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Original poster

Does anyone pay to get their ironing done?

124 replies

Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 15:09

I'm thinking of providing an ironing service in my local area to earn a bit of extra cash. Just wondered if anyone uses a service like this and if so, what the charges are etc

I have done a little research and was thinking of something like this:

Medium bag/basket £12
Large bag/basket £20
Single duvet cover and pillows £2
Double duvet cover and pillows £3
Kingsize duvet cover and pillows £4

If just a few items:

70p per adult item
35p per childrens item (under 10 yrs)

I would pick up the items and drop them off ironed 48hrs later. I am thinking of hanging shirts on hangers provided by customer or using cheap wire ones. I might put the items that are on hangers in those plastic bags you can get.

I was also thinking if cost is under £10 to charge a £1 collection/drop off fee but free for over £10.

What does everyone think? Please feel free to pick holes and tell me if you think anything is too expensive etc

OP posts:
handbagqueen · 07/05/2009 17:16

The lovely lady who irons for us charges £7 per hour and turns it around in 24/48hours.

She does this to fit with her school age children.

I never liked the services where they charge per item or by weight.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 17:16

Good advice desperate

Might try that, funny thing is, we don't iron a lot of stuff in our house, just fold it/hang it up straight out of the tumble dryer, unless it's a shirt or something that has to be ironed

Maybe I could make up a basket and just have a go...

OP posts:
Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 17:18

handbagqueen - Would you pay £10 for a meduim basket? Just out of interest. I want to make it a simple as possible, don't want to scare people away!

OP posts:
IWantedThatName · 07/05/2009 17:22

Those are the sort of scales that MIL uses.

What I was trying to say is that if they give it damp it is easier to iron - takes less of your time etc. BUT they end up paying a financial penalty because it weighs more.

In terms of knowing what it is going to cost - I think MIL has a little chart saying that as a "guidline" x shirts will cost approx y£ etc. with just a few examples.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 18:43

Yes, I think I need to include clear pricing info on my leaflets/adverts so people find my service easy and straight forward to use...

I just don't want the pricing structure to be complicated though. I need to decide which way to go with

OP posts:
Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 19:04

Maybe we should have a vote

  • Per item (70p/1.40 for duvet covers/35p childrens/ £1 shirts - £5 for 6 shirts)
  • Per weight ?
  • Per basket £10 medium/£20 large?

What do you all think?

OP posts:
Doodle2U · 07/05/2009 19:05

Binbag full - £30

IWantedThatName · 07/05/2009 19:29

Honestly MIL (who are exceedingly successful) just prices by weight. Not sure how much it is now. I suspect it is something like £1.50 (probably more now - it is a long time since I did anything for the business)per lb in weight. No ifs no buts. On your leaflet you can give a guidline (I think it is 4 shirts to a lb).

If you price per item you have to have a whole list. When does a childs shirt become an adults shirt....

Weight is simple. Baskets could work too but unless you supply sized baskets you have to make a subjective measure of basket size.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 21:25

I see, i'll have to have a think what will be easiest. I really liked the idea of basket prices, don't know why, guess it just seemed simple. Only problem with it is everyone seems to be saying people would try to cram loads in to the baskets and I would end up doing too much for what i'm charging

OP posts:
DoNotAnnoy · 07/05/2009 22:03

You just take into account the fact that people will stuff it full when you set your prices.

You say that it must not be full beyond the rim (or you surcharge).

You define a small basket as no bigger than x cm diameter or xcm long by x cm wide. Medium basket etc.

All I am saying is set your criteria up front so there is no dispute.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 07/05/2009 22:58

Good plan DoNotAnnoy (great name by the way ). I have to cover all angles so I don't get ripped off!

OP posts:
DoNotAnnoy · 07/05/2009 23:01
ohdearwhatamess · 08/05/2009 09:27

I like paying per item, so then I know exactly how much I'll be paying.

But, tbh, other ways of doing it wouldn't put me off. Ironing ladies are like gold dust round here (took me months of hunting and a credit crunch to find one) so I'd have happily gone for whatever system was on offer.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 08/05/2009 10:50

DoNotAnnoy the other name was good too!

ohdearwhatamess - It seems that in some areas, ironing ladies are like gold dust, I'm hoping thats the case round here!

OP posts:
Original poster
Dalrymps · 08/05/2009 11:29

So, if I was to prie it by weight, how mch do you think is reasonable per kg?

OP posts:
DesperateHousewifeToo · 08/05/2009 13:06

Weigh some clothes and see how much makes up a kilo - I haven't a clue how much things weigh. You could probably just about use some bathroom scales for this and it would help you give a guide for your customers. Then iron them to see how long it takes you.

What sort of price would you want to earn per hour? Then work backwards for how much to charge per kilo.

I would definitely charge for collection/pick-up, otherwise you'll end up doing it for everyone and wasting your ironing time for no charge.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 08/05/2009 13:19

Good plan desperate, I guess when I was thinking of a meduim basket costing £10 I was expecting I would do that in about an hour and a half. So I guess thats about 6.50 an hour. I've looked in to weighing scales and you can get them relitavely cheap. Think the one's I need are like the luggage/fishing scales.

OP posts:
ExtraFancy · 08/05/2009 13:22

Depends where you live I think, in terms of demand etc.

One of my relatives does this, she works evenings and weekends/when her kids are at school. No idea how much she charges but she's always busy! She has regular customers who are rather wealthy (we live in an area with a lot of premiership footballers) so the demand is always there.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 08/05/2009 13:34

I see, I was thinking of going round the nicer areas and doing a leaflet drop to see what I get back. I'm assuming the people who live in these areas will work a lot to be able to afford it and therefore have money but be short on time. Thats my theory anyway!

OP posts:
stuckinthecorner · 08/05/2009 13:51

Havent had time to read the entire thread so apologise if this is of no use but Im in the North East and the ironing service I use charges by weight, no delivery / collection fee and turn around is usually 24/48 hrs. To give you some idea of cost the last batch cost £29 and was 15 mens work shirts / 4 ladies tops / 1 child duvet / 1 queen size duvet. I use them once every 2/3 weeks, mainly for Dhs shirts, but do throw in the duvet covers which are a pig to iron (not the nice to iron ones)because they up the cost by about a fiver. I dont have a regular day etc just phone when Im sick of them in the ironing pile or DH needs clean shirts etc so you might have to be aware that you wont be able to guarantee / predict income you might have to guestimate.

DesperateHousewifeToo · 08/05/2009 13:58

How much did all that weigh, stuck?

Original poster
Dalrymps · 08/05/2009 14:03

Roughly where are you in the NE stuck?

OP posts:
DoNotAnnoy · 08/05/2009 14:16

just google and have a look at some competitors

There are some whihc price per item as well so that may work -

DoNotAnnoy · 08/05/2009 14:22

more

more

DoNotAnnoy · 08/05/2009 14:28

Just looking very briefly accross the UK I reckon about £3.00-£3.50 per kg could be a good start and when you get established about £4-£4.50 could be acheivable.

I would look at as many competitors within a 30-50mile radius of you to get a better idea of the value in your area. A telephone call if they are not on the web is fine - you just pretend you are enquiring (for your frail MIL if need be)

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