Revitalising linen
Justin Kerslake, Operations Director at Christeyns UK, talks about getting laundries up and running again post COVID-19 inactivity.
When laundries begin gearing up towards more normal production levels, there will be initial cleaning and hygiene tasks required before both linens and machines are ready for operation.
For laundry operations large and small, these additional cleaning activities are essential to enhance the life of the linen and maintain high standards of operation.
Any soiled linen that has had to be left unprocessed is likely to have developed mildew which needs to be eradicated. A complete wash with a specialist mildew process is required to remove this and refresh the linen.
A process commencing at low temperature and utilising chlorine bleach with low levels of detergent, followed by a high temperature wash, usually works well and gives an acceptable compromise between linen recovery and potential fibre damage.
Where laundries are restarting their operations after a period of closure, there may also be a need to decontaminate machines where biofilms have formed. Specialist products like Lufragerm Plus, a Quat (quaternary ammonium compound) based product, are suitable for such activity.
Lufragerm Plus is applied in successive layers to exposed surfaces within areas such as the tanks, weir boxes and press where biofilm commonly forms. It helps to remove any build-up as well as forming a barrier against any subsequent film development.
As regards ensuring laundering processes are enhanced to achieve disinfection of textiles, Peracetic acid disinfectants are suitable for use in the main wash, in conjunction with higher wash temperatures to achieve thermal disinfection. Chemical suppliers can advise on the best combination of temperature and chemicals to optimise the process in either a CBW or washer extractor.
Christeyns UK is part of a global group that not only has laundry expertise but also specialists in hygiene across many industry sectors, producing a range of premium chemicals for many specific tasks.
Aside from linen and machines, in order to help keep employees as safe as possible whilst in the work environment, an initial deep clean of the complete laundry premises will be required, where all contact surfaces and touch points are disinfected. This should then be added to routine cleaning programmes.
34 | COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY
“Soaps containing an emollient are beneficial and prevent the drying of skin from repeated cleansing.”
Additional research is emerging on the efficacy of disinfectant products based on Quats, which can be combined with a suitable detergent for hard-surface and common contact point cleaning to provide a one-stage decontamination regime. Christeyns UK has both PAA- based hard surface sanitisers, Phagospore, and Quat-based Bacticlense; both products are in ready-to-use form.
On top of hard surface sanitation, the rigorous reinforcement of personal hygiene standards is of the upmost importance, in particular the regular and comprehensive washing of hands using warm water and a good quality soap. In a production context, soaps containing an emollient are beneficial and prevent drying of skin from repeated cleansing. Where hand washing facilities are not available, then the application of an alcohol-based hand disinfectant is recommended.
Information and search results pertaining to COVID-19 are continuing to evolve. Christeyns will closely monitor developments to ensure everything is being done to help protect and inform staff, partners and customers and will issue further guidance to its customers should the situation change, or new technologies become available.
Contact the Christeyns team if you need assistance with a solution to fit specific laundering or hygiene requirements.
www.christeyns.com
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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