WATCH Laundry Process

We work every day to perfect the laundry experience for our customers, from on premise laundry systems in health care settings, to hotel laundries and large format laundromat customers. Although the needs for these industries differ, all of our customers have the same goal – clean linen! They want to have an effective laundry wash every time that removes soiling without causing damage to fabrics and materials, and it all needs to be done with a simple process.

Washing is one of those tasks where users now rely heavily on technology to perform the job, many people think ‘toss the items in the wash along with some cleaning products and ‘Bob’s your uncle!’. Technology plays an important role, but there are a quite a few more elements that need to be taken into consideration to get that perfect wash every time.

The single most important element used in cleaning. More substances are soluble in water than any other solvent, which makes it an effective cleaning agent for a range of soils. Water quality varies across different locations, and water pH level can be manipulated (softened) with specific chemicals to prepare fabric and accelerate the wash process.

This is the aggression of wash, also known as the ‘Mechanical Action’. Washing machines should be loaded at their correct capacity to give optimum results, allowing items to tumble freely through the water. If you picture a clock face, the linen fall should be between 11 and 4 on the clockwise rotation and 2 to 8 on the anticlockwise rotation. This allows the linen to “rub” together and free the soils, similar to the washboards used in the past. If too much linen is loaded into a machine the agitation action will not work well. Likewise, if items being washed are delicate, the correct setting must be used to ensure the agitation action is not too aggressive that it damages the fabric.

Adequate contact time for cleaning product is key to getting good results. Choose a suitable program for the load, especially if disinfection is required. The AS/NZS4146:2000 laundry practice standard requires 65°C for 10 minutes of continuous washing for specific items to be thoroughly disinfected. Did you know there is a difference between Disinfection and Sanitation? …. Ask your account manager if they know the difference. If linen is laundered for too long, a process called “re-deposition of soiling” occurs, meaning the soil is deposited back on to the linen after washing for periods of 15mins. Its far more effective to launder twice for 8 minutes rather than one long bath.

Each specific chemical delivered into the cycle at the correct time is important to assist with the opening of the fibres, lifting and removing soil from linen, and discolouring any stains. As a matter of interest, did you know that “soiling” is what is removed from a wash, and “staining” is what is left behind and requires further treatment? The Dominant Micro Active system combines a range of specific chemicals and when used at correct times throughout the wash cycle, deliver the most effective wash results.

This includes an alkaline builder (to open the fibres), suspension agent (detergent) where the soiling is captured and held in the “bubbles”, oxygen bleach or chlorine bleach, (whitens and brightens) and a pH balancer (softener and sour), and where temperature is unable to be verified, an antimicrobial laundry liquid can be used, ensuring all cleaning requirements are addressed in one automated dispensing system. This system ensures the dosage is correct resulting in a longer fabric life for items and great economy as overdosing cannot occur.

Required for thermal disinfection (to comply with AS/NZS4146:2000 laundry practice standards) and is also used for grease removal. However, water temperature must be appropriately timed to prevent thermal shock to fibres which can result in damaged items. Additionally, too much heat in a bleaching cycle can decrease the efficacy of chlorine causing less effective stain removal.

All of the elements in WATCH work together to ensure an effective wash cycle and will change depending on the type of fabric being washed. To ensure our customers receive great results every wash our laundry systems are installed by our technicians and continuously monitored by Dominant account managers.