Care and Maintenance of Fabrics in Institutions
Laundries in hospitals and hotels
Run linen care for an institution.
Hospitals, prisons and hotels need a constant flow of clean linen and uniforms, so they often have their own laundries. Collecting, laundering and delivering on time are essential.
| Hospital laundry | Hotel laundry | |
|---|---|---|
| Main stress | hygiene and disinfection | looks and finish |
| Fabrics | mostly cotton, in hospital and department colours with fast dyes; only blankets are woollen | many different fibres |
| Finishing | no starching or whitening | starching, ironing, pressing, perfect folding |
| Extra | disposables where infection threatens, then burned | guests' personal laundry |
Steps in a hospital laundry:
- collect linen from emergency, the OT (operation theatre), the OPD and the wards;
- transport it, unload and sort it (clean, mildly soiled, very soiled; patients' and doctors' clothes; blankets);
- wash in large machines, then hydro-extract most of the water;
- dry, then press, iron, fold and stack;
- mend, and remove condemned (worn-out) items;
- pack and distribute.
The volumes are huge. In the OT, maternity and labour rooms, sheets may be changed several times a day, and each bed needs several sets of linen. Receipts record the items from each department. Hospitals: clean and safe. Hotels: clean and perfect.
Hospitals: clean and safe. Hotels: clean and perfect.
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