| Cost
per pound for chemicals |
|
Does anyone have any information on average cost per pound for
chemicals in linen processing?
-Lee Eisenhauer Terra Chem, Inc.
|
| Answer
1: That's a tough one. The average can range from 1/2
cent a pound to over 2 or 3 cents a pound. It depends on the classification
type of fabric, soil, machine and water, and the temperature of
the water. All of these other factors impact the overall operating
cost. Another aspect to take into account is how long you wash.
For example, if you're using a tunnel with a short cycle or a
batch that has a suds cycle for about twenty minutes.
The standard way that you look at laundering is the effect of
time, temperature, mechanical action and chemical action. You
have to balance all of those factors and each one has a certain
cost associated with it. Time affects labor and productivity rates,
temperature gives you energy costs, mechanical action is how you
load the machine, whether you under or over load it, and then
chemical action is the amount of chemicals or different kinds
of chemicals you use.
You also have to take into consideration that lower soil content
uses less chemicals. If you're laundering mechanic's uniforms
with high levels of grease and oil, you would require much more
detergent.
Steve Tinker Director of Corporate Technology ECOLAB
|
Answer
2: It's very difficult to establish an average because
of theindustry classes: hospitality, linen supply, hospital and
industriallaundry. For hospitality, an average cost is around 78
cents per hundred pounds of linen processed. Nursing homes might
average in the mid-80's per hundred pounds processed and linen supply
is about $1.20 per hundred pounds processed.
The difference in cost is relative to the degree of soiling. In
a hotel,
only sheets, towels and pillowcases may be washed. In a nursing
home or in health care, there is linen that heavily soiled with
blood.
Linen supply washes butcher smocks, bar towels and bib aprons. So,
the cost of cleaning goods depends on the soil mix.
Another difficulty with giving averages across-the-board hotels
or
linen supply operations is that one hotel may have a large banquet
facility and have huge percentages of heavily soiled material versus
a hotel with no on-site facility. In linen supply, chef and cook
coats, butcher smocks, and bar towels can be extremely soiled. General
costs are difficult to calculate because it depends on the percentage
of items the facility washes. For example, bar towels can get filthy;
the cost of processing them could be 30 percent of the total washroom
chemical cost. An operation that uses a high volume of bar towels
will have considerably higher chemical costs. The other consideration
is the price of chemicals. Prices in some parts of the country could
be higher than others because of distribution costs.
Doug Story Director of Technical Development UNX Inc. |
Answer
3: What it comes down to is -- is it sheets, pillowcases,
towels or lab coats? They're all different. For example sheets and
pillowcases get body soil, perspiration and hair oils. Sheets are
usually light soil, pillowcases are harder to wash because of hair
oil and sweat. Towels are usually light soil. Then you have coats,
lab coats, that get totally different stains. Different soils need
different conditions. So it all depends on the laundry.
Fixed cost accounts with light soil could run as low as .60 cents
per hundred pounds up to 80 cents. For heavy soil I would run between
one and two dollars, depending on what you're washing and what you
have to do to it to reclaim it.
Hotel/motel stuff, could be a quick wash with detergent, alkali,
and bleach. For table linen you'd use detergent, alkali, bleach,
anti-clor, sour and mildew side. One of the major problems in linen
plants in the summer is mildew so you have to treat linen - especially
table linen - with an anti-mildew product. That runs up the cost
a bit.
Frank Kappler Chemist Gurtler Chemicals, Inc. |
|
 |
| Chemical
solution to use in treating cotton fabric |
|
I am looking for a chemical solution to use in treating cotton
fabric to prevent excessive fading after repeated washing. Do
you know of such a chemical that is available?
- Karen W. Bouton Graceville Elementary School
|
Answer 1:
There is no such chemical. Table linen are a perfect example. In
a linen plant you see multi-colors in their inventory stacks because
the dye on linen comes out from heat and alkali. But that's what
you need to get them clean.
I once called the colleges that have textile programs and I asked
them why manufacturers do not put wash-fast dyes on fabrics - specifically
table linen - so they don't have to be re-dyed. They told me that
the dyes being used are less costly dyes.
Frank Kappler Chemist Gurtler Chemicals, Inc. |
Answer 2: There
is some research on additives that are called dye fixatives but
it's a fairly new area and I'm not aware of any commercial detergents
that are using that technology. I understand that there are some
home-style detergents that are using that type of technology, however,
you're now talking about much gentler washing procedures at colder
temperatures and so forth.
That area hasn't yet been fully explored in the commercial laundering
environment yet, where you have a harsher chemical environment and
much higher temperatures.
The biggest issue with dyes are how they can be affected by temperature
and bleaches, so the best solution is to make sure that you wash
those colored items at low temperatures and not use bleaches.
You should review with your textile supplier the dye stability under
normal commercial washing procedures and sometimes you can contact
your chemical supplier too to evaluate dye stability.
Steve Tinker Director of Corporate Technology ECOLAB |
| Answer
3: Often, it is not the chemical that you use to protect
the fading of the colors as much as it is the procedures in the
operation. Procedural techniques can also protect fabric colors.
For example, one does not want to use extremely high temperatures
on colored goods. Also, an operation can incorporate enzyme technology
that operates at low temperatures producing high quality garments
compared to those running at 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
Utilizing lower temperatures in the wash zone, staying away from
concentrated bleaches, using color safe bleach, (i.e. Oxygen bleach),
and using new technologies such as enzymes will help prevent bleeding
and color loss.
Doug Story Director of Technical Development UNX Inc.
|
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