27 Apr Research into the resistance of linens in industrial washing
Hotel and restaurant linens must have a particular feature that distinguishes them from others: the resistance to the industrial washing cycles they undergo. The harsh conditions of this process make it necessary for the companies to manufacture products with high-quality standards, which are subject to many tests, supporting, this way, research. To prove this, a certificate that guarantees the resistance of the fabric is required, since it should preserve its qualities over time.
Based on the standard UNE-EN ISO 15797:2004 and essential to work on this area, this certificate was obtained by Resuinsa in 2014. To get it, fabrics must be resistant to some products used, like detergents without optical brighteners and hydrogen peroxide as a bleaching agent. The products undergo 75°C washing programs as well as different drying and ironing processes.
If linens pass this rigorous test, they obtain an official certificate that guarantees some quality criteria such as the tensile strength, the fabric weight, the absorption capacity and the degree of polymerisation (DP). In this way, Resuinsa was and still is the first company in the world to obtain such certification, issued by an independent technology institute, so it anticipated the needs of its sector and set itself at the forefront of investment in R&D&I.
Fireproof products and industrial laundering
Fibres can be natural or synthetic, the latter being open to be fireproofed at the place at source, before the fabric is produced, therefore it fulfills its function of being permanent fireproof. However, natural fibres cannot be fireproofed at source like synthetic fibres and only a fireproof finish can be given to the fabric. For this reason, nowadays there is no 100% fireproof cotton sheet available in the market except for the ones with fireproof finish, which lasts for a limited time only and vanishes after 10 industrial washing cycles.
On the other hand, the customer has to carry out an exhaustive control at their procedures, to discard these bedding items when they don’t serve their purpose anymore. The customer must also take into account an important question: if the other elements of a bed, such as the bedspread or the pillow, are not fireproof, it is useless to have sheets with this feature. All of the products in a bed must have this feature and, moreover, they should be kept after some washes until they lose it.
As for Resuinsa, it has been offering fireproof products for many years, including sheets, pillows, mattress protectors, bedspreads and blankets. Its investment in R&D&I is one of its hallmarks and it is pioneer in this type of products, manufactured with fireproof fibres because, otherwise, they wouldn’t be resistant to industrial laundering. In fact, nowadays, this subject is being researched in order to be able to modify natural fibres molecularly so that they are originally fireproof, as is done with synthetic fibres.
Ultimately, it is essential to bank on a company that invests in actual R&D&I and, as in the case of Resuinsa, has got the seal of Innovative SME, a certificate the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grants to the companies that really develop innovation projects as a key element to the economic growth of the country. One of the most important innovations in this area with which Resuinsa has provided the sector has been the resistance of linens to industrial laundering.
