Washing machine question

[Andrew Gabriel]

So presumably your launderettes are manned for service washes? I don't recall seeing a manned launderette for years.

[Adrian]

FWIW there's one in our local village (Ballydehob).

It's called 'My Beautiful Launderette' (honestly !) - and has all the big industrial washers / driers in the back, and a 'whatever colour you can imagine' paint mixing section in the front, together with a shop selling everything from beach balls to compost, tile trim, bedding plants, screws & glue, batteries, fly swatters..... and so on.

It's closed odd hours - so the locals leave a bin-bag of clothes for washing on the doorstep !

All within the space of your average English Chinese takeaway...

Wonderful place !

Adrian

[Andy Hall]

Ah I see. I imagine much better margin in that than in people coming in and putting their money into the machines. Do you do the ironing as well? From what I hear, that's a bigger PITA job than using the WMC.

[Andrew Mawson]

I've franchaised them. The 'staff' run their own business doing the service wash and ironing, set their own prices and pay their own tax and insurance. The advantage to me is that the vandalism is reduced vastly and if Flossy is having an off day then she arranges cover not me!

AWEM

[dom]

That's interesting. Every launderette I see is near empty at any time these days. I used them a few times last year when my old machine broke down (beyond self repair, and before I splashed on a Miele) - and found launderettes to be hugely expensive IMO, over =A310 for 2 machines wash & dry that would cost pence at home.

Most launderettes then must be very marginal businesses, surviving on having covered their capital costs years ago.

Maybe there's a potential wider business niche in transforming launderettes into primarily service wash centres - though most are not well positioned for easy drop off and collect

[ARWadsworth]

and

It is an eternity when you want your car keys back out of your trouser pocket.

Adam

[<me9]

If it's the same as our ancient hotpoint the drum rotation would also cause it to fail to open. It requires a solid non moving surface to allow the mechanism to open the door. Very simple and effective.

[Bob Eager]

I don't see any other mechanism (for rotation) other than the pecker on the belt. Will work every time except during drum rundown after a belt breakage. What other mechanism does yours have?

[<me9]

It's while since I had the back off, butIIRC the pecker needs to be restrained by a stationary object, usually the belt. If this is not present the drum, if moving, would also cause the pecker to move, and prevent door opening.

[Bob Eager]

I see what you're getting at...but the movement of the drum is actually irrelevant. I see it now.

If the belt is there and not moving, the pecker presses against it, the cable outer doesn't move, and the door opens. I knew that part.

If the belt is moving, the pecker gets knocked aside, pivots, and will not let the door open. I knew that too!

If the belt is broken, there's nothing for the pecker to press against at all...so the door is still locked. I don't see how movement of the drum actually makes any difference in this case.

So, it works well even under the broken belt scenario. Simple and effective. Why did they stop using it?

[dmc]

Plenty of times I've stuffed the washing in the machine, stuck in the powder and turned it on only to spot the sock laying on the floor behind me.

A couple of times i've started the machine full of whites and noticed the dark blue sock going around as well...

sometimes, being able to open the door after the program has started is handy. Even if the drum is turning if you hold the button in the Miele stops the drum and then unlocks the door.

Darren

[Zeke]

The one in Eastenders is never empty - no-one in Albert Square owns a washing machine it seems

[Zeke]

Giving the machine a thump near the lock mechanism will often persuade it to open without waiting for the interlock to re-set

[Andrew Mawson]

A full Launderette is not necessarily a busy Launderette ! I have one that is the local chat shop, they come in and chat and swap stories and drink coffee, and maybe only one of the 'inhabitants' is actually a paying customer !

An empty Launderette is not necessarily a quiet one either: I have one where most of the trade is service washes, dropped off for the girls to wash / dry / iron. I can drive past and only see the attendant, but maybe 2/3rds of the machines are in operation.

AWEM

[Zeke]

I used to know a guy who owned a lauderette in Birmingham and did regular service washes for all the local masage parlours!