Commercial Laundry Systems
There is nothing quite like the fresh aroma and warm, lavish touch of freshly laundered bath towels or bed linens. Yet many a heritage hotel guest, familiar with the results of using the basement washer/dryer back home, has wondered how that sense of luxury is achieved. The answer is a premium professional commercial laundry system that offers day-in day-out speed, capacity and specialized programs that can handle dirty uniforms from industrial plants or vet hospitals to six-hundred-thread sheets at fine hotels and luxury yachts—all without damage to fabrics.

Among the many requirements of commercial washing systems are reliability, high throughput, ruggedness and efficiency. Another requirement is flexibility so that a single programmable machine can clean sheets and horse blankets—albeit separately. A high-performance laundry system achieves these requirements through various water volume and temperature management controls mentioned above.

New drum design

Another approach is a re-design of the laundry drum. One manufacturer has developed a convex-pattern honeycomb drum for laundry washers and dryers that enhances cleaning and reduces fabric wear. The size of the drum’s water exit holes is smaller and a network of water channels create a skim water layer that cushions clothes while the drum rotates. The honeycomb design allows virtually no penetration of fabric through the drum. (In traditional washing drums, the fabric penetrates the water exit holes, which leads to pilling and shortened lifespan.) An independent study, conducted by WfK Applied Laundry Research Institute in Krefeld, Germany, showed that garments washed in the honeycomb drum were cleaner and lasted up to four times longer than garments washed in a traditional drum.

Other performance features of commercial laundry systems may include:

Soft mount. Utilization of soft mount technology where drums are suspended rather than stationary as found in most traditional commercial machines, extends the life of the machine. Soft mounted machines can easily be installed compared with hard mount machines, which require bolting to a reinforced concrete pad. Soft mounting also dramatically reduces vibration and allows manufacturers to achieve higher spin G forces

Program controller. A significant feature of laundry systems that can accomplish various demands is a thoroughly tested controller that can program the machine for different needs such as 600+ Thread Count Sheets or Down Comforters & Pillows. Some models have a customizable, updatable smart card controller, which could contain multiple programs designed for different laundry needs.

Reduced moisture extraction time. This can be accomplished by high G-force moisture extraction.

Moisture sensors. Residual moisture sensors in dryers govern the amount of retained moisture depending on the program selected; when ironing linens, for example, sensors can stop the drying process at 25 percent moisture to reduce wrinkles, ease finishing and increase work flow.

Overheating safeguards. Moisture sensor technology detects dryer overheating. Most commercial dryers depend on an external fire suppression system.

Protection of fabrics. Effective drum design can quadruple life of fabrics.

Imbalance sensor. A two-stage imbalance sensor can manage optimum laundry distribution during spinning.

Soft mounted, quiet with low vibration cleaning systems for equine facilities handle all sizes of horse equipment. Image courtesy of Miele Professional

Convex-pattern honeycomb drum enhances cleaning and reduces wear on fabrics. Image courtesy of Miele Professional

Farms, pet and vet medical centers

In some applications a laundry system must deliver more than clean. In veterinary medical centers, dairy farms and pet resort/boarding establishments, a washing system needs to deliver clean laundry that is also free of bacteria, so as to avoid cross-contamination. Professional equine medical and training establishments have particularly demanding laundry requirements because a horse has varied equipment such as blankets and saddle pads, which get heavily soiled. If these are not bacteria-free after washing, infections and cross contaminations could occur. Equally problematic is the scale of the items needing washing. Residential-sized washing machines are too small for horse blankets. Laundromat-size machines are not suited to properly clean and care for blankets and saddle pads, and laundromats often expressly prohibit the use of their machines for so rugged a task.

Typical premium commercial cleaning equipment is constructed by hand and individually tested before delivery. Image courtesy of Miele Professional

Premium laundry system controller contains programs designed for an array of laundry items. Smart cards are updatable and can be customized. Image courtesy of Miele Professional