MLA Response to COVID-19
As multi-housing laundry providers for common laundry rooms, our members provide laundry services for the homes of residents in the multi-housing sector, including public housing authorities and subsidized housing. All laundry service providers remain critical to the basic needs and hygiene needs of the general public. Access to these services is particularly important for multi-family housing residents who are often among low-income families with few alternatives for clothes washing
MLA recommends distributing hand sanitizers across the facility and to employees and consistently reminding all employees to wash their hands regularly and to stay home when feeling ill or running a fever.
Upon entering and exiting laundry facilities, please wipe down the touch pad, door handles and other commonly touched surfaces on the equipment before and after you use the equipment.
Maintain 6-feet of social distance between others in the laundry facility, visit the facility at off-peak hours and wait outside for your laundry cycle to complete.
CDC Recommendations on Laundry:
For clothing, towels, linens and other items
- Wash hands with soap and water as soon before and after handling laundry.
- Do not shake dirty laundry.
- Launder items according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Use the warmest appropriate water setting and dry items completely.
- Dirty laundry from an ill person can be washed with other people’s items.
- Clean and disinfect clothes hampers according to guidance above for surfaces.
Learn more on how to prevent the spread.
For more information on what MLA members are doing for their customers, visit the links below.
Why Community Area Laundry Rooms?
The results are clear
An independent nationwide study concluded that when residents are given the option of a clean, convenient, attractive and affordable laundry room, most would not pay more rent to live in an apartment unit with laundry connections, or even a unit with a washer and dryer provided.
Airing some dirty laundry
The common perception of community area laundry rooms used to be that they're stuffy, cramped, noisy, and generally unfriendly looking places where residents don't want to spend their time or money doing their laundry. Unfortunately, years ago that idea wasn't far from reality.
But that was then.
When residents began putting pressure on owners and developers to build apartments with in-unit washer and dryer hookups, many in the industry believed — incorrectly — that it was because they didn't want community area laundry rooms. The reality is they just didn't want the common area laundry rooms of the past.
The Case for Community Area Laundry Rooms
MLA and its member companies have always known about the benefits of community area laundry rooms, for everyone involved:
For residents
Expense
Residents would just as soon not spend (or cannot afford to spend) the money for washers and dryers and the necessary maintenance costs associated with them. And if they pay their own utilities, in-unit washers and dryers drive up those costs as well.
Space
Most apartments are not known for their sprawling floor space or storage capacity, and because in-unit washers and dryers often take up valuable square footage, that makes them unappealing to residents.
Time
With busy lives, residents like doing more than one load of laundry at a time and getting done with the task faster.
Easy moving
When it's time to move, most residents don't want the hassle of having to move heavy machines out of their apartments.
For apartment owners/managers
Business focus
Most owners and managers want to focus on property management and not laundry. Using a professional MLA laundry route operator allows an owner or manager to reap the savings and other benefits without having to become experts in laundry services for their properties.
Expense
In-unit washers and dryers not only use a lot more water and drive up overall utility costs, but they also can lead to flooding or other water damage, not to mention floor and wall damages when moved. And, in-unit connections require more plumbing, venting and electrical wiring which is costly.
Click here to view Laundry Room Calculator