Let’s face it, when it comes to running a business, there’s more than enough to keep you occupied at any given time.

This likely spans everything from managing overhead costs and keeping up with employee payroll to the general nuts and bolts of your day-to-day operations — all while keeping your clients and customers happy.

Once you add things like purchasing, supplying, laundering and repairing workwear to the mix, it’s easy to see how things can stack up even more for you. The good news is there’s a straightforward, cost-effective solution that can make life so much easier.

What is a managed workwear rental service?

Managed workwear rental takes the hassle out of supplying, managing and delivering safe and compliant workwear for your employees, so you can focus on less-tedious tasks.      

Instead of purchasing and maintaining the garments yourself, your chosen supplier will do it for you. So, you’ll essentially rent everything you need while they’ll look after laundry and supply. 

If you’re unsure where to start, you can rest assured there are plenty of workwear rental and laundry service providers to choose from.

How does a workwear rental service work? 

Once you’ve chosen a provider that suits your needs, there are a couple of steps to get you up and running before you set up collection and delivery. 

1. Select your garments

This will entirely depend on your sector, such as textiles for the food industry (e.g. food coats), flame retardant materials, high-visibility (hi-vis) clothing, healthcare garments and so on. 

Many providers will have catalogues of different ranges available to choose from. Still, you’ll want to ensure that whatever you choose aligns with the health and safety specifications for your industry of practice, if required. 

It’s also important that your employees look the part while on the job, so you can carefully browse through each catalogue to find stylish, high-quality workwear that fits the bill.

2. Measure your wearers

Not all providers will provide workwear up to a specific size, but if they do, it’s probably worthwhile to cater to the individual dimensions of all your employees to ensure they’re as comfortable and as protected as needed while on the job. 

If so, you can add these details as and when you place that initial order. 

That being said, don’t worry too much if your chosen range only offers broad sizes like small, medium and large. Again, safety and functionality matter far more than a made-to-measure fit, so just make sure the workwear is appropriate for your industry.

3. Set up collection and delivery

Once you're good to go and happy with your rental and laundry fees, it’s time to work out a collection and delivery schedule starting from when your garments first arrive. 

How often will your workwear need to be washed? How soon will you need it back? 

The answers will depend on your industry and the nature of your work. Once agreed, you can benefit from everything the managed workwear rental process has to offer without the hassle and cost of purchasing, washing and maintaining it all yourself.

The benefits of workwear rental and laundry

You might be wondering why else you should consider investing in a carefully planned rental and laundry process. 

Renting reusable workwear and protective clothing has a number of benefits you might not have even considered yet.  

1. Flexibility and transparency

With less time required to do tedious laundry, you get time to focus on more essential business activities. 

Plus, your supplier will generally assign a dedicated account manager to look after your agreement and schedule. This means you’ll have complete transparency across your schedule and with client portal technology, you’ll also have access to real-time progress data indicating when and where your workwear is up to in the process. 

2. Cost-effectiveness

Buying industrial workwear outright can be expensive, let alone factoring in the economic business costs of washing, maintaining and, if needed, even replacing it further down the line. 

With a straightforward regular rental cost, you’ll have a clearer picture of your monthly outgoings and more control over budgeting and financial forecasting without any nasty, inconvenient surprises to worry about. 

Substituting things like laundry from your operations also removes a sizable environmental cost from your business, too. Outsourcing to a more energy-efficient supplier is a far better way to reduce your carbon footprint.

3. Health and safety compliance

Having a trusted supplier on hand also takes the guesswork out of providing appropriate and industry-standard workwear for your employees.

When placing your order, you can count on a wide range of safe and reliable options that adhere to health and safety standards — especially for personal protective equipment (PPE).  

Suitable professional workwear is critical in ensuring health, safety and compliance in the workplace, so it should never be overlooked. 

4. Workwear maintenance, replacement and repairs

By outsourcing the supply and laundry of your workwear, you also don’t need to worry about replacing it like-for-like if it gets damaged. 

Given the nature of many industries, it’s inevitable that garments will be subject to wear and tear with the more use you get out of them. 

As and when this is the case, you can simply notify your rental supplier and they’ll replace or repair if needed, so you know your workforce always gets high-quality industry workwear while you avoid any unwelcome replacement costs. 

5. Enhancing employee performance

By having clean, compliant and readily accessible workwear available, your workforce will feel more empowered by their general working conditions, which should, in turn, help their wellbeing, morale and productivity. 

It’s also a positive image for you as a business. It demonstrates that you’re working in a safe and considerate way for all your staff with a uniform look that’s in keeping with your company’s identity. 

Ready to explore workwear rental for your business?

Having a trustworthy industrial workwear and laundry supplier by your side means they can be reliable for your colleagues, so you don’t have to worry about mismanaging their workwear needs when your efforts are stretched elsewhere. 

A happy workforce is just as integral as a flexible and efficient business. So, if you’re ready to explore how the managed rental and laundry process can impact your employees’ performance as well as your own, simply click here to learn more.