Is it cheaper to do laundry in-house or outsource it?

It depends on volume, staff cost and what the laundry room would otherwise be used for. In-house tends to win at high, steady volume where the space and the staff hours already exist. Outsourcing tends to win where volume is lumpy, floor space is valuable, or the compliance evidence is easier to buy than to produce.

What is a fair way to compare a laundry quote per kilo with buying machines?

Convert both to an annual figure over the same period, and make sure the in-house side includes utilities, detergent, servicing, staff hours at real wage cost and the replacement cycle, and that the outsourced side includes linen stock, loss and damage charges and your own handling time.

Can we do part of the laundry in-house and send the rest out?

Yes, and it is common. Care homes typically keep residents' personal clothing in-house and send bed linen and towelling to a commercial laundry. Ask both types of supplier to price their half rather than the whole thing.

Guide

On-premises laundry or outsourced service: how to decide on cost

Updated 2026-08-14

Suppliers on both sides will show you a spreadsheet that wins. Here is how to build one that does not flatter either of them.

Compare like for like, or do not bother

The classic error is comparing an outsourced price per kilo against the cost of buying machines. That is not the comparison. An on-premises laundry costs you the machines plus water, electricity, gas, detergent, staff hours, floor space, servicing and the replacement cycle. Outsourcing costs you the invoice plus the linen stock you still have to hold and the time somebody spends managing the contract.

The on-premises cost stack

Capital or finance. Purchase price, or the monthly rental or lease payment across the full term.
Installation. Power, water, drainage, ventilation, gas if applicable, floor works and access to get the machines in.
Utilities. Water in, hot water heating, electricity, and gas for drying. Drying is usually the largest energy line.
Consumables. Detergent, disinfectant, softener and dosing equipment.
Labour. The real hours at the real wage cost, including cover. This is the line that gets left out.
Servicing and downtime. Planned maintenance, breakdown response, and what you do while a machine is out.
Space. The room the laundry occupies has an alternative use, and in a care home or hotel that use makes money.

The outsourced cost stack

Price per kilo, per item or per bed, at your actual collection frequency.
Collection and delivery charges, which often move with frequency and with how far you are off an existing round.
Linen stock. Whether you own it or rent it, and the loss and damage charges if you rent.
Rejected and re-wash items, and who decides.
Minimum charges and contract term, including what a quiet month costs you.
Your own handling time, sorting, bagging, counting and checking deliveries back in.

The factors that are not about money

Control and turnaround: In-house means a stained tablecloth can be back in service in two hours. Outsourced means it is back on the next round. For a small hotel with tight linen stock this is the whole argument.
Compliance and evidence: A commercial laundry contractor processing healthcare linen carries its own process controls and can evidence them. In-house, that evidence is yours to produce, including the machine's disinfection stage and its validation. See the care home guide.
Residents' own clothing: Care homes rarely outsource personal clothing, because loss and mixing are the complaints families actually make. The common answer is a hybrid: bed linen and towelling out, personal clothing in-house.
Peak load and resilience: In-house, a broken machine is your problem at 6am. Outsourced, a missed round is your problem too, but it is somebody else's job to fix. Ask both sides what their failure mode looks like.

The hybrid nobody quotes for

In practice the cheapest answer for care homes and mid-size hotels is often a split: bulk bed linen and towelling to a commercial laundry on a per-kilo contract, and an on-premises machine sized for personal items, urgent turnaround and the infectious loads you do not want leaving site unsorted. Ask both types of supplier to price their half of that, not just their whole solution.

Get quotes for both routes at once through our form, including the hybrid. Suppliers that only sell one route will quote it as if the other did not exist.