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Prevent Errors in Your Wash and Fold
Use our wash and fold slip template to streamline your operation.
Good morning Wash Weekly Family,
I’ve seen a question pop up a lot recently.
What tools or procedures do you have in place to prevent errors in processing wash and fold?
There are some models you can follow to process wash and fold orders:
Assembly line model
One attendant is responsible for the order from beginning to end
Today, I’m going to share a tool we use to reduce errors and mistakes — the wash and fold slip.
I’ve included an image of it in this email, but you can also download a copy in the resource section to use in your store.
Wash and Fold Slip
The wash and fold slip has 5 main sections to track important details throughout the process.
Section 1: The Preload Section
This section is all the information we want to note before we do anything with the order.
Special instructions
Bag types
Bag color
Number of bags
Weight of each bag
Which attendant loaded the machine
If we need to pack it back in the client's bag
Tag number
Due time
I know some of you price by the bag instead of the weight of the bag. I still highly encourage you to weigh the bag and record the weight.
Section 2: The Processing Section
Here we’re going to record the information for processing the order.
Did you spin and check the washer - we spin the basket of every machine before we load in the next order because extract mode sometimes causes items to get stuck to the basket
Are there wet clothes in the bag - this is going to affect the weight after we finish the order
Are there socks, panties, stockings, or bras in the net bag - confirm that the attendant put these items in a net bag. (Reply to this email and I’ll share why).
Who loaded the washer?
Washer numbers
Who loaded the dryer?
Dryer numbers
Cart numbers
Section 3: Folding and Packing
In this section, we record who folded and packed the bag.
Who folded and packed
Number of bags
Final weight
The final weight is important because we do not know the exact contents of every order. The goal is to make sure that the weight came in (barring any wet or damp items) with a slight error or margin of ¾ - 1 of a pound.
Even heavily soiled clothing shouldn’t produce more than a pound of difference. I’ve weighed a lot of clothing. The only way to get that high of a difference is if they have rocks in their pockets 😆.
The last piece you’ll see here is the reminder that bags should not be more than 35 pounds. This is for a few reasons:
We want the client to be able to carry it without struggling
We want to make it easier on our team members who have to put these bags on shelves when they rack it
We want our delivery partners to be able to pick up the bags and walk up and down stairs
Section 4: Speciality Items
In this section, we have the attendant circle if they are washing any items that we charge extra for, like:
Comforters
Blankets
Pillows
Coats
Rugs
Mattress covers
Animal beds
Sleeping bags
Section 5: Checklist
The last section is a quick checklist to make sure we’ve done everything required before the order is done.
Packed in customers bag
Bag is packed in a square shape
Order racked
Client texted
Entered in drop-off tracker
Entered into Slack
The Reasons
Our wash and fold slip has a lot of information on it, but it serves several purposes:
Historical record - we save all the slips so we have a record of who did what and how it was handled
Paper copy - we do record all of this in our system, but having a paper copy that is traveling with the order allows people to quickly glance at it to see what needs to be done
We will probably phase these out to make the process more electronic, but they come in handy when we're working on the floor and we can get a glance at our order before walking over to a computer or grabbing a tablet.
Let me if you have any questions again, will make this available in the resource section so you can download a working copy for yourself.
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TL;DR:
Wash and fold slips help prevent errors in the process
What to record on your slip (5 main sections)
How slips make the process easier
Download a copy in the resources section below
Til next week.
Waleed 🏴☠️
I would love to hear your thoughts on this week’s topic– let me know in this issue’s survey below.
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