Lavender Laundry Services — Full-service | lavenderlaundryservices.com

A wash-and-fold service takes your bagged laundry, weighs it, washes and dries it on fabric-appropriate settings, and hands it back folded. Drop off before roughly 10:00-11:00 and it usually returns the same day; the standard window is 24-48 hours, and dry cleaning takes 48-72. This page explains each stage — loads, temperatures, dosing and method choice — so the bag leaves the house correctly sorted.

How a wash-and-fold order works, step by step

You hand over a bag; it comes back washed, dried and folded — and the clock starts at the counter, not at the machine.

At the counter the bag is weighed, because pricing is per kilogram (or per pound) with a typical minimum order of 2-5 kg (5-10 lb): a lighter bag is billed at the minimum. The ticket captures fabric types, stains and any temperature limits you declare.

Back of house, the load is sorted by colour and fibre, stains are pre-treated, and the wash is set by fabric: 60 °C for whites and cotton workwear, 30-40 °C for coloured cotton, never above 30 °C for wool and silk. Detergent is dosed at roughly 35-50 g per kg of dry laundry — about 110 ml for a 6 kg drum. Drying and folding close the cycle.

Timing splits three ways: drop off before roughly 10:00-11:00 and wash-and-fold usually returns the same day; later drop-offs run the standard 24-48 hours; dry cleaning takes 48-72.

1. Weigh-in — the bag is weighed against the 2-5 kg minimum; undeclared delicates are the first failure point.
2. Sorting — colours and fibres are split; a stray red item in a white load is the classic colour-run failure.
3. Pre-treatment — protein stains (blood, milk, egg) are flushed cold; heat above roughly 30 °C sets them permanently.
4. Wash — 60 / 30-40 / max 30 °C by fibre; warm-agitated wool is the felting failure, 5-10% shrinkage.
5. Dry and fold — heat matched to fabric tolerance, then folded for the shelf.
6. Pickup — same day before the cut-off, otherwise 24-48 h; dry cleaning runs 48-72 h.

How long it takes: the three turnaround windows

Same day, 24-48 hours or 48-72 hours — the window depends on the service and on the drop-off time.

Wash-and-fold has a same-day track: a bag dropped before roughly 10:00-11:00 is usually ready the same day, because one wash-dry-fold cycle fits inside a working shift.

The standard window is 24-48 hours. That covers queueing, sorting, washing, drying and folding — each stage is quick, but your order shares the machines with everyone else's.

Dry cleaning runs 48-72 hours: solvent cleaning, drying and finishing take longer, and pressing adds a stage. If a garment has a deadline, count backwards from the method, not from the drop-off.

Sizing the load: kilograms, drums and bedding

Domestic drums hold 6-10 kg and commercial machines 12-24 kg — and bulky bedding decides by volume, not by weight.

A king-size duvet weighs about 2-4 kg and its cover 1.5-2 kg, so the set totals roughly 3.5-6 kg: inside a home drum's weight limit, but far too bulky to tumble freely in one.

That is why bedding needs a 12 kg+ machine. The extra drum volume lets the duvet move, rinse and dry evenly instead of wadding into a damp ball.

Commercial machines of 12-24 kg take bedding and multi-bag orders in a single cycle, which is the practical reason drop-off beats the home machine for duvets.

Heat is the one setting you cannot undo: a protein stain cooked above 30 °C, or wool felted warm, stays that way.

The clock starts at the counter, not at the machine — drop off before 10:00-11:00 and the bag usually comes back the same day.

Fabric-to-method table

Fabric-to-method table: temperature limits, iron settings and return windows from standard trade practice.
Fabric or load	Wash temperature	Iron setting	Best method	Usual return
Whites and cotton workwear	60 °C	200 °C	Wash-and-fold	24-48 h; same day if dropped before 10:00-11:00
Coloured cotton	30-40 °C	200 °C	Wash-and-fold	24-48 h
Wool	30 °C maximum	150 °C	Gentle wash or dry clean	24-48 h washed; 48-72 h dry cleaned
Silk	30 °C maximum	110 °C	Dry clean or specialist wash	48-72 h
Protein-stained items (blood, milk, egg)	30 °C or below, pre-treat cold	By fibre	Wash-and-fold with pre-treatment	24-48 h
King-size duvet (2-4 kg) with cover (1.5-2 kg)	By fabric	By fabric	Wash-and-fold in a 12 kg+ machine	24-48 h
Small mixed bag	By fabric	By fabric	Wash-and-fold billed at the 2-5 kg minimum	24-48 h

Fabric-to-method table: temperature limits, iron settings and return windows from standard trade practice.

Setting the temperature before the bag leaves the house

Sort by the hottest water each item can take: 60 °C, 30-40 °C, or the 30 °C ceiling.

Whites and cotton workwear go at 60 °C, where heavy soil releases properly. Coloured cotton runs at 30-40 °C to protect dye.

Wool and silk never exceed 30 °C: wool felt-shrinks 5-10% under warm agitation, and silk suffers from both heat and alkaline detergent.

Protein stains break the ladder. Blood, milk and egg coagulate above roughly 30 °C and set permanently, so they are pre-treated cold and washed at 30 °C or below, whatever the fabric's usual rung.

60 °C — whites and cotton workwear
30-40 °C — coloured cotton
30 °C maximum — wool and silk
30 °C or below, pre-treated cold — blood, milk and egg stains

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Detergent dosing and the pH rule

Dose by weight — 35-50 g per kg of dry laundry — and match the chemistry to the fibre.

Standard dosing is about 35-50 g of detergent per kilogram of dry laundry; for a 6 kg drum that works out to roughly 110 ml of liquid.

Hard-water areas push the dose upward: part of the detergent is spent softening the water before it can clean.

Chemistry matters as much as heat. Everyday detergents are alkaline at pH 9-11, which cotton tolerates; wool and silk need a neutral to slightly acidic cleaner at pH 5-7, or the fibre is damaged even at the right temperature.