MATERIAL SOLUTIONS
Technical innovations that drive the industry on
The technical achievements which continue to drive our industry forward are making a big difference turnover and profitability, writes Richard Neale of LTC Worldwide
L
ast issue, (LCNi September/ October 2025) we gave a brief answer to our reader’s query on the R&D being done to move our industry forward. Now we address some of the other technical innovations now available to the laundering and textile rental industry and the significant potential benefits these are bringing to both turnover and profitability. We would also like to thank chemicals and machine manufacturers for drawing our attention to their significant contributions to this emerging technology.
Food industry workwear The increasing sensitivity of populations worldwide to allergens in foodstuffs (and the press coverage of anaphylactic reactions of sufferers) have resulted in serious requirements of launderers of food industry workwear. In a measured response to this, LTC Worldwide has pioneered a novel monitoring regime, enabling rental operators to offer justified assurance that their laundered garments carry minimal risk of any residual allergen contamination.
This starts with a comprehensive check on the elimination of some twenty ‘marker’ allergens from garments, including measurement of the power of the laundering process with respect to allergen removal. Simple regular checks in-house, using EMPA one-wash test swatches, enable confirmation that the required power is being maintained. Annual testing for the twenty ‘marker’ allergens then completes the regime, which has enabled each rental operator to give the justified assurance required. The research work has involved food industry manufacturers, launderers and LTC technicians working together, with some financial support from the UK government which is gratefully acknowledged.
Firefighters’ workwear It is not clear who first initiated studies of health outcomes of firefighters during their working lives and into retirement in the US and UK, but the astounding revelation that older firefighters exhibited 30% more cancers than the general population has rung alarm bells worldwide.
Detailed work by qualified university research teams has confirmed which cancers are most prevalent and exposure to gaseous, particulate, fibrous and liquid chemicals appears to be one likely cause. Addressing this has resulted in major changes to the construction of fire-wear and in the protocols for the wearing and decontamination of protective clothing and breathing apparatus. Instead of allowing garments to be worn several times before laundering (with the most contaminated ones becoming a ‘badge of pride’), fire crews must take them off immediately after exposure and place them in a container on the outside of the fire tender for decontamination before further use. This has become a major new market for both garment rental operators and contract launderers, with the requirement that the decontamination process offered must be designed to remove each type of potentially hazardous contaminant. Leading manufacturers of fire-wear have had to revisit their designs to ensure they offer resistance to penetration by each
SHOCK SELECTION: Selection of common foods capable of causing anaphylactic shock to sufferers 22
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