At Magic Basket, we pride ourselves on being the “stress relief" for you by handling the heavy lifting of your laundry. However, to maintain our high standards of hygiene and protect both our staff and your fellow neighbors’ laundry, there are specific instances where we cannot process an item.
Here is the breakdown of our Heavily Soiled Policy and why safety always comes before the wash.
Heavily Soiled Laundry & Safety Protocols
While we handle standard stains and daily wear with ease, "heavily soiled" items are those that pose a risk to the sanitary environment of our facility or the physical safety of our team.
Biohazards (Health & Hygiene)
For the safety of our Laundry Technicians and to prevent cross-contamination, we cannot process items contaminated with:
- Bodily Fluids: Significant amounts of blood, feces, urine, or vomit.
- Pests: Items showing any signs of bedbugs, lice, or other infestations.
- Mold & Mildew: Garments with visible mold or the strong odor of mildew (often caused by placing wet clothes in a closed bag).
Hazardous Materials
Items soaked in combustible or caustic chemicals can damage our industrial machines and create fire hazards. This includes:
- Flammable Liquids: Gasoline, motor oil, or heavy industrial solvents.
- Medical Waste: Clothing contaminated with hazardous medical materials or sharps.
Excessive Solids
Items covered in excessive "solids" such as heavy mud, construction debris, or thick pet hair can clog our filtration systems and lead to machine downtime, which affects our 48-hour delivery promise for all customers.
What Happens If An Item Is Rejected?
If our intake team identifies an item as "Heavily Soiled", we follow a strict protocol:
- Isolation: The item is immediately removed from the rest of your laundry and placed in a sealed, labeled bag to prevent contact with other garments.
- Return: The unwashed item will be returned to you in its sealed bag along with your delivery.
- Billing: While we don't charge for the cleaning of rejected items, the weight may still be included in your bag total due to the specialized handling and isolation required (only for the As Needed option)
Why We Have This Policy
- Staff Safety: Our technicians handle hundreds of bags a day. We have a "Safety First" culture that protects our team from exposure to pathogens or hazardous chemicals.
- Cross-Contamination Prevention: Because we process many orders simultaneously, we must ensure that no single item compromises the cleanliness of another customer’s wardrobe.
- Machine Integrity: Sand, grease, and chemicals shorten the lifespan of the precision equipment we use to deliver your high-quality fold.
See our article Items We Do Not Clean for additional information.
