How demand for dry cleaning is changing – and what you can do about it

Most commercial dry cleaners could forecast what items would land in their machines during any given week.

Winter would offer steady hampers of ‘big coats’ and party frocks while summer would bring baskets of wedding suits and hotel linens on top of a consistent flow of workwear.

Not anymore.

The rhythm has been disrupted. You know this because you’ve seen it in the loads coming through your doors. But why is the new normal proving tricky to manage and how is your business feeling the effects?

What changed?

The COVID-19 pandemic affected every area of the economy in 2020 and its lasting effects include a shift towards home or hybrid working across multiple industries.

Government figures from March 2026 show 30 per cent of adults surveyed had both travelled to work and worked from home in the past seven days.

Workers with a degree or equivalent qualification were 10 times more likely to hybrid work than those without. Jobs traditionally associated with crisp business dress in need of a regular sprucing up are changing.

Those who still commute into a workplace are increasingly invited to wear domestic washer-friendly casual clothing. TheHRDirector reported a 32% rise in the number of job adverts citing a casual dress code from 2020 to 2023.

Where demand is growing

It’s not all bad news though. There is still demand for garments and linens to be cleaned but the basket looks different. And how it gets into your machine does too.

There has been a reported increase in pick-up and delivery services offered by cleaners across the country in a bid to take hassle out of the process.

Dry cleaners have also stepped up with a range of specialist services, including repairs and other forms of garment care.

And there’s another legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic: the importance of PPE (personal protection equipment) was never underlined quite so dramatically as in 2020.

The healthcare sector, including the NHS, is supported by commercial dry cleaners every day, ensuring clinical uniforms are ready for life-saving work.

Thriving businesses in manufacturing and hospitality also rely on a steady stream of freshly cleaned specialist workwear and linens to provide safety for workers and comfort for guests.

Hybrid working and casual dress may be affecting domestic retail customers, but specialist services and commercial contracts are taking up a greater part of the workload.

How that affects you

You will be able to see the transformation in the nation’s work habits in your daily hampers.

An increasingly varied mix of specialist garments await your attention alongside sagging numbers of officewear pieces.

Catering for a wider range of requirements for each piece takes time, effort and machine capacity you might not have.

The move away from a Monday to Friday office pattern is disrupting the traditional, consistent weekly pattern and that trend is unlikely to go into reverse.

This means some days or shifts can feel busier than expected, increasing the pressure on your hard-working staff.

On the flip side, other days can feel quiet - too quiet.

The well-oiled system you may have spent years building is facing a less consistent workload. Your washers, dryers and finishing machines are not able to run in harmony.

An uneven flow of stock can be tricky to wrestle with. The new normal isn’t quite so… normal.

Why it matters

A changing country, and changing customer habits, means planning is harder than ever.

The day-to-day routine is unsettled, and that makes it really tough to make sure the right staff are working at the right time to suit your customers’ needs.

The work has not disappeared but the steady, consistent flow many businesses relied on for years, perhaps decades, has.

And that is affecting the bread-and-butter daily routine of your business, from staffing to scheduling.

What you can do about it

1. Assess your setup - We know you won’t have much downtime during the week but it’s important to take a moment to observe your processes, noting any parts of the line causing disruption or taking extra time.
2. Adapt to busy times - Monitor busy and quiet times each week, note any patterns and ensure your shift patterns reflect the daily highs and lows.
3. Consider expanding specialist services - There is demand for home pick-ups and other convenient services to meet customers where they are. Could your business benefit from expanding into garment repair services and more specialist items?

It’s important to check how you are operating, find quick wins to boost your business and think about how you can adjust to meet a varied range of customer needs.

If you’d like to think more about how you can refine your commercial dry cleaning processes, book a free energy health check today. We’ll help future-proof your business to deal with whatever lands in your basket.