How to properly load a washer-extractor

Using Your Community’s Laundry Room Equipment

Welcome to another FMB Laundry How To Video! This video teaches residents, guests, and anyone else using your laundry room’s equipment the proper way to load a washer-extractor!

Property and community managers, please feel free to share this informational video with your residents and let them know they can contact FMB Laundry with any questions about how to best use their laundry equipment.

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Step By Step Instructions

Video not working properly? Here’s how to properly load a washer-extractor:

  • Open the door and fully load the machine with like items. Mixing weights may cause an unbalanced condition.
  • The machine may look fully loaded, but there will be a void at the top of the basket.
  • Fill this void with additional laundry so that the machine is completely full, and close the door.
  • Add the recommended amount of detergent, softener, and/or bleach as needed.
  • Choose the proper cycle based on items loaded into the machine and press “Start” to begin the wash cycle.

While it seems easy and obvious, many people still overload their laundry room’s washer-extractor.

Why Residents Need to Know How to properly load a washer-extractor

Due to the way washing machines work, proper loading of clothes is crucially important. This is especially relevant in community laundry rooms where washers are heavily used. Here are a few of the potential problems caused by overloading.

Clothes Remain Dirty

As a result of overloading a washer, clothes can actually be just as dirty as they were before the wash cycle. This is because they do not soak, spin, and rinse properly, meaning the clothes are not actually being cleaned. Another reason clothes remain dirty is that bigger loads require more detergent. Clothes can actually come out smelling just as bad, or worse, than when they went in the washing machine!

Damage to Machines

Since washers are designed to handle certain sized loads, overloading puts undue stress on the machine’s components. Over time, this can lead to damage and even motor failure. To dispel a common myth, socks do not disappear from washing machines. They do, however, get stuck in washing machine drains due to overloading. This can ultimately cause machines to overflow, flood the laundry room, and break. Avoiding overloading is a surefire to keep your machines working.

Unnecessary Resident Complaints

When a property’s laundry equipment isn’t working correctly, it typically causes a flurry of resident complaints. Since overloading leads to dirty clothes and broken machines, it also leads to resident complaints. When resident’s do not overload machines, they indirectly reduce the amount of laundry room related complaints in the property management office!

When resident’s know how to properly load a washer-extractor, it keeps their clothes cleaner and means less broken machines in the community laundry room.

Using Other Laundry Room Equipment

While knowing how to properly load a washer-extractor is important, it is just one of many important steps in properly using your laundry room’s equipment. Ready to learn how to best use your laundry room’s other equipment? Check out all of our How To Video Posts!

This video was provided by Alliance Laundry Systems, the world wide leader in commercial laundry equipment and exclusive manufacturer of Speed Queen Washers and Dryers.

Three Improvements for Your Laundry Operations

When people go to a laundry room, whether it is in an apartment complex, multi-family home or dormitory, they want a nice, clean place where they can do their laundry. As time goes on and the room gets used hundreds and even thousands of times, things can begin to look less appealing for the users of the machines. If you run a laundry operation, here are some things you can do to spruce up your setup that will make customers feel more welcome and comfortable.

Refresh the Room

Try as you might to keep everything clean and tidy. With so many people using your services, things are bound to get dirty. Paint will get chipped, floors and furnishings will get worn-looking. A deep clean can greatly improve the look of the room, with the floors waxed and shiny and any chairs you may have steam-cleaned. Repainting can also give a fresh look that makes the room look new.

Upgrade Equipment

Many laundry operations still use washing machines and dryers at least a decade old, and that is no good for you or your customers. Old machines take longer to wash and dry and are less effective, inconveniencing your customers. This also often draws more water and electricity, draining your wallet. By getting high-efficiency machines, you will be saving time and money, all while giving the room an updated look.

Change the Lighting

White fluorescent lighting is popular because it is cheap, but it is also very harsh and unwelcoming. Nowadays you can get low-energy light bulbs that are warmer in color that still do not break the bank. These lights will give the room a more natural feel and make your customers at ease when washing their clothes.

Looking for new machines and someone to maintenance them? Contact FMB Laundry today by calling us at 877-709-3599 or sending an email to [email protected] to get a free proposal for your next project.