From “Ask Kit!”:
Q: What is the average cost to wash the linens from a guest room?
A: It will cost you about $7-8 per double occupancy to do sheets and towels. That cost includes some pay for your time, as well as water/fuel/soap costs. Note: this cost will fluctuate with the size and quality of sheets and towels, your location and utility charges, and of course inflation will have that expense rise through time; when I was an innkeeper in 1988, my costs were closer to $4/double occupancy.
There are a number of variables associated with calculating the cost of laundry.
What kind of equipment does your laundry facility stock? I just acquired a heavy duty Whirlpool Duet washing machine that uses half of the soap and water that conventional machines use.
How much are you spending on detergent? I buy gallon sized jugs of Trend detergent at the Dollar Store for $2.50 per container. That’s a good buy compared to other products. The cost comes to 1.5 cents per ounce as opposed to 6 cents per ounce for Tide, 4.8 cents for Wisk or Gain, 3.9 cents for Ultra, 3.8 cents for All, 3 cents for Fab, 2.8 cents for Purex, and 2 cents for Sun.
How much are you spending for water? The average cost of 1,000 gallons of water in the United States is $1.50. Depending upon where you live, the cost could be higher or lower.
Other variables include: the cost of electricity, the amount of electricity your washing machines and dryers actually require, and the efficiency of these machines. (For example, a washing machine with a poor spin cycle gives you damp laundry that will require additional heating to dry).