Last updated: 26 October 2026

How to Launder Money in Schedule I

One of the first walls new Schedule I players hit is having a pile of cash but being unable to buy anything with it. That is because sales cash is 'dirty' and must be laundered into a spendable balance first. This guide explains how laundering works as an in-game system, which front businesses to buy, their daily limits, and which to get first.

01Why You Need to Launder

Laundering exists because the game splits your money into two types:

• Dirty cash is what you earn from sales — it cannot be spent directly on property or equipment.
• Card (online) balance is what real-estate and equipment vendors accept.
• Laundering converts dirty cash into card balance, making it spendable.
• Without laundering you get stuck — a fortune in cash but no way to buy the property and upgrades you need to grow.

This is the single most common 'why can't I buy anything' confusion, so set up laundering as an early priority.

02Buying a Laundering Business

Front businesses are purchased from a dedicated vendor:

1. Go to Ray's Real Estate in the Downtown area.
2. Buy a launderable business using your existing card balance.
3. Visit the computer inside the business to deposit dirty cash.
4. The deposited cash becomes spendable card balance, up to that business's daily limit — but it does not land in your account instantly, it takes about 24 in-game hours to come back 'clean' and appear as spendable balance.
5. Repeat daily across the businesses you own to keep converting your income.

Note that these businesses do not generate revenue on their own — they are purely vehicles for converting cash, so do not expect passive income from them.

03The Launderable Businesses

There are several front businesses, each with a price and a daily laundering cap (values shift between updates, so verify in-game):

• Laundromat — the cheapest entry point and a sensible first buy.
• Post Office — a mid-tier option with a higher daily cap ($5,000 per day as of v0.4.7, up from $4,000).
• Car Wash — a larger cap for a higher price ($8,000 per day as of v0.4.7, up from $6,000).
• Taco Ticklers — the most expensive, with the highest daily laundering cap ($12,000 per day as of v0.4.7, up from $8,000).
• Hyland Medical — added as a purchasable laundering business in v0.4.7 (the patch notes give it a new interior; we have not verified its price or cap, so check them in-game).
• Owning all of them maximises your total daily laundering capacity — each has its own separate cap, so buying more directly raises how much dirty cash you can convert per day.

As your income grows, buy more businesses so your laundering capacity keeps pace — otherwise dirty cash piles up faster than you can convert it.

04Which to Buy First & Strategy

A sensible laundering progression:

• Start with the Laundromat — it is cheap and gets your cash flowing into spendable balance quickly.
• Buy a property to grow in first if you have to choose, then the Laundromat, so you have both production and conversion.
• Add Post Office, Car Wash, and Taco Ticklers as your income rises and you need more daily capacity.
• Keep laundering capacity ahead of income — a backlog of un-launderable dirty cash is wasted potential.
• Launder daily rather than letting cash sit, since each business resets its cap each day.