Am now looking around for some idea of the price of a steam press/roller to ease the sheet ironing hassle and time.

Jan

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Having read all the postings - Quillan's calculations are very impressive - we only have a small gite and B&B compared with everyone else's !  But for us it's time we lack as we are both working as well - hence the interest in the laundry which is worth shopping around for re prices.

We bought a second hand ironing press but went back to a wide ironing board.  It sounds as if a roller iron would have been a better bet....  But it all makes a big outlay for a small business. 

Jan - would be interested to hear what you come up with re the roller.  By the way, do fitted sheets do well with a roller iron??

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The secret to ironing the fitted sheets is all in the folding..........if you get it right they come up a treat....you do need the metre wide roller iron though for it to work, but it saves an awful lot of time.... confess to splashing out & buying a brand new one in Metro 3 years ago, but have seen them on eBay at a reasonable price.  Currently cheaper in UK if you are planning a trip back or have a friend driving out - approx £700 in John Lewis.  Sounds pricey I know, but the first couple of years when we regularly did something like 12 bed changes over a summer weekend with 1 nighters & gite changeovers we were swamped & I paid a lady to come in up to 10 hours a week to cope with the ironing - worked out that I was paying out near enough 1400 euros over a 15 week season just for ironing, the last 3 years that iron has more than paid for itself .........  Also, an added bonus it is the only time I get to sit down from May to October..........have a TV/radio nearby & it can be quite relaxing, well as relaxing as anything can get in this business at this time of year.  I can understand the need to send laundry out though if you are providing evening meals every night as the OP is - I don't know how you manage what is basically a dinner party every night with all the cleaning, washing, breakfast preparation, gardening, pool maintenance, shopping, meeting & greeting etc..... lucky we have some great restaurants nearby.

Have a good season everyone.....

 

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[quote user="betoulle"]

I can understand the need to send laundry out though if you are providing evening meals every night as the OP is - I don't know how you manage what is basically a dinner party every night with all the cleaning, washing, breakfast preparation, gardening,

[/quote]

That basically is our problem..............nearly everyone who stays eats with us as around these parts it's hard to find a decent restaurant.  Believe me, clearing up after a professional chef + being his commis, as well as all the other stuff leads to swift exhaustion after too many nights on the trot without a break!

No-one in tonight so head chef fishing this afternoon and Madame La Plonge wasting her time....maybe I should get on and find that roller press.

Jan

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Full for the next few days then back to half occupancy, still some (large) holes in July and August for the B&B.

Anyway, for ironing I built a new board as a present for the wife on our wedding anniversary so she can iron quicker and have more time to herself.

OK only joking about the wife's present but I did make the ironing board. The secret is to get the biggest sheet you have and fold it 3 times which gives you a long but narrow sheet. Make the board about 12" longer and 6" wider. This means you fold the sheet in half, then half again and iron one side moving it only once to iron the second half. You then fold it, ironed side inwards so it sits on the board with the gap all the way round. Iron on one side then turn over and do the other. Total time, under 2 minutes to iron one sheet.

Only buy good quality cotton sheets with about 10/20% polyester to make them easier to iron. Everything we have is white but the top pillows and duvet covers have patterns which I suppose you could say look like the are embroidered on. The beauty of this is they can all be boil washed if required and there is never a problem with colour run. White always says clean, its a mental thing I am told. A good iron is a must. Our one can be bought for around 140 Euros these days, does not have to be turned off to refill and has a tremendous steam pressure which is very important (I am told).

Never have used fitted sheets as they always look a pain to iron but I can see it speeds up the bed making. Would love to try out one of those roller irons before I spend that sort of money. Do you think they would mind if I turned up at the shop with a couple of unironed sheets for a test drive [;-)] . Seriously, I know that reading through this section when discussed before some people love the roller irons and others hate them, there seems no 'in between'. Perhaps it's a particular make or model, I don't know. I can't really pass comment because, as I have said, I have never tried one.

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[quote user="Quillan"]Only buy good quality cotton sheets with about 10/20% polyester to make them easier to iron. Everything we have is white but the top pillows and duvet covers have patterns which I suppose you could say look like the are embroidered on. The beauty of this is they can all be boil washed if required and there is never a problem with colour run. White always says clean, its a mental thing I am told. A good iron is a must. Our one can be bought for around 140 Euros these days, does not have to be turned off to refill and has a tremendous steam pressure which is very important (I am told)[/quote]

Agree with you about the white.  One of our customers must have used the white hand towel for removing her make-up and the ordinary wash didn't do a very good job.  [:(]  So in went the Vanish, ariel and a 70° wash, and, hey presto, one beautifully white towel.[:D]

But where do you get the poly cotton sheets - especially ones with just 10 or 20% polyester?  I have only seen 50/50 and there is always a risk of bobbling.[8-)]

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little tip picked up in New England last year - regarding the make up removal on white towels.  Place a black wash mitt decoratively in a pretty basket near the sink with a discreet note saying that although you provide cotton wool balls for make-up removal if the customer would prefer to remove their make up with a flannel/towel please use the black mitt provided - it appears to work as have had no problems since we started the system 8 months ago. We await the arrival of our first guest of the season with fake tan which will no doubt test our patience....   We also use all white towels & bedding - have to confess that we buy it all in John Lewis/M&S/House of Fraser sales in January - good quality, great bargains & the French always remark on our lovely linen & towels.
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Does anyone offer to take a machine load from their guests?

Never again! Washing machine was en panne, I offered to do it. Woman came to the door with a double armful of washing - no bag or basket - including all the smalls for three people [+o(], dumped it happily in OH's outstretched arms...

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Jan, read your bit about doing towels and pillow covers yourself. Even if you half the cost I worked out (I doubled it to take them in to account) you are still better off by 1,300 Euros a year doing it yourself. Thats the cost of a nice 2 week holiday, well thats the way I look at it.

Personally I only send out by pillows and quilts for cleaning (the latter only during the winter, don't use them in summer). What I did was worked out how many pillows and wash's I needed then went and negotiated a price and paid up front. I mean 16 pillows a month guaranteed to the cleaner is good business in a one horse town. I have the Facture and every time I take them in he marks the Facture and when we get to pillow 192 we re-negotiate.

Pillows are often over looked but they are so important to keep clean. Many a free night is to be had in upmarket hotels (or any hotel come to that) by wondering down to pay the bill with a pillow in your hand covered in brown stains. Especially when there is a long queue of 'reps' trying to book out. Oldest hotel freebie in the book.

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The pillows - I just bin them.  Have one French and one English shape at each place.  Keep a stock in the cellar (cheapish but reasonable quality) chucking them out if they don't look clean works out cheaper than cleaning them.  New cheap pillows are nicer then old expensive ones!  Quilts I take to DIY laundry with monster machine and sit and read while they are going round.  During busy season I now pay someone to do a couple of hours ironing a week - cheque emploi so we get some of it back.  Mosly do it myself - I'll come back as something lovely in another life for having done this penance.
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Have solved the pillow & quilt cleaning problem by buying a Bosch 9kg washing machine - not only can I do 2 single quilts in there, or a king size quilt & a couple of pillows, but during our busy time can do a really huge load together with the 2x 6kg machines - would Quillan like to work out the saving for me please???  I do need to wash the duvets on a warm sunny day off season though as even the large tumble dryer tends to make them clump......  As to keeping pillows for longer - buy the pillow protectors in Tesco in UK - cheap but really good quality, anti allergy etc & can be washed every couple of weeks - have zipped covers, so a guest would have to be really bloody minded to go to the trouble of unzipping those as well as taking off the disposable pillow protector & pillowcase.....
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I give the chap in the cleaners 150 Euros cash [;-)] [;-)] for a seasons worth of cleaning the pillows and quilts. To be honest we wash the quilts twice a year and the pillows about every six weeks. The quilts he puts straight in the machine but the pillows he empties and washes the innards (well that's what I think he does) then puts them in a new case, he sometimes 'tops them up'. We have had the same pillows for 5 years although when I think about it I think of Triggers broom from Only Fools and Horses, you know same broom for 10 years with 5 new handles and 8 new brushes. I suspect there is little or nothing of the original pillows left by now. We use a pillow protector which gets washed the same time as the pillow cases, we did have some quilted type protectors but it makes it difficult to get some of the pillowcases on.

So sending out 144 pillows a year to be cleaned costs me 100 Euros. I then pay 5 Euros a quilts, I have 5 quilts and as I said wash them twice a year (unless there is an accident) that is what makes up the 150 Euros a year.

At a rough guess I would say your 9kg machine takes 2 pillows (because it wouldn't probably spin evenly with 3 and I doubt that you could get 4 in what with the weight when saturated in water). If we worked on that number per wash and lets say you have to put a little bit more soap and conditioner in (because its a bigger machine) I reckon it could cost you about 1,50 per wash as a worse case scenario. It would cost you about 108 Euros to wash the same amount of pillows that I get washed in one year. The difference would be drying costs, mine come back dried and in a sealed plastic bag. If you dried yours in the drier then you could add about another Euro for two pillows dried (50 cents a pillow).

That's the first time I have worked it out so it seems I get a good deal.

Without knowing the price of pillows and how many times others change theirs it's difficult to say if buying cheap pillows and simply changing them is a good or bad option. If you did swap all your pillows once a year they would have to be priced at about 6,24 Euros each to match the price I pay to get one of mine cleaned 8 times a year. Therefore to swap them out the same mount of times I wash mine a pillow would have to cost you 78 cents to buy, I think thats right.

A salesman about 20 years ago told me of the pillow trick. Apparently you get the bill first then show the pillow, kick up a fuss and because of the queue they give you the accommodation free, you just pay for the breakfast and evening meal. You don't give them back the bill, they forget about it then you put the whole bill on your expenses and pick £40 for nothing. I tried it a couple of times (literally) over the years and it does work to a degree as in I only got about 50% off my bill, but never a free night. Now I am on the other end of the business I always make sure my pillows are clean although I doubt anyone ever tries it on with a B&B but you never know and if they did would an owner ever own up to it?

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[quote user="Quillan"]

A salesman about 20 years ago told me of the

pillow trick. Apparently you get the bill first then show the pillow,

kick up a fuss and because of the queue they give you the accommodation

free, you just pay for the breakfast and evening meal. You don't give

them back the bill, they forget about it then you put the whole bill on

your expenses and pick £40 for nothing. I tried it a couple of times

(literally) over the years and it does work to a degree as in I only

got about 50% off my bill, but never a free night. Now I am on the

other end of the business I always make sure my pillows are clean

although I doubt anyone ever tries it on with a B&B but you never

know and if they did would an owner ever own up to it?

[/quote]

Own up to what? [8-)]

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Now that's what I call a reasonable price - in fact taking Quillan's figures I think it would be virtually the same as doing it yourself.....  Any chance that you are in the Charente? - would seriously consider sending out particularly on a busy weekend like this one with double gite changeover, a wedding party tonight + a whole load of new B&B arrivals tomorrow..........
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[quote user="betoulle"]Now that's what I call a reasonable price - in fact taking Quillan's figures I think it would be virtually the same as doing it yourself.....  [/quote]

..............but without the hassle of actually having to do it yourself!

You have my sympathies for the wedding party tonight - I've never known one manage to get up for a reasonable time for breakfast then leave in time for you to do changeovers.

Bon courage,

Jan

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