Insider Spotlight
The shift is a key finding of “The Philippine Laundry Outlook 2026,” the country’s first dedicated industry outlook on the textile care sector, developed by Is It Clean, a consulting and training company for the laundry and cleaning industry.
The report highlights how operators are realigning growth strategies toward institutional clients, particularly hotels, where scale, stability, and outsourcing economics are reshaping demand.
Hotel outsourcing demand comes into focus
Is It Clean estimates that the Philippine hotel sector requires as much as 1.6 million kilos of linens processed daily, assuming 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.
Looking ahead, growth in hotel supply is set to further expand this demand. An estimated 3,100 new hotel rooms are expected to come online in Metro Manila in 2026, according to Colliers Philippines. Is It Clean says this translates to an additional 15,500 kilos of hotel laundry demand per day.
Residential remains core, diversification accelerates
“Residential is still the bread and butter. But operators are now diversifying. Which means operators could be operating a portion for residential but are now catering to institutions, such as hotels,” said Paolo Abellanosa, managing director of Is It Clean, to InsiderPH. “In 2025, 38 percent are already focusing on hotels. In 2026, this will be 41 percent. This has been the trend for the last three years.”
Rather than a wholesale shift away from residential laundry, the data points to a hybrid operating model taking hold across the industry.
Neighborhood laundromats continue to provide baseline volume and daily cash flow, but operators are increasingly layering in institutional work to offset margin pressure from retail pricing competition.
Hotels offer larger, more predictable volumes that allow operators to run machines at higher utilization rates and spread fixed costs over greater throughput.
For small and mid-sized operators, even partial exposure to hotel contracts can improve revenue stability while reducing dependence on highly competitive walk-in customers.
Operators are increasingly repositioning themselves as outsourcing partners for hospitality players, particularly smaller hotels and short-term rental operators that prefer asset-light laundry solutions, a shift highlighted in a press release accompanying the industry outlook.
Strong demand, but competition reshapes strategy
Beyond hotels, overall demand fundamentals remain strong. Nearly two-thirds or 63 percent of respondents reported higher laundry volumes in 2025, driven by continued urbanization and the growing preference of Filipino households to outsource laundry.
However, competition is tightening, with more than 20,000 laundromats estimated to be operating nationwide.
In highly competitive NCR, the average wash-dry cycle cost of P194.6 is already lower than in Region 4A at P196.4. Despite this, sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, with 58 percent of respondents expressing a favorable industry outlook.
Scaling up means skilling up
As operators pursue hotel outsourcing contracts, growth constraints are shifting from demand to capability. Hotels impose higher standards around consistency, quality, and traceability, requirements that many operators are still building toward.
“This is no longer just about opening more shops or increasing capacity,” said Abellanosa. “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.”
Capital commitments amid structural pressures
To support this transition, 42 percent of respondents plan to invest in new equipment in 2026, signaling confidence in sustained demand and the need to upgrade for efficiency and scale.
These capital commitments are closely tied to ambitions of serving hotels and other institutional clients more effectively.
“The outlook for the laundry sector remains positive, with 90 percent of operators saying industry performance in 2026 will either be stable or positive,” said Romeo Apolega, SSChE, FChE, Emeritus, president and CEO of Is It Clean.
“Demand is there, especially from hotels, but the future of laundry will belong to those who learn continuously, innovate, retool, retrofit, reinvent, and invest in people and new processes.” – Princess Daisy C. Ominga |Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
