Plan a dry cleaner layout
Search the template picker for dry cleaner (it's in Commercial), open the 40 × 30 ft plan, and arrange the cleaning, pressing and bagging line from the Dry Cleaning group in the Laundry Room tab of Furnish. Size each machine to your equipment and check the work flow from drop-off to pickup in 3D.
A dry cleaner is a small factory behind a shop counter. Garments come in at the counter, get tagged and checked for stains, go through the dry-cleaning machine or the washer, then the presses, the shirt finisher and the ironing tables, get bagged, and wait on the garment conveyor until the customer comes back. A good layout keeps that loop short, keeps customers out of the plant, and puts the conveyor where the counter staff can reach it.
RoomSketch3D has a furnished Dry Cleaner template in the Commercial group and ten dry-cleaning pieces in Furnish. They're generic shapes at typical sizes (no brand names) that you resize to your own machines.
This guide opens the template, explains the flow it's built around, shows where the pieces live in Furnish, and covers what the plan doesn't do for you, such as ventilation.
What you'll need
- •A RoomSketch3D account on the web, iPhone, iPad or Android
- •Your shop's inside dimensions and equipment list
Step by step
- 1
Find the Dry Cleaner template
On Home, tap Use Template. Type dry cleaner in the search box (or tap the Commercial chip and scroll): one template, Dry Cleaner, 40′ × 30′. Tap it, name your design and tap Use this template. The plan opens with 12 ft walls and Flow check OK.
Search finds the Dry Cleaner template in Commercial. - 2
Read the plan from drop-off to pickup
Customers come in through the front door to two service counters with a register. Behind the counter, a Garment Conveyor (20 ft) runs across the middle of the shop, so finished orders are one step from the counter. The back wall holds the cleaning and pressing line, left to right: the Dry-Cleaning Machine (6′ × 4′4″, 7′2″ tall), a Commercial Washer (Front-Load) and Commercial Stack Dryer for wet cleaning and shirts, the Spotting Board, the Garment Press and the Shirt Finisher. Two Vacuum Ironing Tables and the Bagging Station line the right wall, next to the conveyor's end. Two chairs by the front window are for waiting customers. The plant and the counter share one open room in the template. Many shops put a partition or a half-wall between them; add one with the Interior Wall tool if yours will.
The Dry Cleaner: plant along the back, conveyor in the middle, counter at the front. - 3
Find the dry-cleaning pieces in Furnish → Laundry Room
There's no separate dry-cleaning tab: scroll the Furnish room tabs to Laundry Room and the Dry Cleaning group follows the household laundry pieces. It has the Garment Conveyor (12 ft) and (20 ft), Dry-Cleaning Machine, Vacuum Ironing Table, Garment Press, Shirt Finisher, Spotting Board, Bagging Station, Commercial Washer (Front-Load) and Commercial Stack Dryer. You can also search conveyor, garment press or dry cleaning. Select any piece and type the width, depth and height from your machine's spec sheet. The conveyor's length is its width: type 30 ft for a longer loop, or use two conveyors.
Furnish → Laundry Room → Dry Cleaning. - 4
Check the line in 3D
Open the 3D view with Dollhouse on. The conveyor shows as a full rack of hanging garments, which is how much of the room it really takes up, and you can see whether the counter staff can turn from the register to the conveyor without crossing the pressing area. Look at heights too: the dry-cleaning machine is over 7 ft tall and the bagging station 7 ft, so keep them away from low soffits and windows.
The dry cleaner in 3D: conveyor behind the counter, plant behind it.
Tips
Keep the loop one direction
Arrange the plant in the order garments move: tagging and spotting, cleaning, pressing and finishing, inspection and bagging, then the conveyor. Backtracking across the shop costs time on every order.
Plan ventilation around the machine
OSHA's advice for dry cleaners using perchloroethylene is general ventilation that moves solvent vapour away from workers and customers, and local exhaust where exposure is highest, such as at the machine's loading door. Keep the machine away from the counter and the customer door, and plan the exhaust with your installer.
Use a 12 ft conveyor for a drop store
A drop store that sends work to a central plant needs only the counter, a conveyor and bagging space. Delete the machines and use the 12 ft conveyor to see how small the shop can be.
Common mistakes
Being surprised by the Food-truck checklist
The template's counters and register are food-service pieces, so the small Food-truck checklist box appears at the bottom left. It's advice for food trucks only; ignore it.
Assuming the template includes a restroom and storage
The template is the shop floor only. Add a restroom, a boiler or compressor room and supply storage if your space needs them; they take real floor area.
Treating the plan as an equipment drawing
The plan shows footprints and flow. Steam, compressed air, solvent, drainage and electrical requirements come from your equipment supplier and local codes.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a dry cleaner template?
Yes. The Dry Cleaner (40′ × 30′) is in the Commercial group; search dry cleaner in the template picker to find it directly.
Where are the garment conveyor and presses?
In Furnish, in the Laundry Room tab, under the Dry Cleaning group, or search conveyor or press.
Can I make the conveyor longer?
Yes. Select it and type a longer width; or place two conveyors end to end.
Does the template meet ventilation or fire codes?
No plan in the app checks ventilation, solvent handling or fire code. Use it for layout and flow, and confirm the rest with your equipment supplier and local building department.
Sources
- OSHA 3253: Reducing Worker Exposure to Perchloroethylene (PERC) in Dry Cleaning — Ventilation: general ventilation "can be designed to move the perc vapors away from workers and customers"; "Well-designed LEV may be provided where perc exposure is highest, for example, at the loading door." Advisory, not a standard.
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