The COVID-19 pandemic has managed to affect every aspect of modern life as we know it. While the virus is more contagious than deadly, it has caused around 2 million deaths as of writing, so precautionary measures must still be followed.
Governments and policymakers around the world have implemented substantial restrictions to collectively help quell and control the spread of the relatively very contagious virus. Because of this, severe economic repercussions were inevitably felt by almost all businesses and industries– the commercial laundry industry included.
Laundry Market Trend
It is forecasted that the global dry-cleaning and laundry services market is to decline from $106.2 billion in 2019 to $104 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -2.1%. Fore apparent and obvious reasons, the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures to contain it are the main factors why there is an economic slowdown across the countries worldwide owing. The market is then expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2021 and reach $118.3 billion in 2023.
People had to adjust to the so-called “new normal.” Businesses and workplaces enforced and offered work-from-home settings and other alternative remote work options, stores, and restaurants have placed relatively strong physical distancing policies and restrictions to limit and even discourage people from going out too often. The ultimate idea was to keep people in their homes and out of the streets.
As people stayed cooped up in their homes, this has significantly changed how people use or avail of laundry service. Because people are not going out as much as before, they don’t worry about dirty clothes because they’re already indoors or outright have started to do their laundry if they already have washing machines and dryers in their homes or living spaces.
Of course, dry cleaning and laundry services in the more urban cities with a more significant and more dense population and business districts where people wear more business clothes have also been negatively impacted by the restrictions. As more people stay into work in their places, and workplaces have also become somewhat lenient in what people wear during work hours, dry cleaning services more focused on cleaning coats and business attires have unavoidably taken a dip.
What Affected the Trend?
People have also become drastically skeptical of laundry services because of the fear of cross-contamination or even contracting the virus from textiles and clothes. While there are not many studies to support this claim, people have just chosen to err on the side of caution. After all, personal hygiene is still pretty much essential, and neglecting your hygiene can cause serious health repercussions to you, your loved ones, and your community. The commercial laundry industry even will prove to be of importance.
As the hospitality industry takes a painful hit because of all the restrictions in place, so did the commercial laundry industry. Hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other hospitality establishments rely heavily on and partner to outsource laundry services if they do not do their laundry in-house. The restrictions placed on laundry services such as properly labeling and segregation, only taking soiled clothes and textiles 24 hours after have also contributed to dampening the entire laundry service process, making people much more skeptical to availing them.
But on the one hand, the commercial laundry industry has also been put in the spotlight as more hospitals and healthcare facilities relied on these businesses to aid in the efforts to quell the pandemic. Healthcare facilities that do not have in-house laundry provisions have also leaned on laundry service businesses to clean their linens and other equipment. It is because of this that the commercial laundry sector has been deemed as an essential sector.
How Did the Laundry Market Coped?
Because of the growing reliance on healthcare facilities and the concern of people still wanting to wear fresh clothes, laundry service providers also have to rethink their usual laundry process. Healthcare facilities that outsource their laundry must take extra steps to decontaminate and disinfect linens and clothes. Some even go to more extraordinary lengths in disinfecting hospital linens by adding more surfactants and high pH chemicals to make sure linens are clean and free from viruses and bacteria.
Others also offer thermal and chemo-thermal disinfection options- meaning employing wash and dry processes with varied temperatures combined with extra chemicals. Smaller laundromats and laundry service providers aimed to cater to households or individuals and now offer options to customize how much detergent, how long their clothes would be in the washer, and at what temperature. These factors also heavily impact how commercial laundry businesses provide their services.
As with any income-generating industry, the commercial laundry sector had to also adjust to the “new normal.” Laundry service businesses have to innovate and be creative to stay afloat in these unprecedented times. Some laundry service providers have launched apps or have partnered with pick-up and delivery service apps to extend their reach and still provide their services. Some have also opted for a more traditional take where people could call and schedule when to take their laundry and deliver the fresh clothes and linens: all this following hygienic collection and transport protocols.
It would be an understatement that the commercial laundry industry has been tested and challenged in the past year because of the ongoing pandemic. The many restrictions that affected people’s ability to be mobile and to patronize laundry services have caused the entire industry to rethink their processes and be much more creative to stay afloat in these times.
While there are many negative impacts on the industry, the reliance of other sectors, most especially by the healthcare sector, on the commercial laundry industry has also shined some light that the industry truly is and should be considered as an essential sector. It has also put a spotlight on how much huge business sectors and smaller households have relied on how the laundry service industry copes in these trying times.
After all, it’s still nice to sleep in fresh linens to wear new and fragrant clothes.
