Percentage of Rewash Acceptability

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Created on Friday, 02 June 2000 18:32

Written by Rich Fitzmorris

Rewash is linen that must be washed again prior to its use. There are generally two categories of rewash. The first is linen with unacceptable quality, other than stains. This linen is in good shapebut might be misfolded, wrinkled, have dust or lint on it, or for some other reason should not be used. The second type of rewash is linen that is stained due to usage.

To determine the percentage of each type of rewash, divide the pounds of rewash for a given period by the total clean pounds processed for the same time frame. The industry standard for rewash is 2 – 3 percent of total linen processed. If your percentage of rewash is higher than that, you should consider taking steps toidentify the case.

Rewash is costly by virtue of additional labor cost, linen replacement, utility cost and higher chemical cost.. The most likely cause of excessive rewash is poor wash formulas for the type of linen being processed. Time, temperature, chemicals and mechanical action are the basics for any wash formulation. Other potential causes of rewash are water quality and the condition of the washing and processing equipment. Regardless, the cost of high percentages of rewash can be damaging to the overall operation of any laundry, and steps should be taken to address the issue