Thread Number: 31473
Commercial / Industrial Laundry
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Post# 474712   11/12/2010 at 23:39 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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I got a chance to see this building again. Within is a business that is a commercial laundry that washes linens for major Mahattan hotels.

Like everything else in Manhattan you must get on line for entry. (Yes in NYC it's "on line" ; elswhere in the country it's "in line"!)






Post# 474713 , Reply# 1   11/12/2010 at 23:40 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Getting closer....

Post# 474714 , Reply# 2   11/12/2010 at 23:42 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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This must be an interesting place.

The sidewalk is marked for a 36 inch / 90cm gas main!


Post# 474716 , Reply# 3   11/12/2010 at 23:43 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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This is the way we wash the clothes.......

Post# 474717 , Reply# 4   11/12/2010 at 23:43 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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.

Post# 474718 , Reply# 5   11/12/2010 at 23:44 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

toggleswitch's profile picture
.

Post# 474719 , Reply# 6   11/12/2010 at 23:46 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
My what a big one you have!

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This one was just below the ceiling height of a typcial room.

Post# 474720 , Reply# 7   11/12/2010 at 23:47 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Entry ramp

Post# 474721 , Reply# 8   11/12/2010 at 23:48 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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.

Post# 474722 , Reply# 9   11/12/2010 at 23:49 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

toggleswitch's profile picture
.

Post# 474723 , Reply# 10   11/12/2010 at 23:50 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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And now some dryers.............

Post# 474724 , Reply# 11   11/12/2010 at 23:53 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Does that say

"Solamente para la(s) tuallas"?


Post# 474725 , Reply# 12   11/12/2010 at 23:54 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
32 Inches / 90cm

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Ironers.........

GAS heated, vented............


Post# 474726 , Reply# 13   11/12/2010 at 23:55 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Post# 474727 , Reply# 14   11/12/2010 at 23:56 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Post# 474728 , Reply# 15   11/12/2010 at 23:57 (4,884 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Hope you enjoyed the tour!


Post# 474753 , Reply# 16   11/13/2010 at 04:06 (4,883 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)        
Thanks

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Looks like a busy place.

That Unimac Daniels (just below ceiling height)... How many lbs does that hold ? My guess is 75-100 lbs ? Eddie


Post# 474755 , Reply# 17   11/13/2010 at 04:17 (4,883 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

36" gas line for a single place-wonder about that-that would feed a CITY!Wonder if the gas line size is 3.6".

Post# 474773 , Reply# 18   11/13/2010 at 08:09 (4,883 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()        

Thanks for the tour Steve!! Sure did enjoy it!
Yes, "this is the way we wash the clothes" WITH 3PHASE!!!!
Did you see any tunnel washers?

The Unimacs in the 4th picture are the UF series 18LB? machines and are softmount-> thus for the bigger frame opening around the door.

Eddie:
Daniels is probably the distributor, or installer of the bigger machines. In the picture of the machine just below ceiling height there are 2 machines. The machine that the picture is focused on probably has a capacity in the ~150 LB. range and the other machine that is taller, with a bigger door and lower hanging drum is probably 250LB. capacity. They ARE MASSIVE machines. Both of these machines are softmount and probably either the UF or UX series Unimac-Alliance machines. (I try not to be very versed with Alliance machines) Either way, they are nice machines-> just looking at them in the pictures makes me WANT one!



Post# 474775 , Reply# 19   11/13/2010 at 08:16 (4,883 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Maybe 3.6 inches! Perhaps it is a 36 foot run?

I had a picture of the gas main as it enters this unit of this 3-unit building. I'll have to check my records and files!

It was a good 3.5 in circumference.



Post# 474776 , Reply# 20   11/13/2010 at 08:17 (4,883 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        

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Are the machines in #474721 tunnel washers?

Post# 474821 , Reply# 21   11/13/2010 at 11:13 (4,883 days old) by askomiele (Belgium Ghent)        
Tunnelwasher...

A tunnelwasher is a tube divided in compartments where the laundry (batch by batch) is washed. Most of them have an archemidiasrew inside along with some baffles on the drumwall. The tube swings back and forth to move the linnens through the water, 'beat' them with the baffles and rub them against each other. When the tube turns around 360° the batches are transferred to the next compartment or the washpress.

Mostly a tunnelwasher is feeded by a ramp (like you see on an earlier pic.)

The machines you see on #474721 are the dryers a Continous Batch Washsystem. Hopefully this helped you a bit.

Btw are those ironers LAPAUW? Was it a 2 or 3 roll machine?


Post# 475535 , Reply# 22   11/16/2010 at 14:43 (4,880 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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You would think that the owners of these huge laundries would try to have a better way of keeping them in good shape. These units look like they've been severely abused and not taken care of.I would want to go and see where my wash was done before letting them wash it.

Post# 475549 , Reply# 23   11/16/2010 at 16:43 (4,880 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
You Get What You Pay For

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Commercial laundry business, especially in the metro NYC area is brutal. Very high costs for everything from real estate to water/sewage, to labour, to energy to taxes and everything in between.

You can find nice and well scrubbed laundry/linen services, but it is going to cost more than probably this "garage" service is charging per pound.

Many motels, hotels, spas and so forth, especially the smaller non-chain operations watch every penny to survive in NYC, and this often means finding the lowest bidding linen service.


Post# 475557 , Reply# 24   11/16/2010 at 17:12 (4,880 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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Why don't the hotels there have their own equipment??

Post# 475596 , Reply# 25   11/16/2010 at 18:42 (4,880 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Not Always Possible nor Wanted

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Some hotels, motels, health clubs, spas and even hospitals do still have in house laundries, but they are becoming far and few between, espeiclaly within Manhattan.

First there are the various rules,laws, regulations, and instructions regarding certain types of laundry such as hospital linen, that increase cost of processing. Then you have to figure the major expenses of labour (NYC is a union town),equipment, water, sewage, space for the laundry that could be turned into something else which generates profits and so forth.

According to the guy who runs our local laundromat, every other day or so several "Hispanic" women show up with huge bags of linen from a local hotel. They stay for hours using his equipment to wash and dry the linens. Mind you this place only has one 50lb machine, the rest of the front loaders are mid to small sizes, and none of his dryers are rated to even hold 50lbs or wash. More often than not the linens are crammed into whatever washer that will fit, over dosed with detergent, and how they come out is of no difference, off to teh dryers they go.

Either this hotel is sending housekeeping staff (unlikely) to spend hours doing the laundry, or some enterprising women have offered their services. Either way I wouldn't want to sleep on those sheets.

Laundry equipment is expensive, and the best use for any commercial laundry system is to keep them turning as many times per day. When you add up the costs of installing, maintaining, staffing, compliance and so forth with having an in house laundry, it often is cheaper to send things out. Especially when you have "bottom feeding" wholesale laundries that charge dirt cheap rates by the pound (to keep their own equipment and staff working 24/7 and cover costs).

Because Manhattan is an island, and rather densely populated, many large commercial laundries were and still are located either in Queens or Brooklyn (close to Manhattan) or even New Jersey. Much of this has to do with rules and laws regarding steam boilers which in the early days provided the heat and other power for large laundries.



Post# 475758 , Reply# 26   11/17/2010 at 10:03 (4,879 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
Highest And Best Use

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Dis is in Da "Boogie Down" Bronx.

Another factor is the cost and value of land (and therefore space) in Manhattan. One would not devote too much space for such uses when the land could be generating far greater returns from retail-type or residential space.

The local area also houses the typical workforce found in this industry.



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