Philippines laundry operators seen to focus on hospitality sector

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January 25, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The local laundry industry is shifting its expansion toward meeting the growing demand of the hotel sector for third-party cleaning services, according to a market study.

A study by Is It Clean, a consulting company for the laundry and cleaning industry, indicated that at least 42 percent of laundry operators would be focusing on the hospitality sector this year amid rising demand for outsourced cleaning services.

The change in market focus by laundry operators in the country is also driven by the intensifying competition among neighborhood-based residential laundry as well as rising operational costs, according to the study titled The Philippine Laundry Outlook 2026.

Is It Clean estimated that the country’s hotel sector requires as much as 1.6 million kilos of linens processed daily at full occupancy.

“A significant portion of this volume is now outsourced to industrial laundry operators as hotels seek to reduce capital expenditure, labor costs, and operational complexity,” Is It Clean said.

The demand for laundry services by the hotel sector is expected to grow further this year with the estimated 3,100 new hotel rooms to come online in Metro Manila,the report said. The additional hotel space will translate to an additional 15,500 kilos of hotel laundry demand per day, it added.

“The report finds that 42 percent of respondents will focus on the hospitality sector in 2026, reflecting heightened interest for laundromats and operators to scale up and position themselves as outsourcing partners to the hospitality players, specifically smaller hotels and short-term rental,” the company said.

Also, at least 42 percent of the study’s respondents will be investing in new equipment this year to meet the hospitality sector’s standards that revolve around consistency, quality and traceability, Is It Clean said.

“This is no longer just about opening more shops or increasing capacity,” said Paolo Abellanosa, managing director of Is It Clean.

“Operators must not just scale up, but they must also skill up. Without the right systems, trained people, and process discipline, chasing hotel volumes can increase risks rather than profits,” Abellanosa added.

The study noted that two-thirds of its respondents reported higher laundry volumes last year driven by continued urbanization and growing preference of Filipino households to outsource laundry.

However, the study pointed out that the laundry industry competition is tightening with more than 20,000 laundromats estimated to be operating nationwide.

The study surveyed 262 laundry shops owned by 74 unique individuals from November to December 2025. At least 81 percent of the respondents run a single shop that is classified as laundromats or having under 1,000 kilos of daily capacity, according to the study.

The respondents were evenly split between early-stage businesses (zero to three years) and established operators (more than four years), Is It Clean said.