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6. Laundry Room Management. Planning the Laundry Linen Poundage Determination Laundry Operation Laundry Operating Costs Staffing the Laundry Room. Planning the Laundry.
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6 Laundry Room Management • Planning the Laundry • Linen Poundage Determination • Laundry Operation • Laundry Operating Costs • Staffing the Laundry Room
Planning the Laundry • Laundry Room Design: The first step iconsists of building a facility with enough capacity to process the maximum amount of linen a property can generate per day. • Layout: Should provide adequate work-flow pattern to avoid worker cross-traffic. • Washers/Extractors: Should have high spinning power (G-Force). The use of ozone allows for shorter wash cycles and can result in energy and water savings.
Planning the Laundry (Cont.) • Dryers: In general, twice as many dryers as washers are needed. To save energy, a battery of dryers should be enclosed on the top and sides. • Dryer lint must be removed oftenfrom the ventilation system as it can be a major fire hazard. • Mangles: Ironing rollers are often used for napkins and table cloths. State-of-the-art flatwork finishers are preferred to mangles because they can dry, iron, and fold linen automatically.
Linen Poundage Determination • The linen poundage of a property is the weight of one par of linen (at 100 percent occupancy). • The linen poundage determines the capacity of washers needed to process one par of linen in 8 hours work (one worker shift). • The linen poundage is calculated by multiplying one par of linen by the respective weight of one piece of bed and bath linens used in the property.
Laundry Operation • The linen laundering cycle includes the following steps: • Sorting of the linen • Pretreatment of stains • Loading the washers, washing, and extracting • Drying • Ironing • Folding • Storing
Laundry Operation (Cont.) • Water: Good water quality is necessary for washing linen effectively. Hard water prevents detergents from releasing their sudsy action to remove soils. • If water is too hard, the installation of a water softener may be necessary.
Laundry Operation (Cont.) • Chemicals commonly used in laundry operations are: • Alkalis • Antichlors • Bleach • Breaks • Softeners • Sours
Best Results • Appearance: The linen must be snow white (for white items) and free of wrinkles and spots. • Odor: Must be fresh and clean. • Feel: Should be smooth and velvety, not coarse.
Laundry Operating Costs • Cost percentages for a typical laundry operation nationwide can be averaged as follows: • Labor 45% • Linen Replacement 20% • Energy 15% • Laundry Chemicals 10% • Other 10%
Staffing the Laundry Room • An ideal scenario is to have enough equipment and personnel to process the property’s poundage in eight hours, to avoid overtime. • In large establishments, laundry operations are coordinated by a laundry manager who reports directly to the executive housekeeper.