Laundromat & Coin-Op Laundry
Equipment
Your laundromat equipment is your revenue. Every machine that's down, undersized, or unreliable costs you turns — and turns are how you make money. CLEC has been supplying and servicing vended laundry equipment in South Florida since 1969, with Speed Queen authorization and in-house service so your investment keeps working.
Speed Queen Vended Equipment for Laundromats
Speed Queen is the most widely installed brand in the vended laundry market for a reason — commercial build quality, high cycle ratings, and a parts network that keeps machines in service. CLEC is an authorized Speed Queen distributor serving South Florida.
Speed Queen builds its vended washers and dryers to withstand the punishment of a busy public laundry — customers who overload machines, don't follow instructions, and expect a machine to be available every time. The commercial-grade components, heavy-gauge cabinet construction, and stainless steel tubs are engineered for that environment.
As an authorized distributor, CLEC provides the full Speed Queen vended line — from the entry-level models suited to a smaller store to the high-capacity double-load and triple-load machines that drive revenue in a high-volume location. We'll help you select the right mix for your square footage, demographics, and revenue goals.
Speed Queen's vended front-load washer-extractors are the backbone of any laundromat. Available in single-load (20 lb), double-load (40 lb), triple-load (60 lb), and quad-load (80 lb) configurations — the capacity mix you choose should reflect your customer demographics and peak-hour demand patterns.
Dryer capacity and count are frequently underestimated in laundromat planning. A common rule of thumb: provide dryer capacity at 1.5–2× your washer capacity by weight, since drying takes longer than washing and customers often dry two loads simultaneously. Speed Queen stack dryers maximize dryer count per square foot.
Top-load washers remain a staple of the vended laundry market in certain demographics — particularly customers washing small, everyday loads who prefer the lower vend price of a top-load. Including a section of top-loads alongside your front-load lineup captures customers who won't wait for a large-capacity machine for a single pair of jeans.
Capacity Mix Drives Revenue
The ratio of small to large capacity machines — and washers to dryers — is one of the most consequential decisions in laundromat planning. Too many small machines and you're leaving large-load revenue uncaptured. Too many large machines and you have idle equipment during off-peak hours.
A well-designed store serves the full range of customer load sizes — small everyday loads on top-loads or 20 lb front-loads, medium loads on 40 lb machines, and large loads (comforters, heavy blankets, bulky items) on 60 and 80 lb machines. Large-capacity machines typically generate the highest revenue per square foot because customers pay premium vend prices for the convenience of finishing a bulky load in one cycle.
CLEC helps laundromat owners and investors work through capacity mix decisions before the equipment order — we've seen enough South Florida stores open and succeed (and struggle) to have an honest read on what machine mix tends to perform best for a given location type and demographic.
Guidelines only — optimal mix varies by location, demographics, and square footage. Contact us for a store-specific consultation.
Opening a New Store or Re-Equipping an Existing One?
CLEC works with both new laundromat investors and existing owners ready to upgrade aging equipment. The considerations are different — here's how we approach each.
A new laundromat's equipment package defines its revenue ceiling for the next 10–15 years. Getting the capacity mix, washer-to-dryer ratio, and utility specifications right before you sign on equipment is critical — and far less expensive than retrofitting after the fact.
Aging equipment costs you in downtime, repair bills, and lost customers who stop returning after repeated bad experiences. A well-timed re-equip typically pays for itself through increased revenue, reduced service costs, and the ability to raise vend prices on modern, well-maintained equipment.
Payment Systems & Machine Technology
The laundromat business has changed significantly in the past decade. Card and app-based payment systems have replaced coin-only operations in most competitive markets — customers expect to pay without exact change, and owners benefit from cashless revenue tracking and remote management.
Speed Queen's vended equipment is compatible with the leading payment system providers. CLEC coordinates your equipment order alongside your chosen payment system so machines arrive configured and ready for your payment setup. We don't supply the payment systems themselves, but we know how to work alongside the vendors who do.
High-speed extraction is the technology feature with the most direct impact on revenue. Speed Queen's commercial vended washers extract at high G-force, removing significantly more moisture from the load before it enters the dryer. That shortens dryer time, cuts the customer's total visit time, and frees up the dryer for the next customer faster — compounding across every machine in your store across every operating hour.
Ready to Talk About Your Laundromat Equipment?
Whether you're planning a new store, re-equipping an existing one, or just need a machine serviced — give us a call or send a message. We'll give you a straight answer about what your situation needs.
Laundromat Equipment FAQ
Common questions from laundromat owners and investors about equipment selection, capacity planning, and working with CLEC.
We've been in the South Florida vended laundry market since 1969. Call us directly — we'll give you a straight answer.
561-848-0054Machine count depends on your square footage, trade area population, and projected revenue targets. A typical small-to-midsize laundromat might have 15–30 washers and 25–45 dryers — but these numbers vary considerably based on location and competitive environment.
The more useful question is: what revenue per week do you need to achieve your target return, and what machine mix and count is required to hit that? Working backward from a revenue goal to a machine requirement is how we approach new store planning. Contact us with your square footage and location details and we'll walk through the math with you.
The industry guideline is to provide roughly 1.5–2× dryer capacity (by weight) relative to washer capacity. Drying takes longer than washing, and customers frequently run multiple loads through dryers simultaneously. An undersupplied dryer section creates bottlenecks — customers wait for dryers even when washers are available, which lengthens their visit, creates frustration, and reduces overall machine turns.
Stack dryers are the most efficient way to maximize dryer count in a given floor footprint — two 30 lb dryer drums in the footprint of one standalone unit. Most well-planned laundromats include a substantial stack dryer section for exactly this reason.
The market has moved strongly toward card and app-based payment systems, and new stores in competitive South Florida markets are increasingly going cashless or hybrid. Cashless systems reduce the cost and risk of coin collection, provide digital revenue data, and allow remote price adjustments without a technician visit.
Coin-only stores still operate successfully — particularly in older demographics or less competitive locations — but the trend is clear. Many re-equips now include a payment system upgrade alongside the machine replacement. Speed Queen's vended equipment is compatible with the major payment system providers. We coordinate machine delivery timing to align with your payment system installation, but the payment system itself is purchased through your chosen payment vendor.
Well-maintained commercial vended equipment from a quality manufacturer like Speed Queen typically lasts 10–15 years in a busy laundromat, with some machines exceeding that when maintained properly. The key variables are machine quality, cycle volume, maintenance frequency, and whether repairs are made promptly with OEM parts.
The degradation curve tends to accelerate once machines age past 10 years — downtime increases, repair costs compound, and customers start noticing that the equipment looks old. Most experienced laundromat operators plan a full re-equip cycle every 10–12 years, often when machines start requiring expensive component-level repairs that approach the cost of replacement.
Speed Queen holds the largest market share in the North American vended laundry segment, and has for decades. The reasons are build quality and reliability — Speed Queen commercial vended machines are rated for higher cycle counts than comparable competitors, their commercial-grade components handle the abuse of a public laundromat better, and their parts network is the most robust in the industry.
For laundromat owners, reliability isn't just a nice-to-have — it's a direct revenue and customer retention factor. A machine that runs consistently through millions of cycles over its lifetime generates revenue; one that's frequently down does the opposite. Speed Queen's track record in the vended segment reflects that reliability, which is why it remains the dominant choice among serious laundromat operators.
Yes. If you have Speed Queen equipment in Palm Beach or Broward County that needs service — regardless of where it was purchased — contact us. Our factory-trained technicians can service it and we carry OEM Speed Queen parts. We can also assess other brands on a case-by-case basis.
If you're an existing laundromat owner whose previous equipment supplier is no longer providing adequate service, we're happy to step in. Establishing a service relationship is straightforward — call us with the machine models you have and we'll confirm coverage.
Yes. CLEC has been exporting commercial laundry equipment to buyers in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America for many years. Our West Palm Beach location near Port of Palm Beach gives us straightforward access to international shipping. Speed Queen vended equipment is particularly well-suited to international export given its reliability in environments with variable utility quality.
Contact us with your location and requirements and we'll discuss the equipment, shipping logistics, and any configuration considerations for your destination market.