Huanxixiong Central Laundry Factory in Taizhou is a modern central laundry factory that focuses on undertaking online laundry services. With large-scale production and standardized processes, its maximum daily washing volume during peak season can reach up to 6,000 pieces. Compared with traditional offline shops, online laundry services do not have face-to-face communication procedures, so the processes in the beginning, such as order circulation, clothing handover, and problem handling, are more complex and rigorous. To ensure smooth services and the safety of clothes, we visited the Huanxixiong Laundry on-site and deeply learned the complete operation process suitable for online order taking. Its basic process covers unpacking and inspection, documentation, sorting, follow-up on abnormal items, washing, drying, quality control, packaging, and delivery. Every step strictly follows standards to balance efficiency and quality.
Unpacking and Inspection
Huanxixiong Laundry has reached in-depth cooperation with many mainstream online laundry platforms. After the platforms complete the online order acceptance, users’ clothes will be uniformly sent to the central laundry factory.
The first step is to unpack and inspect them.
The staff first checks whether the actual number of clothes is consistent with the number of items ordered on the platform to ensure that no items are missed or wrongly received. Then, they comprehensively check the overall condition of the clothes. The focus is on any leftover items in the pockets, damage to the cuffs and collars, the cracked inner lining, and any obvious flaws in the fabric.
After the inspection, a unique identification code label should be hung on each item of clothing to achieve full traceability of clothes. If the clothes have accessories such as belts, detachable hats, and fur collars, the accessories should be simultaneously bound with independent accessory labels to prevent loss or mismatching during sorting and washing. This ensures the integrity of the clothes and accessories from the source.
Documentation
The standardized documentation process is right after the unpacking and inspection. Photos and text can ensure full traceability. Staff should take photos of the key parts. (inner lining, collar, front, hem, buttons, cuffs, sleeve seams, shoulders, back…) They should pay special attention to parts with damage, loose threads, and stains, and save the pictures in the system.
Also, detailed information such as clothing flaws, damage degrees, and stubborn and special stains should be marked to form a complete electronic file. If any abnormality is found in the clothes during the inspection, the relevant data will be simultaneously transferred to the customer service position, and the abnormality follow-up process will be initiated. If there are no abnormalities, the next stage begins directly. Digital records guarantee users’ right to know, and provide a clear basis for washing and quality inspection.
Sorting
After the documentation, the clothes are transferred to the professional sorting stage. They are precisely classified according to four major principles: fabric type, color, craftsmanship, and category.
- Regular items
They are sorted by fabric. (cotton, linen, chemical fiber, and knitwear…)Also, people should avoid mixing dark and light clothes or mixing color-fast and non-color-fast clothes.
- Items with special process
Clothes with decorations (embroidery, beading, printing, hot-fix rhinestones…) are sorted separately for special handling.
- Valuable and delicate items
Fur-lined, genuine leather, and fur clothes are sorted independently and kept separate from regular clothes throughout the process. This is a good basis for dedicated cleaning.
Scientific sorting prevents cross-contamination, color transfer, and abrasion.
Follow-Up on Abnormal Items
Online laundry has no direct communication. It is necessary to communicate the washing risks of special clothes in advance. All kinds of problem clothes found during the unpacking inspection and sorting process will be communicated one-on-one with users by customer service. These include clothes with damage, missing buttons, or loose threads, categories with high washing risks (coated down jackets, fur coats…), and special stains that are difficult to remove completely (oil stains, pigment stains, and old stains…)
Customer service will clearly tell users about the possible risks during the washing process, such as slight color fading of the fabric, coating peeling, and incomplete removal of stains. This respects users’ right to know and choose. If the user does not accept the washing risk, the factory will directly return the clothes.
If the user accepts washing, the communication record will be kept, which not only protects the user’s rights and interests but also reduces service disputes. This helps achieve transparent and humanized services.
Washing and Drying
The clothes that passed the sorting review and can be washed normally are ready for normal washing officially enter the washing and drying process. The laundry plant uses professional equipment and energy-saving design to achieve intelligent and green production. The washing zone is equipped with 6 units of 100kg heavy-duty Kingstar washing machines and 3 units of 60kg Kingstar industrial washing machines. The equipment is intelligent and professional laundry equipment. It can save 50 sets of washing programs, and it supports custom editing. Currently, it has been equipped with more than ten sets of fully automatic standardized programs for shoes, sweaters, down jackets, shirts, bedding…
The equipment can achieve the fully automatic process of pre-wash, main wash, automatic detergent addition, neutralization,and high dehydration. There is no need for manual supervision. With the status indicator light, the staff can directly master the operational status of the equipment. One person can manage multiple devices simultaneously. The operational efficiency is greatly improved.
The drying process balances the protection of clothes and energy conservation (environmental protection).
The factory innovatively uses the waste heat from the dryer to create a dedicated drying room. By installing a lint filter on the exhaust pipe of the dryer, the hot air was centrally introduced into the drying room. This achieves the recycling of waste heat.
Wool, cashmere, silk, and other delicate clothes can be dried in this drying room mildly to avoid fabrics damages.
Down jackets and other large clothes should be pre-dried in the drying room and then be transferred into the Kingstar intelligent dryer.
This dryer can store 99 sets of intelligent programs, and it has a humidity control system to precisely detect the humidity level of the clothes. It avoids the excessive drying or incomplete drying and makes the down jackets fluffy, clean, and comfortable.
Quality Inspection
After drying, all clothes enter the final quality inspection link. Staff should check all clothes one by one to ensure no residual stains, washing damage, or missing accessories. Also, staff should pay attention to the collar, cuffs, and front.
If some clothes are unqualified, they should be rewashed. After completion, a re-inspection should be done until it meets the factory standards. Every piece of clothing sent to the users should be clean, tidy, and in good condition.
Packaging
After the quality inspection, the clothes will be hung on the automatic transportation line and packed by a fully automatic packaging machine. The automatic packaging machine has an intelligent recognition system. By identifying the labels on the clothes, it can know information such as the customer, the number of clothes, and the order-receiving platform so that the clothes can be returned to the customer in good condition.
Here is the workflow chart of online laundry.
Conclusion
From online order receiving to the entry of clothes into the factory, from unpacking and sorting to intelligent washing, from abnormal communication to quality inspection and outbound, Huanxixiong Central Laundry Factory in Taizhou has solved the pain points of complex online laundry processes, inconvenient communication, and difficult quality control with standardized procedures, intelligent equipment, refined management, and humanized services.
With a daily production capacity of 6,000 pieces and full-chain standardized control, it not only meets the large-scale demand for online laundry but also adheres to the quality bottom line. It provides users with efficient, safe, and reassuring online laundry services.
Q&A
Q1: Can the belt, hat, and collar be washed together with clothes?
A1:
– Belts: Attach an accessory tag. You can tie a knot on the belt or place belts in a laundry bag before washing.
– Detachable hoods: Attach an accessory tag. It should be washed separately or placed in a laundry bag.
– Fur trims: It is more complicated. If the fur trim is non-detachable and real fur, dry cleaning is suitable. You must also check the main fabric of the clothes to decide the cleaning method, and communicate the cleaning risks in advance. If the fur trim is detachable, first attach an accessory tag, then distinguish between real fur and faux fur.
– Real fur: It must be dry cleaned separately.
– Faux fur: It can be washed separately by water, or placed in a laundry bag and washed with the garment. The final method also depends on the main fabric of the garment.
Q2：The price of online laundry is lower than that in offline stores. How can the quality be guaranteed?
A2: The platforms for online laundry generally have their own cooperative laundry plants or their own established plants. Due to the large investment and high washing volume, they tend to choose more intelligent and automatic equipment, so they don’t rely much on staff and have relatively lower costs in labor. Also, the washing quality is more stable. Large-scale central laundry factories will also have a relatively complete range of supporting facilities, which can further enhance the quality.
In addition, large central laundry plants use lower-cost energy sources such as steam , and some laundry factories also recycle energy for use. Compared with the offline laundry shops, they have a lower cost.
So the online laundry uses cost control in terms of labor and energy to reduce the cost of washing, rather than by reducing the quality of laundry. Each laundry platform also has its own compensation standards. If it is indeed a washing accident, there will also be relevant compensation.
Q3: Is a laundry suitable for taking on online laundry services?
A3: Currently, laundry shops seldom take on online orders. The productivity of a laundry shop is limited, so it cannot take on many orders. Also, the cost in laundries is relatively high, and the price of online laundry is lower, so laundries are more suitable for providing refined one-on-one services.
