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| The Textile Web |
Textile Web Articiles - Last Updated
April 11, 2002
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6:
Laundry Handling Procedures Are Important For Good Results
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January 2001
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| Things other than the detergents used in the laundry
affect the quality of linen appearance in a hotel or nursing home.
Handling procedures can impact the quality of finished linen, and
there are at least 6 handling procedures that can impact the overall
way a product looks and feels to the end user. |
| Sorting: Linens should be sorted by color,
fabric type and soil level. When sorted properly, they can be washed
on the proper formulas. Pre-sorting linens also reduces operational
handling in the laundry room. Washing colors together on correct
formulas prevents dye bleeding. Fabric types washed together means
they will be dried together resulting in less lint, wrinkles and
greater time savings. By sorting out the more heavily soiled linens,
proper chemistry can be applied to only those linens requiring a
stronger wash |
| Pretreatment: Whenever possible during
the sorting process, pretreat linens that are stained using a good
spotter program. This procedure can save linens from damaging reclaim
formulas and potentially being discarded due to having the stains
set into the fibers because they were not removed in the wash. |
Loading:
Loading the washer properly is very important to getting the desired
result. Overloading reduces mechanical action, causes poor chemical
contact and results in poor rinsing. Underloading a washer increases
chemical cost, water, and energy and is a poor utilization of labor. |
Washing:
Proper formulas and detergents on sorted linens reduces the amount
of rewash and helps maintain an effective laundry. |
Drying:
Dry all linens according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
Sorted linens dry consistently throughout the load. Remember not
to over dry. Over drying linens can cause fabric damage, excess
lint and static electricity. |
Storage:
After drying and folding, linens should be stored in an area that
is clean and dry. Keep all clean linens separated from soiled linen
to prevent contamination. |
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Rich Fitzmorris is Vice President
for the Laundry Division of Sunburst Chemicals. He has been with Sunburst
for more than 25 years and can be contacted directly via email at
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| 7: In Search Of Linen
Whiteness |
February 2000
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With a New Year comes the chance for everyone to make a New
Year’s resolution. So I thought I might discuss the most
prevalent problem we see in laundering – keeping our linens
looking white. Some of the reasons mentioned below have made this
a much more prevalent and serious problem than it should be. Laundries,
chemical technicians and chemical companies are under more pressure
than ever in these times of “hurry up and get the job done.”
What suffers is the quality that the end-user desires and expects
– clean, bright, white linen!
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| I think one of the biggest reasons for the lack of
whiteness is that essential washing processes are being cut short.
Good suppliers and technicians know the “drill” –
time, temperature, chemicals and mechanical action. But the companies
who are paying for the job to be done don’t know anything about
laundering. They know how much they are willing to spend for laundry
service and then quite often give the business to the lowest bidder
-- and the linens end up paying the price. |
| When linen whiteness deteriorates to gray, it is generally
the result of poor washing. Whether it is hospitality, healthcare,
industrial or commercial laundering, pressure is applied to turn
the finished product around and put it back into service quickly,
whether it be for profit or for the service use of the linen. All
have good intentions, but in the end they are likely to be the first
to complain that the linen has lost its whiteness! |
| Causes are the same today as they were 20 years ago,
regardless of the new linen products, chemicals or systems available
on the market today ( the soil doesn’t care!). |
The bottom line is that it takes a certain
amount of time, temperature, chemistry and mechanical action to
remove soil. We very well may be making better linen and chemical
products, but there still needs to be a balance in order to achieve
superior looking white linens. If companies want to use less heat,
something else needs to make up for that loss. If less time is used,
something else has to be increased. Herein lies the problem –
people are unwilling to give in to higher costs in the cleaning
process. The result is redeposition of the white linens. If linen
graying is something you have to deal with, examine your wash process
starting with this list:
Low water temperatures
Short wash cycles
Inadequate chemistry
Poor water conditioning
Overloaded equipment |
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