Distribution Center Airbnb Laundry Model

In a Door-to-Door Laundry Service Model, laundry is organized by the property. Linens from one property are never crossed with linens from another property. The laundry service picks up the laundry directly from the rental property, washes it, and delivers it back to the same location. This approach keeps linens and towels tied to their respective properties.

Pros of Door-to-Door Service:

1. Less Commute Time for Housekeepers: One of the primary benefits is the reduction in commute time for housekeepers. Since the laundry stays on-site, housekeepers don’t need to travel back and forth to a central location to retrieve clean linens or drop off dirty linens. This can be especially beneficial if housekeepers bill for travel time, as it minimizes these costs.

2. No Additional Storage or Rent Expenses: With the property’s laundry being tied directly to the property, there is not an excessive need for storage. It is pretty easy to fit 3-5 PAR on the property, which means there’s no need to invest in off-site storage or rent additional space. The property itself serves as the storage facility, which can be a cost-saving measure, especially for smaller Airbnb operations.

Cons of Door-to-Door Service:

1. Lower Operating Inventory per Unit: Operating with a limited inventory can lead to running low on essentials like linens and towels. In high-occupancy situations, this risk becomes more pronounced. When each property has its own set of linens, the chance of running out during busy periods increases, creating potential disruptions.
   
   If you own one hundred towels across your portfolio, one damaged towel is only 1% of your inventory. However, if you are managing linens with a Door-to-Door Model, one damaged towel is 33% of your 3 PAR available at the property level.
   
   When damage occurs, managing linens on a property level creates less flexibility.

• Complicated Coordination with Housekeepers: Timing is everything in the Door-to-Door Model. Housekeepers must complete their tasks before the laundry is picked up, which can be a logistical nightmare. If the laundry isn’t ready on time, you may incur extra trip fees from housekeepers or failed pickup fees from the laundry service. Managing this process profitably—especially with high occupancy rates—often requires on-site storage bins or dedicated laundry storage, adding another layer of complexity to your operations.

What is the Distribution Center Model?

The Distribution Center Model centralizes your Airbnb turnover operations in one centralized hub. Instead of managing laundry at individual properties, you operate from a centralized location, such as a warehouse, large storage closet, or even a storage unit or shed. This hub becomes the nucleus for all your laundry, housekeeping, and inventory needs, allowing for more efficient and streamlined operations.

While we spend the rest of the article talking about laundry, it is important to know this thought process scales to include your paper products, consumables, cleaning supplies, etc.  Laundry is just one of the benefits of a centralized operation hub.

The Benefits of the Distribution Center Model:

1. Inventory Managed by SKU:

   Imagine your laundry inventory as a restaurant’s silverware. Just as forks and knives are not tied to a specific table, your linens and towels shouldn’t be tied to a specific property. In the distribution center model, inventory is managed by SKU (stock-keeping unit) rather than by kit. This approach eliminates the unnecessary logistics of keeping sets intact, which often leads to headaches when items are lost, damaged, or stained.

   By managing your inventory by SKU, you gain flexibility. Linens and towels are washed, sorted, and stored by type—towels with towels, sheets with sheets—just like a restaurant manages its silverware. This method not only simplifies your operations but also makes it easier to replace individual items without disrupting the entire set. It’s a more functional approach that reduces waste and improves efficiency.
   
   For more information on inventory recommendations and management, check our our Guide to Saving Time & Money on Airbnb Laundry.

2. Preventative Maintenance Scheduling:

   Without the constraints of coordinating with check-ins and check-outs, the Distribution Center Model offers greater flexibility in scheduling laundry services. Your linens can be part of a smooth rotation: clean and in use, dirty and waiting to be cleaned, out for cleaning, and clean and in storage.
   
   This cycle reduces the risk of laundry emergencies, such as running out of clean linens when they’re needed most.

   Additionally, because we’re not rushing to meet tight deadlines, we can offer more frequent laundry pickups and deliveries without any additional fees or order minimums.
   
   Instead of washing less frequently, we prefer to operate on a preventative maintenance schedule that is continually getting you caught up to maximum clean inventory levels. If there’s nothing to pick up during a scheduled visit, we’ll simply check back next time—no penalties, no stress, no fees.

3. Lower Laundry Service Costs:

   One of the most significant advantages of the Distribution Center Model is the cost savings. By consolidating your laundry operations, we can wash larger batches at once, increasing efficiency and reducing costs. In contrast, the Door-to-Door Model requires smaller, more frequent washes to keep Unit A’s linens separate from Unit B’s, and so on. This separation drives up costs due to the inefficiency of small batch processing.

   The Distribution Center Model allows us to pass these savings on to you. Clients operating multiple properties out of one central location benefit from lower per-pound rates, making the Distribution Center Model more economical in the long run. These savings can help offset the cost of storage rental or capital expenditures for on site storage, and the remainder can be saved or reinvested into your business as a thank you for helping us reduce van miles and driver stops.
   
   Centralized Laundry Saves Time & Money: Whether you send your laundry to a laundry service or you do your laundry in house, moving to a centralized laundry model will save you time. If a 4 bedroom Airbnb takes 4 hours to clean and has 4-5 loads of laundry with each load taking an hour to dry this leaves you paying housekeeping an additional hour for each guest stay to watch clothes dry.

4. Higher Inventory Levels and Flexibility:

   When you centralize your inventory, you inherently increase your available stock. This means that, even during high occupancy periods, you have more linens and towels at your disposal. Unlike the Door-to-Door Model, where you might struggle to maintain a 3 PAR (the standard for having three sets of linens per bed—one in use, one in the wash, and one in storage), the Distribution Center Model allows you to operate with a higher effective PAR, reducing the likelihood of running out of inventory.

   This increased inventory flexibility leads to fewer laundry emergencies and allows for more efficient scheduling of laundry services. Without the constant urgency to turn over linens quickly, you can plan your operations with greater ease and at a lower cost, further enhancing the overall efficiency of your Airbnb operating business.