Laundry cleaning in Residential Care Homes (RCH) is a complex process due to the variety of items that need to be managed: bed sheets and towels, kitchen linen, guests clothing, staff uniforms, and, additionally, curtains, duvets, pillows, etc. On one hand, there is the management complexity, but on the other, there are specific washing requirements that need to be respected. The washing, drying, and ironing of laundry must be carried out properly. Hygiene and fabrics care are the main guidelines. Timely delivery is also an important aspect. The process of washing, ironing, and delivery requires a higher level of customization for the customers and becomes a key factor for the management. The challenge is not only the type of soling but also the risk of bacterial contamination, given the origin of the laundry to be treated. The washing program, the right detergents, appropriate drying, and ironing must all be carefully coordinated and organized. Which products and machines are you offering for these specific needs?
“Italy is a country that is aging more and more, and the growth of the Residential Care Homes (RCH) sector, designed to accommodate people who are not able to take care of themselves and with specific care needs for a temporary or indefinite period of time, is a direct consequence of this,” emphasized Carlo Miotto, the CEO of IMESA S.p.A. “Weekly, our sales team meets with distributors and their end customers to discuss the design of an in-house laundry for new or renovated hospitality structures. The current trend is to manage laundry operations internally, with the goal of reducing and controlling service costs while ensuring a high level of quality for the guests.” How is Imesa supporting its customers in this sense? “First of all, we are offering a thorough preliminary consultancy service that includes a study of the space dedicated to the laundry area by analysing the real needs. The results of this analysis help to provide a detailed design of the washing, drying, ironing, storage, and sorting areas. This includes not only the machines, but also installations, connections, and complementary equipment. The project is translated into a layout that we realise in-house, an additional service that IMESA offers to all its customers. The centrepiece of a RCH facility in-house laundry is undoubtedly the washing process, that must be carried out with maximum safety and guaranteed results. Sanitizing, disinfecting, eliminating the risk of infection, removing stains and odours: all of this is achieved through washing cycles specifically designed by IMESA.
The product that best meets the needs of a RCH facility is the IMESA D2W series of aseptic barrier washing machines, designed with two doors placed on opposite sides, that enable the handling of infected and sterile laundry in two separate environments. Like the entire range of IMESA washing machines, the D2W line is equipped with the IM11 digital control unit, a technological solution that simplifies facility management – from the washing process to monitoring the machines’ operations and scheduling maintenance interventions. This ensures timely and effective resolution of any complex situation. The range is available in loading capacities 18-23-30-55 kg responding to the needs of medium and large facilities”.
Moving on to professional detergents, we meet Ruggero Sammarco, Operations Director Laundry of CHRISTEYNS ITALIA S.p.A., who points out that “the Italian population is ageing (and not only the Italian one) while the birth rate remains low. A true weak spot for Western societies. What does this mean for our sector? Laundry services for RCHs will have an increasingly dominant part within industrial laundries. Residential Care Homes are growing significantly, and this will result in a surplus of labour. Laundries need to specialize in handling guest clothing, as it is not the same as washing flat linens. This process involves higher energy consumption, costs, and requires a specific know-how that laundries often do not have. The company providing detergents plays a strategic role because treating guests garments means dealing with items from the person’s intimate sphere. First and foremost, the garment must be sanitized, as it is worn by individuals potentially at risk due to elevated exposure to pathogens. It is essential to set up washing cycles using molecules and products that ensure extremely high sanitization efficiency. In wet cleaning, high temperatures, strong mechanical agitation, and extended processing times are not being used, precisely because the fibres involved (such as wool, acetate, viscose, and silk) would suffer damages.
So, in these cases, the molecules are being preferred for sanitization which are associated with peroxyacids (peracetic or even peroxyoctanoic acids) in a neutral environment and at a low temperature with short contact times. In addition, cycles and detergents that do not damage the fibres’ properties are being required. In this regard, Christeyns has developed a range specifically designed for this kind of fibres and has created a rather complex detergent: lanolin combined with a neutral surfactant that is sufficiently emulsifying but still gentle on the fibre, and serine, which protects silk but at the same time should not reduce the cleaning action of the detergent. It is necessary to respect the washing pH of the fibers, as wool has an isoelectric point of stability that is around 5, while silk has it around 6. Wet cleaning must be conceived as a process system that takes into account all these characteristics. The expertise of the operator is an essential factor. Garments cleaning is more challenging compared to flat linen, so it is necessary to perform different washing processes. In Residential Care Homes we often deal with water that is not properly treated. Washing in hard water (containing hardness metals or even oxidation metals, such as iron and manganese) requires the use of a detergent with the right levels of sequestration. For the nursing homes, the most suitable detergents are those with a level of complexity similar to the ones used for workwear. From a chemical standpoint, the RCH sector will continue to receive increasing attention, developments, and investment in research. And for work uniforms? They undergo maintenance that is not as complex as in the industrial sector, although extreme caution is always required, especially when it comes to work uniforms. On the other hand, dining room uniforms do not present significant challenges.”
On the traceability front, we interview Maurizio Casol, Director of Automation Division at ZUCCHETTI CENTRO SISTEMI. “Handling laundry in a Residential Care Home (RCH) is objectively a complex issue, both due to the variety and number of items to be managed (guest clothing as well as specific flat linen and staff uniforms), and because of the quality required in the washing and sanitization process and the necessity for absolute traceability, starting with the personal items of the guests. The ZCS Automation Division offers a combination of specific management software (Trak) and a set of smart machines and equipment suitable for detecting and tracking items at every stage of their treatment process, thus optimizing efficiency, functionality, and sustainability in the supply chain, understood also as a reduction in the use of natural resources while containing the circulation of textile materials.
The main functions of the RCH management system, focusing on the main issue of the correct traceability of guest items, are:
• Guest and item data management;
• Creation of a new guest profile, tagging with RFID microchip, and discreetly matching each personal item with the corresponding guest’s clothing;
• Retrieving guest history via microchip reading or through portal management;
• Managing the assembly of clean laundry packages by guest or by higher-level filters (department, facility, etc.);
• Storing and tracking every operation related to each tagged item (at the RCH, in the laundry, or during the logistics processes);
• Generating statistics per guests, department, facility, and through various possible filters; • Creating flow statistics for items and guests in a specific time frame and within a specific part of the usage and treatment process (RCH and laundry);
• Managing different levels of access and intervention based on operator tasks. In conclusion, the logic of the traceability system for RCH can be considered part of the general software traceability in the healthcare and assistance sectors.
In nursing homes, the focus is primarily on treating the residents’ clothing, while when it comes to flat linen, in most cases there is no need for ironing because the sheets that need ironing are gradually disappearing, both due to cost considerations and a shortage of dedicated staff,” says Vittorio Maglione, the Country Manager Italy for ALLIANCE LAUNDRY SYSTEMS. “RCHs typically use two types of laundry services: one that handles only the residents’ clothing, often internally, and another that handles flat linen, which is very often outsourced. For residents’ clothing, as Alliance, we use a softwash system that is suitable for all delicate washes (wool, silk, etc.). On the other hand, for bed linen, if the client chooses to handle it internally, we are proposing washing machines that eliminate the need for ironing sheets and flat linen. We are offering a machine and linen package to facilitate the customer’s needs, by covering five years of supply, that is exactly the time needed for the amortization of the machines. A turnkey solution for at least five years. In addition to standard front-loading machines, there is the option of aseptic or barrier washing machines, which separate the dirty area from the clean one to avoid contamination. Regarding these machines, there is a European regulation (RABC), which is not enforced in many countries (including Italy), that requires special machines and specific washing processes in hospitals, nursing homes, pharmaceutical industries, prisons, etc. In many cases, even where it’s not mandatory, clients still decide to acquire these machines as they provide an added value, such as for accreditation with public entities (e.g., for public tenders). Furthermore, as Alliance, we use ozone washing, which enables us to wash in cold water, reducing energy consumption by 80%, recovering at least 40% of the wash water, and shortening the cycle time by 30%,” concludes Vittorio Maglione.
“In the recent years, detergency has significantly simplified the types of washing. Today, we have the know-how that allows us to wash well any fabric and any garment, whether it is guest clothing, as well as mattresses, cushions, mattress protectors, and blankets,” says Venere Mattioli, the Commercial Director of MONTEGA. “The multitude of laundries we collaborate with has allowed us to build a background that allows us, in addition to acting carefully on the fabric to be washed, to significantly simplify the cleaning treatments. Since 2017, Montega has developed a line of natural detergents, both in powder and liquid forms, with detergents based on non-invasive enzymes for both purification systems and the environment. We use biodegradable detergents and degreasers. The washing temperatures have been significantly reduced, and water is massively recovered. The COVID period was a turning point, raising awareness of the importance of product sanitization, especially in residential care facilities. We should also consider that flat linen is ironed with flatwork ironers at 180°, providing an additional support for sanitization. Today, washing machines, detergents, and ironing machines allow for a clean product close to perfection. As Montega, in 2022 we have launched on the market a detergent called Lumiere, aimed at containing surfactants and significantly reducing them within purification systems. This product has two enzymatic strains that guarantee quality and versatility in washing. Depending on the linen that we need to treat, we use a single product with different dosages, which simplifies the laundry operations. We use auxiliary products such as degreasers, for removing various stains that are based on surfactants as well as solvents, allowing targeted action on all non-proteinbased stains. We have always used hypoallergenic essences that withstand high temperatures while respecting the fabrics. Specifically, as Montega, we recommend products like Ox Active Plus and Ox Active Extra for the treatment of laundry in nursing homes”.
“As Renzacci, we are committed in the study, research, design, and manufacturing of all the machinery lines used in RCHs, including the washing machines, tumble dryers and flatwork ironers, as well as dry-cleaning machines for cleaning the residents’ linen. We focus in particular on bio dry-cleaning (hypoallergenic, eco-sustainable, and biocompatible cleaning) that does not use chlorinated solvents,” says Marco Niccolini, the General Sales and Mkt Director of RENZACCI S.p.A. “We position ourselves on this market segment with highly advanced machinery lines that we are able to showcase and demonstrate at TEXCARE, from washing machines to aseptic barrier washing machines (available in many versions of 25, 36, and 70 kg loading capacity) that allow to collect the clean laundry in a sterile area. Even in the non-sterile areas of the hospitals, we are present with our range of washing machines with capacities from 8 to 120 kg, equipped with ultra-precise dosing pumps that allow us to meet all the needs of nursing homes. The IGenius ozone disinfectant cabin designed and manufactured specifically for RCHs is also widely used, especially for its bactericidal and virucidal action. Our machines feature new technologies characterized by specific programs with certain water temperature levels and using dedicated detergents specifically studied and customized for the nursing homes, as standard programs are not suitable in this case. We have developed specific washing programs with techniques that allow a higher extraction of the impurities, enabling to reduce the bacterial load of the washed items. This applies both to flat linen and to the machines designed for the treatment of the MOPS – the washing of microfiber cloths used for cleaning the RCHs, where the bacterial load of the MOPS used to clean all surfaces is being constantly monitored”.
“Washing garments for Residential Care Homes (RCH) requires a careful attention, that goes beyond simple cleaning. ÈCOSÌ, a company specializing in the production of detergents and the development of washing processes, has the main goal of maintaining high standards of hygiene and quality standards required by RCHs, while ensuring maximum care for the residents’ clothing,” says Antonio Ciccarella, the Laundry Division Manager of ÈCOSÌ. “We are one of the few companies in Italy that produces a disinfectant, a medical-surgical device (PMC): Aquoxil. Aquoxil is a disinfectant based on peracetic acid (PAA), an active substance with powerful biocidal properties, which we produce as we are registered on the Article 95 list of the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). With Aquoxil, ÈCOSÌ fully meets the hygiene standards essential for RCHs, considering the vulnerability of their residents. The washing processes also include the neutralisation of the pH of the detergents, adjusted to be compatible with the physiological pH of the skin (5.5), reducing the risk of irritation, especially for bedridden residents who come in contact for many hours with bed linen. Furthermore, ÈCOSÌ pays great attention to the deep emotional value that many elderly people have for their personal garments, as they represent an important connection to their home and former life. For this reason, the detergents and washing processes are designed to offer exceptional protection to personal garments, preserving them in the best possible condition and ensuring their long-term integrity. We know how crucial it is for guests to be able to continue wearing their own clothes without fearing that they will be damaged during washing. ÈCOSÌ offers effective and safe solutions also for cleaning the staff uniforms, ensuring complete disinfection that covers everything: from flat linen to personal garments, and up to the uniforms of the healthcare workers. This guarantees a healthy and safe environment for everyone living and working in the RCHs,” concludes Ciccarella. •
by Marzio Nava
DETERGO Magazine # November 2024
