What are the different types of laundry concepts for

Hospitals?

Laundry Concepts for Hospital

Different types laundry Concepts are associated with the hospital, a term that is not new to us, which is defined as a place where repairing and washing of clothes and linen are carried out. It is the sector that comes under housekeeping, where the clothes and linen are washed, dried, and pressed.

Different types of laundry concepts for hospitals are

1. Commercial / off-site / contractual laundry.

2. On-premises / on-site / in-house laundry.

Commercial / off-site / contractual laundry:

In this type of laundry concept, the cost or the rate of the linen repaired and washed are specified and the contract is made between the hospitals and the contractor. The time required to pick up and drop the linen is specified in advance, which may be approximately 48 to 72 hours.

This option is for the small size of the hospitals around 100 beds. The size of the hospital cannot afford to spend money on the expensive equipment required to set up in-house laundry.

Advantages:

1. When the laundry is out sourced there is a saving in the huge initial investment required.

2. Employing trained laundry employees is not required.

3. Saving in the trained and untrained employees is saved.

Disadvantages:

1. The initial capital investment cost is high.

2. Skilled and unskilled labor costs are incurred.

3. The cost of maintenance is high.

4. The utility cost is high.

Infrastructure:

1. Large doors were needed to have easy access to the trolleys and

for the equipment in the laundry room.

2. Ceiling height required up to 10 to 12 feet for the accommodation

of the equipment, and an additional height of 2 feet for ducting.

3. The surface of the flooring in the laundry room should be non-

Slippery walls should be moisture resistant and painted with oil

paint or washable paint to increase durability.

4. Work area of 4 Sq. feet to be maintained between each machine

installed for servicing of the machines.

Hospital Laundry Equipment:

Washer-Extractors, Tumble Dryers, Vacuum finishing table, Flat-work Ironer, Compressors, Steam Generators, and spotting table.

The locations of the washer-extractors, tumble dryers and flat-work ironers should be such that it should be installed near the drainage line, near the power supply, and near the steam supply or near boilers.

Washer-Extractor:

In old layouts of the laundry, you must have found the hydro extractors used after washers. This is because in the old technologies high speeds in the washers were not achieved, to extract the additional moisture from the linens.

But in modern technology the washer-extractors cum with a very high spin of the drum to extract maximum moisture content in the linens. The drum spins at around 900 to 1200 RPM with the extraction of more than 80% of the moisture from the linen, resulting in less load on the dryers or ironers to dry the linens.

Linens are directly fed to the flat-work ironer, by-passing the drying process. The clothes like OT aprons, gowns of the nurses, patients’ pajamas, and the other clothes are dried in the dryer after washing in the washer extractor.

Proper selection of the capacities of the washers is done on the basis of the linen to be washed per day. The washer comes in different models like electrically heated (To get the hot water), gas heated and steam heated. It is selected as per the availability of the fuel.

The required equipment capacity is divided into two, so that two washers with smaller capacities should be preferred, to avoid the production loss during the break down of any one of the washers.

The drum, which is a crucial part of the washer-extractor, is always manufactured with SS 304L to avoid rusting and to work for a longer life. The body of the washer-extractors can be galvanized steel, and mounting arrangements can be made up of mild steel. Mounting of washer-extractors can be soft mounted or hard-mounted depending upon the selection done. For more details, you can go through the other articles in the same blog if required.

Tumble Dryers:

Dryers also come in three models as per the heating medium: Steam heated, gas heated and electrically heated type. While selecting the dryers, the depth of the drying drum has to be deeper to give more exposure to the hot steam to dry the clothes. Hence less energy is required, which reduces the operational cost. The drum here is also made up of Stainless steel.

Dryers are installed near the washer-extractors, enabling the smooth handling of the clothes.

Ironing Equipment:

1. Vacuum Finishing Table:

Ironing the clothes (VFT) vacuum finishing table is used. It has smooth padding on the top, covered with a woven cover. This table is fitted with a vacuum generator and an inbuilt steam generator (Optional). The vacuum is required to hold the clothing in a place while ironing with the ironer, to avoid wrinkles and to achieve fast ironing.

The size of the vacuum finishing table is customized and can be designed as per the requirements.

2. Flat Work Ironer:

This is also called the Calendar machine. It comes in different sizes as per the length of the rollers. Like 2 meters, 2.5 meters, 3 meters, and 3.3 meters depending upon the requirements and the manufacturers. This ironer is used to iron flat linens like bed sheets, pillow covers, table cloths, sarees, etc. These items are passed through the heated rollers for ironing.

This equipment also comes in different models as per the heating process. Electrical, steam, or gas heated.

Laundry Process:

The laundry process is divided into pre-washing, actual washing, rinsing, moisture extraction, and finishing.

1. Pre-washing:

Collecting the lines from the different departments like general wards, special wards, ICU, and Operation theater.

Sorting linens and clothes as per the heavily soiled, medium soiled, and color-wise.

Then it is loaded in the washers to pre-wash in normal water.

2. Actual wash:

As per the type of linen, the laundry washing programs are selected. These wash programs are designed with the duration of the washing cycle required, the temperature required, and the quantity of dosing of the washing chemicals and detergents.

Flushing, removing suds, intermediate rinse, adding bleach, intermediate extraction, adding softener and starch are some of the laundry treatments used as per the requirement.

Rinsing is done using a mixture of hot and cold water, which (water) is recovered and recycled from the steps during the last rinsing stage.

More than 80% of the moisture is removed in the extraction process, preventing the setting of the creases and reducing the drying time and subsequently saving the energy in the dryers or ironers.

Finishing:

After the linens are washed and dried, they are taken on to the vacuum finishing table or flat-work ironer as discussed. After the linen is ironed they are stored in a place to carry out the delivery process.

Please comment in the comment box if any information is required regarding the laundry equipment. To get more exposure to how disinfected clothes/linens in laundry are done, you can refer to the other article in the same Blog.

hospital laundry services,

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