Wash-Dry-Fold (WDF)
Wash-dry-fold, or WDF, is drop-off laundry service in which the store washes, dries, and folds a customer's laundry, priced by the pound. It converts machine time and staff labor into a higher-revenue service.
Why Wash-Dry-Fold Matters in a Laundromat Sale
WDF changes both the revenue mix and the cost structure, because it adds labor to a business that can otherwise run unattended. The CLA's 2024 survey reported a $1.50 per pound median drop-off base price, a $1.90 median where pickup and delivery was included, 65% of respondents offering drop-off WDF, and 60% reporting WDF customer levels increased from 2022 to 2023 (Source: CLA 2024 Laundry Industry Survey). In valuation, WDF revenue must be tested on its real labor minutes per pound rather than valued at the vend-side margin.
Example
A store does 1,100 pounds a week at $1.55. That is $88,660 a year of WDF revenue. At an average of 4.5 labor minutes per pound and a $15.57 median attendant wage (Source: CLA 2024 Laundry Industry Survey), direct labor alone is roughly $66,800 before supplies, machine cost, and rewash.
What to Check
- Get pounds, pricing, discounts, and refunds by month for at least twelve months.
- Time the actual labor minutes per pound rather than accepting an estimate.
- Identify how much of the volume is a single commercial account, because concentration is a discount factor.
Where This Comes Up
- Adding Wash-and-Fold After Acquisition: Margin, Labor, and Pricing
- Valuing Wash-and-Fold Revenue: Margin After Real Labor
- Wash-and-Fold and Pickup-Delivery Economics: Pounds, Labor, Routes
Related Terms
- Pickup and Delivery (PUD) — Pickup and delivery
- Attended vs. Unattended — An attended laundromat has staff on site during some or all operating hours; an unattended store operates on self-service with periodic owner or contractor v...
- Working Capital — Working capital is the cash a business needs to fund normal operations between paying costs and collecting revenue
- QoE (Quality of Earnings) — QoE, or quality of earnings
See the full laundromat glossary for all 78 terms.
The Next Step
Sources
- Coin Laundry Association, 2024 Laundry Industry Survey — https://member.laundryassociation.org/hubfs/IndustrySurvey24.pdf
This page is general information about laundromat transactions, not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a guarantee of sale price, timing, or financing approval. Verify current rules with your own CPA, attorney, lender, and the relevant state or municipal agency before acting.