Why we work with a Laundry Pre-Payment Cost
We provide household linen and other practical items in our studios to make life easier for our tenants, especially international students who would otherwise need to travel with, buy and organise all these items themselves.
However, after many years of trying different systems, the past years it became more and more difficult and we learned that having tenants wash and prepare the household linen themselves before departure simply did not work reliably in practice and the cost for final laundry at the end of the stay keeps being disputed.
This is why we now offer a professional laundry arrangement with a €60 pre-payment option.
Now you can choose how to handle the laundry
The new arrangement gives each tenant a choice:
Option 1 – We organise it
Prepay the €60 laundry cost, and we arrange for the complete household linen set to be professionally cleaned. This guarantees that the arriving tenant receives a properly cleaned and ready-to-use set.
The €60 is therefore not a charge for providing the household linen. It is the cost of having the complete set professionally cleaned if you choose this option.
Option 2 – You organise it yourself
You can choose to bring or foresee the household linen yourself.
What happened with the previous system?
For many years, tenants were allowed to wash the household linen themselves before moving out.
In theory, this sounds like a simple and easy-going solution. In reality, it repeatedly created problems.
When tenants are preparing to leave, they are often short on time. Over the last few years, we found that items were sometimes:
- washed using incorrect programmes;
- washed without (sufficient) detergent or washing products;
- washed on the cheapest or shortest programme;
- returned with stains that had not been treated;
- washed only once at the end of a stay of six or twelve months;
- not properly dried, resulting in unpleasant smells;
- hung over furniture to dry, causing damage to surfaces;
- not ironed or folded neatly.
The problem is that the linen returned by one tenant must also be ready for immediate use by the next tenant.
Unfortunately, when we occasionaly tested providing new tenants with household linen exactly as it had been returned by the previous tenant, we regularly received complaints that items were stained, did not smell fresh or were simply not sufficiently clean.
Some new tenants then had to wash everything again themselves — and understandably even asked us to refund the laundry costs they had to make for this.
Another practical problem: what has actually been washed?
Another recurring issue was that only part of the household linen was washed.
For example:
- only some of the bed linen was washed;
- the duvet was left behind without being properly cleaned;
- pillows were washed and then used again for the final nights;
- bed sheets were washed before departure, but the tenant continued using the pillow and duvet;
- people sleeping directly on the matrass;
- items being incrrectly washed and broken but that were not replaced;
- items were presented as clean, while it was impossible to know whether they had actually been washed correctly.
This left us with an impossible situation: how can the cleaner determine what has been washed properly, what has not been washed, and what may have been used again afterwards? What needs to be replaced and what not?
As a result, we regularly ended up having to organise and pay for the complete laundry process again anyway, while also dealing with discussions whether the tenant had left everything correctly or not.
What does it actually cost to wash everything?
In the past, this was organised by my mother with the help of her cleaner, at approximately €15 PER washing machine.
A complete household linen set generally requires around 4 machines:
- Machine 1: duvet
- Machine 2: pillow, pillow protector and mattress protector
- Machine 3: bed linen and kitchen towels
- Machine 4: shower curtain and bathroom carpets
That means €60 is approximately the amount a tenant would also have to spend at a laundromat themselves if they wanted to wash all items properly and return the complete set in the required clean and ready-to-use condition.
And that does not include the tenant’s own time, transport, detergent, drying, folding, ironing and organising.
Why don’t we do the laundry ourselves anymore?
For many years, we did.
However, this has become practically impossible. The landlord who previously helped organise this, is now 76, and the cleaner who assisted has retired.
In addition, collecting laundry after every departing tenant and organising its transport involves approximately two hours of travelling time.
We therefore looked for a professional solution and found a laundry company in Leuven willing to provide the laundry at an affordable arrangement.
The €60 is paid to the professional laundry company for the cleaning of the complete set, and is also the amount entirely paid to the laundry company.
What does the pre-payment arrangement achieve?
The purpose is simple: to make the departure process clearer and easier for the tenant and avoid the recurring discussions about whether something was washed, how it was washed, whether it was sufficiently clean, or who should pay for it when it needs to be washed again.
It also gives certainty that the next tenant receives household linen that has been professionally cleaned and is genuinely ready for use.
The pre-payment option is currently a trial arrangement intended to create a practical and predictable solution for everyone.
Why do we offer to provide household linen in the first place?
Providing household linen is not a standard requirement of the rental accommodation.
We provide these items voluntarily because many of our tenants are international students. Arriving in Belgium with a duvet, pillow, mattress protector, bed linen, kitchen towels, shower curtain and other household items is simply not practical.
Without this service, tenants would need to:
- bring these items with them;
- buy everything after arrival;
- organise transport and shopping during their first days in Belgium;
- arrange what to do with these items again when leaving.
We provide them because we believe it makes both arrival and departure easier.
However, buying, replacing and maintaining these items, ensuring they are available in every studio, organising their collection and return, and dealing with the related administration already requires considerable time and work. This is not at all a profit-making arraangement for us, but silely intended to provide supplementary comfort to our tenants.
Our goal: a practical solution for everyone
The laundry pre-payment arrangement is not intended to make things more complicated or to create an additional source of income.
It is an attempt to find a workable solution after years of experiencing the same problems with self-washed household linen.
Our goal is straightforward:
Tenants can arrive without having to travel with or immediately purchase a complete set of household linen, while every new tenant can also be sure that the items provided have been properly and professionally cleaned.
We believe the current arrangement is the most practical way to achieve this.
At the same time, we hope it will avoid unnecessary discussions at the end of a tenancy and allow everyone to know in advance exactly how the household linen will be handled.
