Some fabrics are so prone to shrinkage that regular water cleaning isn’t recommended. This is where dry cleaning comes into play.

Though it’s called “dry” cleaning, garments actually do get wet during the process. With dry cleaning, garments are first dipped into a liquid solvent. From there, the garments are agitated in a machine similar to a traditional washing machine. Afterwards, it's heated to dry out the chemical cleaner before hanging, pressing, and returning to the customer.

The first dry cleaners opened in the 1820s. Thomas Jennings, a black freedman who was a tailor in New York City, is largely thought to have run the first successful dry cleaning and tailoring service. However, it took around 100 years for the business to really take off.

The UK Dry Cleaning Industry

The dry cleaning industry is worth around £1 billion per year in the UK. Chores such as laundry and ironing, as well as sewing and mending, have slid down the list on people's agendas over the years. At a point, this time-strapped situation encouraged the growth of disposable fashion. However, society at-large has been exposed to the real cost of “fast fashion” in recent years. This greater emphasis on lessening the negative impact on the environment in fashion is prompting people to spend more on individual items and to maintain them better.

As a result, consumer spending in the industry had been increasing steadily since the early 2000s up until 2020.

The pandemic was obviously a huge, largely negative, event for the dry cleaning industry as people worked from home and travel was halted. However, as workers have returned to their offices and people have begun to travel again, strong revenue growth is expected.

Environmental Impact

On top of the impact of fast fashion, being environmentally friendly has become of great importance in the dry cleaning franchise industry in its operations.

Over the years, many dry cleaning franchises have phased out (or at least begun the process of phasing out) solvents that are toxic for the environment.

Chief among these solvents being phased out is perchlorethylene, or perc, which became the prevalent solvent choice for the industry following the use of kerosene and synthetics such as carbon tetrachloride and trichlorethylene. Perc not only was safer for dry cleaners to handle, but did a much better job of cleaning and required less space, among other pluses. However, the discovery of perc’s health risks have governments considering bans or special regulations for the chemical, if they already haven’t enacted some.

So what substances are dry cleaners now using? Dry cleaning franchises, by-and-large, are now trying to use substances that safely break down. For instance, Lapels Dry Cleaning uses liquid silicone, essentially liquified sand, in place of petrochemicals.

Additional Income Streams

Though dry cleaning is on the marquee, it isn’t the only revenue stream for these franchises. Other services offered by many of these franchises include:

• Regular laundry wash, dry and fold
• Ironing services
• Washing comforters and other household items
• Alterations and repair
• Gown preservation

Pick-up and Delivery

As you make your decision on which dry cleaning franchise to buy, consider whether you want a franchise that has a pick-up and delivery component, which several dry cleaning franchises do have.

If so, you’ll need to factor in the investment for a reliable vehicle if you don’t already have one. The decision also requires you to decide on staffing. Do you want to begin with a significant number of staff members from the beginning, or do you want to ease into employing others?

Advantages of a Dry Cleaning Franchise Over Independent Operation

It can be challenging to start a dry cleaning franchise from scratch in a marketplace where branding is so important in order to cut through the competition. And even that is after the research and development phase: ensuring your services hits the mark with your future customers.

Customers are likely to opt for a recognisable brand if given a choice between a known and an unknown. And franchising is an opportunity to take advantage of a brand that has done the hard work for you in those areas concerning simply making it to the market. They have operations that have been tried-and-tested, and it’s proven that people have been keen to buy the services from them.

Familiarity breeds confidence in the marketing world, and if a customer recognises a brand, they already know that they offer quality of service and value for money. That’s going to sway their choice.

Adopting the familiar branding of a dry cleaning franchise offers a secure, robust infrastructure, helping you get started more quickly and sustainably.

However, it’s important to remember that even with the guidance and support, franchises are independently-owned businesses. Therefore, whether your personal burger franchise is a success or failure is based entirely on you and your ability to run the company well.

Finding the Money for Your Dry Cleaning Franchise

Starting a business, franchised or not, tends to require more money than the person who wants to start the business has on hand. Luckily, banks generally favour franchises because they're built on foundations that have been proven realistic, practical, and - most importantly - profitable and sustainable. Approaching a money lender with an existing, proven financial model is undoubtedly a path to more favourable interest rates and a surer chance of a positive outcome.

Independent companies, on the other hand, often find it a challenge to obtain loans with sensible borrowing rates since they have very little to no evidence that their business will reach potential profitability. This comparative lack of faith from lenders has the potential to jeopardise their company from the start.

Having enough money before you start is important. Unfortunately, about half of all independent companies go bust within two years of starting up. However, 90% of franchise businesses report profitability within two years. Often, the biggest factor in the disparity in the success rate is the access to financial capital to begin.

--

Explore our range of dry cleaning franchises, and help the nation keep their clothing clean and in perfect condition.