It is the preferred method of many people who lack washers or dryers in their homes: the laundromat. While many may think that these operations do not produce much revenue, coin laundries have a market worth between $50,000 and $1 million, generating somewhere between $15,000 and $200,000 on a yearly basis.
By 2016, revenue for the industrial laundry industry is expected to reach $7.5 billion.
For all the focus on the washers and dryers themselves or the cash counting system used to operate them, a piece of every successful laundromat (or any company involved in industrial laundry) that goes unnoticed is the commercial laundry cart.
Commercial laundry carts can come in many sizes but many would be considered bulk containers and an addition that has enabled the process to become more efficient is wheels. A commercial laundry cart on wheels enables quick transport linens and other fabric types, with some being able to even hold up to 1,000 pounds.
Many have chosen to go with a commercial laundry cart made out of a specific type of material: plastic. Plastic itself is considered to be one of the most diverse and durable materials, being about to be shaped in numerous ways. The process by which a company might make a commercial laundry cart on wheels out of plastic is called rotational molding.
Since forming in 1976 in Chicago, the Association of Rotational Molders represents 58 countries as a worldwide trade association. The process of rotational molding involve taking a material (generally polyethylene) and placing it into a hollow mold within an oven. The oven is then heated to temperatures between 500-700 degrees Fahrenheit as the mold is rotated slowly. The heat forces the material to disperse and adhere to the mold.
Items that can be formed through rotational molding include furniture, storage tanks, football helmets, and kayak hulls. It also is used for more specific items such as anti-piracy ship protectors and seals for inflatable oxygen masks. Some companies offer custom rotational molding and will produce custom plastic containers or custom rotomolded parts.
That rotomolding process can construct that commercial laundry cart on wheels that is so useful for the average laundromat, which ranges between 1,000 and 5,000 square feet. Rolling laundry carts enable customers to transport laundry to folding stations or to consolidate their clothes before moving them to their vehicle.
A commercial laundry cart on wheels may prove beneficial for laundromats and a useful investment. Many are available in plastic, which can be molded using the rotomolding process. It is a process that has been refined in recent years to support the forming of numerous objects.