Businesses across Ireland partner with Reliance when selecting their laundry equipment, but requirements and specifications can vary significantly depending on the industry sector. This guide briefly outlines the different type of machines that are best suited to different businesses to help make an informed choice.
Care homes
Care homes often face a delicate balancing act between maintaining optimal hygiene standards, maintaining strict infection control measures and laundering items as quickly and cost-effectively as possible given the financial and resource constraints in the sector.
With hygiene and disinfection being critical for the safety of residents and to meet regulations, reliable machines with thermal disinfection cycles are essential for this sector. The laundry room should be planned and designed to reduce cross-contamination with a clear separation between ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ zone, appropriate staff training and protocols for soiled items.
Hotels
Hotels often prioritise efficient and reliable machines for their operations, but the type of equipment varies significantly. A large chain hotel in Dublin would have different needs to a small B&B on the west coast so the following factors should be considered.
• Set-up: Hotels with fully in-house laundry rooms have different requirements to those with partially outsourced operations.
• Size: The size of the hotel will determine the nature of the laundry room with bigger premiss utilising industrial machines and small B&B’s potentially using one of each appliance.
• Type of hotel, for example business-focused hotels with a high turnover of guests or hotels providing a concierge service.
Launderettes
Coin-operated washing machines and tumble dryers remain the most popular solution for launderettes and commercial laundry rooms. These machines are designed to help you maximise revenue, but should also be reliable, built-to-last and energy efficient to ensure your launderette runs smoothly and costs and kept under control.
Average-sized launderettes feature six to eight washers and dryers, but the overall size of the shop and customer demand means this figure can vary significantly. Sometimes machines with different capacities are available so that customers can process the widest range of items possible. Reliance Laundry work with launderettes to help them plan their launderette and provide expert guidance so they can make the best decision for their business.
Hospitals and healthcare
Hospital and healthcare laundry equipment prioritise maximising hygiene and infection control measures.
Laundry rooms are designed to segregate clean and dirty zones to minimise the risk of cross contamination. Barrier washers are commonly used, which have dual doors to allow the operator to load dirty laundry on one side and unload clean garments on the other side.
The laundry room must be designed to meet stringent requirements on cross-contamination, disinfection and hygiene, with staff training, access restrictions, and written procedures being essential.
Commercial and industrial laundries
Industrial laundries are large scale laundry companies who take care of outsourced laundry for clients across numerous industries.
Due to the large size of the laundry rooms, high capacity, efficient and reliable equipment that is capable of operating around the clock is essential. They usually purchase multiple larger commercial washing machines, tumble dryers and ironers which are robust and where consistent engineer support is available.
Trust Reliance
The team at Reliance Laundry can help you plan your laundry room regardless of your industry sector. Contact us today for advice from one of our experts.