A new wash facility or replacing old machines on the floor is a huge pile of cash to start with. The sticker shock on brand new industrial machinery is enough to make any business owner rethink their expansion plans. This is why so many smart operators are looking for used commercial laundry equipment to get the heavy iron they need without killing their capital.

A cheap home washing machine is a whole different ball game from something designed for a hotel basement. The industrial units are built like tanks, with thick stainless steel, oversized bearings and heavy-duty motors. They are over-engineered from the get-go so a five-year-old machine still has a huge amount of life left in it.

The secret to buying on the secondary market is to be obsessed with the maintenance history. You want to look at the service logs. That machine is probably a safe bet, if the previous owner actually bothered to change the belts on time and grease the trunnions regularly. If they treated their gear poorly instead, it's worth walking away.

Many buyers find the sweet spot in refurbished gear. You're not just buying something out of the back of a warehouse. Good sellers will take the machine apart, replace any worn out seals and contactors and test it under a heavy load before selling it. Basically, what you get is a unit that runs like new for about half the price.

Speed is a second big reason to buy used right now. If a critical washer-extractor breaks down on a Tuesday, you can't wait six months for a factory in Europe to build you a new one. There is inventory on the floor in the secondary market right now waiting to be strapped to a truck and installed by Friday.

Homework still has to happen before the truck arrives, though. A lot of money on a big dryer is useless if your building does not have the correct electrical phase to power it. You must match the voltage and plumbing specs exactly to your existing room or you'll spend all your savings on an electrician.

Buying used gear doesn't even mean you're stuck with old technology. There are plenty of machines built 10 years ago with programmable touch screens and variable frequency drives that save a ton of electricity. If you know exactly what to look for you can make a very efficient, high volume floor out of second-hand iron.