Thread Number: 42537
Hospital Laundry Primus Style
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Post# 625823   9/18/2012 at 02:13 (4,209 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        

launderess's profile picture
I just LOOOOOVE this!






Post# 625826 , Reply# 1   9/18/2012 at 02:39 (4,209 days old) by rockland1 ()        

Very interesting video.

Post# 625842 , Reply# 2   9/18/2012 at 06:20 (4,209 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)        
Primus FX

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This is an interesting machine...

Malcolm


CLICK HERE TO GO TO mrb627's LINK


Post# 625843 , Reply# 3   9/18/2012 at 06:26 (4,209 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Too Early In The Morning For Moi To Deal With The Annoucer&#

launderess's profile picture
Maybe around luch or tea time will have another go. But thanks for posting the link Malcolm, looks like an interesting machine.

Post# 626432 , Reply# 4   9/20/2012 at 20:17 (4,206 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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Launderess,
I love that first video, but don't you think the workers should be using breath masks to reduce the chance of air borne pathogens from infecting them? Seems like they have to come very close to the load to stuff it well into the machine not to be at risk. Unless really contaminated loads are handled in a separate process? Maybe they have those UV/sanitizing lights around the laundry room? I see an OSHA moment here.


Post# 626436 , Reply# 5   9/20/2012 at 20:56 (4,206 days old) by Iowegian ()        

@technopolis:

Agree completely.

Very few hospitals have on-site laundry any more. It was one of the first functions to be outsourced after food service. Followed by floor maintenance and then central sterile outsourcing, biomed engineering and building operation.

Clean linens in a hospital environment are important, but not nearly as important as employees having closely trimmed nails and using good handwashing procedures.

If you see an LPN or an RN with acrylic nails in a critical care environment, show them the door.

My 2 pesos.


Post# 626449 , Reply# 6   9/20/2012 at 22:07 (4,206 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
@technopolis

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Agree totally.

However what one did not understand is why the workers on the "clean" side wore smocks or other protective clothing whilst hose on the "dirty" side who were upclose and personal loading soiled linen did not.

In the UK/EU bodies that regulate public health/commercial laundries prefer barrier laundries for healthcare linen whilst the industry loathes to build them. Barrier laundries are expensive to build, staff (if done properly staff on one side isn't supposed to go the other or vice versa without a shower and change), and of course once all that equipment is installed it is harder to move.

@lowegin:

As one who spent time working in healthcare/nursing well remember being disptached to the hospital laundry when floor/unit ran out of linens. However as you say that has long ceased.

Much depends upon local conditions. Here in NYC commercial/steam laundry regulations all but make it impossible to have one installed near or in a hospital, so it has long been out sourced. That applied mainly to Manhattan, whilst many hospitals in less congested Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx had their own laundries.

Back around the 1980's when managed care revolution started hospitals began looking at just what was their core mission; everything else was to be eliminated or outsourced. That was when many places started shutting down their inhouse laundries.

The problem for hospitals today is that modern commercial laundry equipment is *VERY* expensive and really only pays if kept running at full tilt 24/7 or at least a major part of the time. Then there are the labour, insurance and other costs that are incurred regardless of if the laundry processes 200 sheets or 2000.

Many healthcare systems that own several hospitals/healthcare facilities do own their own laundries. Such places will process all the linen for every hospital and may even take in others as well. However at some point modern tunnel wash systems make more sense and those costs are usually beyond a healthcare system to install and run.


Post# 626462 , Reply# 7   9/20/2012 at 22:51 (4,206 days old) by Iowegian ()        

@Launderess:

I know all too well what's happened to contemporary hospitals.

Were you around when ETO sterilizers were used? And then when the health scares about ETO came about?

Outsourcing of essential hospital functions has been a contributing factor in MRSA-resistant bacteria infections. GK Linen Services (to pick one of several "service companies") really doesn't care whether they are delivering shop towels to a Ford dealer or linens to a Hospital, as long as they deliver the financial results that the corp. predicts and the analysts agree with.

Don't get sick, then you don't have to worry about whether the icky hospital food was made on-site by nice ladies wearing a cornette and a habit or by an illegal working for Sodexco as part of a healthcare system contract.


Post# 626466 , Reply# 8   9/20/2012 at 23:06 (4,206 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Ethylene oxide

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Never dug too deeply as to where things went, just reached for supplies and cared that they were where they should have been! *LOL*

Left all that behind by the early 1990's so am not sure what Manhattan hospitals had buried deep in the bowels of their buildings. *LOL*

As for MRSA and laundry along with other reused items in hospitals many are now clamping down on things terms of HAIs. While there is a human cost involved but a strong push is also coming from insurance companies, and the federal government via Medicare and Medicaid.

It really doesn't matter who does the laundry, long as certain proceedures are followed it should return free of harmful pathogens and or at levels so reduced not to cause patient harm. Most hospitals now employ an infection control nurse or even department whose job it is to keep abreast of such things. Samples of freshly returned linens can and often are swabbed and cultured to see what is *there*. If IC finds something they shouldn't a phone call will be made. Should the problem persist a change in laundry service can and often does happen.


Post# 626865 , Reply# 9   9/22/2012 at 17:30 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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I'm no biologist, but I've read that the only safe way to sterilize something is with heat, not chemicals. Namely, steam, as it ruptures the cell membrane and the pathegen dies without altering it's DNA. It's like popping a mico pimple/pop corn. Of course, there has always been the autoclave, but that is not for textiles.
One of the reasons I liked my Haier combo was right after the wash the drying process would get so hot that if you pulled out a towel, they were unaccountably hot and the waft of steam when you opened the door, would melt your face!


Post# 626867 , Reply# 10   9/22/2012 at 17:37 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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> Interesting web site for those inclined to read more about the process.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO tecnopolis's LINK


Post# 626872 , Reply# 11   9/22/2012 at 18:03 (4,204 days old) by DJ-gabriele ()        

I'd rather use gamma rays for serious sterilization as many have started to do! They do less harm than autoclaving and are 100% safe to surgical materials!

Post# 626899 , Reply# 12   9/22/2012 at 19:44 (4,204 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Not Autoclaving Textiles?

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Where did you get that stuff?

One of the first uses of autoclaves was in hospitals and other healthcare settings for instruments and textiles that needed to be sterile such as those used in OR and L&D.


CLICK HERE TO GO TO Launderess's LINK


Post# 626901 , Reply# 13   9/22/2012 at 19:58 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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.. I never knew you could autoclave clothing, just instruments.
Wouldn't the high temps singe cloth fibers?
I suspect the fire/spontaneous combustion risk is low due to the closed chamber?
It reminds me of that old movie, Fahrenheit 451.


Post# 626902 , Reply# 14   9/22/2012 at 20:05 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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..Thanks for the link. I always thought it was a dry process like a self cleaning oven. Not how I pictured it when my friend who was a dental hygienist described her duties to me. That little toaster over didn't look too technical. But that was 30+ years ago.

Post# 626904 , Reply# 15   9/22/2012 at 20:10 (4,204 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
No, Not Dry At All

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In a very broad sense autoclaving is steam under pressure similar to devices used in domestic settings to prepare food. The differences as outlined in the link posted above is that the former reach *very* high levels of pressure and thus have an increased danger risk.

Also as outlined above the "wet" steam process must be at once followed by a drying one otherwise contents will emerge moist. That would allow pathogens to start growing all over again.


Post# 626908 , Reply# 16   9/22/2012 at 20:45 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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It all seems very energy intensive.. no wonder the hospitals gave up doing it in house.

Post# 626914 , Reply# 17   9/22/2012 at 20:54 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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Ever since I saw that movie "Andromeda Strain", I think I permanently became a bit of a germaphobe. And hearing of these super bugs in the news lately makes me leary of using ATM's and Gas pumps.

Post# 626920 , Reply# 18   9/22/2012 at 21:07 (4,204 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
High Temerature In An Autoclave And Textiles

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While the temperature is indeed very "high" inside an autoclave it is moist not dry heat. There is little danger of burning textile fibers long as the proper precautions are taken.

Post# 626977 , Reply# 19   9/22/2012 at 23:43 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

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Wow, all this science and industry just to fight and prevent the spread of germs!


Post# 626978 , Reply# 20   9/22/2012 at 23:45 (4,204 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)        

tecnopolis's profile picture
.

Post# 627076 , Reply# 21   9/23/2012 at 15:06 (4,203 days old) by AutoWasherFreak ()        

That would be my dream job, not sure which side I would like to work on though, LOL.


Post# 627133 , Reply# 22   9/23/2012 at 18:37 (4,203 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
It Looks Like Fun

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But one can only imagine the aching back, legs, feet and arms at the end of a busy day. Not to mention working when it is hot and humid outdoors, which would make it nearly unbearable inside.

Have to say everytime one sees these videos of EU laundries they are so clean you could eat off the floor. Totally opposite of what one often sees on this side of the pond! *LOL*

Am wondering why this laundry has so much advanced automated equipment yet the folding is done by hand.


Post# 627172 , Reply# 23   9/23/2012 at 20:35 (4,203 days old) by Iowegian ()        

@DJ-gabriele:

Using gamma radiation to sterilize surgical instruments isn't as simple as it might seem. It's a lot cheaper, easier and faster to kill bacteria with steam (i.e., heat) than using a gamma emitter.

Using X-rays isn't much better.


Post# 631054 , Reply# 24   10/12/2012 at 11:01 (4,184 days old) by chris74 ()        
Is that an Eastern Europe brand?

I wonder why they stuff the machines so extremly and don't control the result for stains etc. Multiple layer things such as bedcloths shouldn't be washed in such an overloaded machine, I think. That is not very hygienic, even if they separate the sides...

Post# 631119 , Reply# 25   10/12/2012 at 17:51 (4,184 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Primus

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Originally begun in Beligum, Primus is now a world-wide producer/seller of commercial laundry equipment.

One assumes laundry workers shown above know how much to load machines for rated capacity. Remember despite their top opening the washers are H-Axis so a good amount of the wash will compact down.

As for sanitation,disenfection etc... that is all carried out by a mixture of chemicals, wash cycles, and temperature. Though one assumes laundry contaminated with serious pathogens (such as from an isolation room or patient with serious disease) would be separated out for special treatment.

Most all commercial laundries, and we're talking everything from service washes at local laundrettes to large scale operations with tunnel washers, rarely if ever pre-treat for stains. It is just too labour intensive which would cut down into profits and or cause a price increase. Rather wash programs are tailored to meet common stains and or special cycles for those most often found.

For instance operating room linens might have a cycle designed to shift blood. Table linens for protein, starch and other food/beverage stains. Kitchen linens grease/fats/oils, etc.

Most common formula for dealing with blood in commercial laundries, going back ages has been to have a first wash in warm water with alkaline substance. However today's modern enzyme and oxygen bleach containing detergents will do an excellent job of shifting most blood and other stains for that matter if the cycles are properly designed and product dosed correctly.

Finally as for the final laundry results concerning sanitation; if an outbreak of disease does occur nursing and or medical staff can and will quickly trace things to their source. In many hospitals it is not uncommon for "infection control" nursing and or medical staff to routinely test samples of "clean" laundry as it comes back from the wash.


CLICK HERE TO GO TO Launderess's LINK


Post# 631123 , Reply# 26   10/12/2012 at 18:19 (4,184 days old) by Iowegian ()        

I would think that commercial laundry equipment designers don't give a whole lot of credit to the machine operators for treating the equipment correctly.

After all, laundry work is really pretty low on the employment totem pole.

If there were a machine that could take the dirty laundry from the bins, and load/unload the machines, there would be such a device commercially available. Probably just a matter of time...


Post# 631133 , Reply# 27   10/12/2012 at 19:03 (4,184 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)        
Overloading

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I suppose the cramming full of the machine is somewhat responsible for typical hotel towels greeting and feeling like sand paper, even though chemical fabric softeners are/were used at the hotel where I worked back in the 80's.

It goes back to the mentality of just get it done, who cares about the results.

Malcolm


Post# 631134 , Reply# 28   10/12/2012 at 19:05 (4,184 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Well Yes and No

launderess's profile picture
As pointed out in another thread started by a member, overloading and or otherwise abusing even a commerical washing machine will lead to problems inculding break downs. Bearing failures can often be directly pointed to from constant overloading for instance. When a machine is out of order it not only costs money in terms of production lost, but also because it now is a non-revenue producing asset.

Then there is the subject of results in general. Unless one is a bottom fishing customer such as some "knocking shop" motels or others looking just to get the work done as cheaply as possible, anyone else sending their washing out is going to notice the results of poor linen service and sooner or later take their business elsewhere. Maybe back in the day a laundry service could afford to write off customer loses thus and try for new to replace, but in today's world of "Yelp.com" and similar websites it becomes more difficult.


Post# 631136 , Reply# 29   10/12/2012 at 19:10 (4,184 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Chemical Fabric Softeners

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Will only go but so far in dealing with "harsh" feeling laundry if a sour isn't used when high alkaline detergents do the washing.

If you noticed above the Primus washers are hooked up to a chemical injection system where liquid laundry products are used. However there are still plenty of commercial/on premise laundries that use good old fashioned mid to high pH powdered detergents. It's cheap and will blast out most dirt/soils along with providing high enough alkaline conditions for optimal bleaching with chlorine (the preferred method for most American laundries), all at the expense of textile lifespan and hand.


Post# 631141 , Reply# 30   10/12/2012 at 19:36 (4,184 days old) by Iowegian ()        

I think the primary goal of hotel/motel laundry with respect to towels is to get them white. Softness is probably way down the list.

I'd bet the towels hotels/motels buy are selected for durability/washability first, and everything else later, unless you're lucky enough to stay in a really 5-star kind of place. A Comfort Inn or Days Inn towel probably wouldn't be comfy-soft even if washed in our home equipment. People use those motel towels for everything from windshield cleaning to butt-floss to shoe-shining.


Post# 631146 , Reply# 31   10/12/2012 at 20:11 (4,184 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Whiteness

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Going by the dingy dull offerings I've seen in some hotels, not bloodly likely! *LOL*

Commercial/hospitality linens are priced several ways and the costs also come down to replacement. You can purchase a bulk lot of cheap towels and swap them out as they wear out, or you can spend lots for fine Turkish type and pay a premium for careful but good laundering so they last.

Since most commercial laundry set out is priced by the pound, linens for that trade (usually labeled "hotel quality) are a mix between threads per inch/weight and a weave that will withstand often harsh commercial laundering process frequently.

Hotels, motels, and gyms, also must factor in loss of linen/towels from theft and or improper use.
You can keep linens white and bright by chlorine bleaching the heck out of it and or using boiling hot water temps, however the stuff won't last long. Hence see above. You'll notice thick and plush towels are rarely seen in gyms, and healthclubs or even hospitals.


Post# 631162 , Reply# 32   10/12/2012 at 21:35 (4,184 days old) by Iowegian ()        

Sorry, you lost me.

Are motel towels dingy because the motel owner was too cheap to buy good ones, or because of what the guests do to them? My guess is the latter, but feel free to disagree.

We're not talking about the swanky "W" hotels, just your basic Travelodge type of place. Yeah, the ones with housekeeping staff of questionable citizenship status that are running OPL equipment with no training. The same staff that can't read the "Do Not Disturb" hang tag on the guest room doors. The same ones that when you say, "More Cheerios, por favor" they look at you funny when the cereal machine is empty in the breakfast room.


Post# 631170 , Reply# 33   10/12/2012 at 22:01 (4,184 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas)        

The glasses that are marked "Sanitized" and wrapped may have been cleaned with the same rag that was used to clean the toilet with previously. There have been several television shows about how hotel/motel maids don't know nuttin' about proper cleaning protocol or methods. They'll use one cloth to clean EVERYTHING!

As for one who has stayed in more motel/hotel rooms than I care to think about this is something that is very important to me. I used to carry my own glass around with me in my suitcase. And NEVER walk around the room barefoot or lay on the bedspread.
And use "wet wipes" on the phone and television remote control. When I started doing all this I was sick way less often.


Post# 631178 , Reply# 34   10/12/2012 at 22:52 (4,184 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
@Lowegian

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It's a mixture of both.

Cheap goods cannot withstand harsh or even some case what many would consider normal "hot" laundry practices, thus after a period begin to look dull and dingy.

Case in point modern offerings of "linens" including everything from men's shirts to bed/table linens that state "wash in cold water no bleach". Well how is anyone supposed to keep a white shirt of sheet clean with that sort of routine treatment. Mind you if the things are changed frequently and barely soiled it might work, but if used heavily items are another story.

The other fly in the ointment is that most hotel/commercial linens are now a blend of cotton/polyester. The latter holds onto oils/soils and is nearly impossible to keep white and bright without a good hot water wash, but being a thermoplastic fiber too much heat will destroy, so compromises have to be made.

Finally and totally off topic but without meaning to give offense just have to get this little ditty off my chest: "10,000 Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian".

There, had to say it as evertime your screen name comes up it reminds one of the song the old drunkard uncle from the film "I remember Mama" teaches his nephew. *LOL*


Post# 631745 , Reply# 35   10/15/2012 at 03:55 (4,182 days old) by beekeyknee (Columbia, MO)        

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Oh Laundress, you got me down on the floor. "I Remember Mama". Poor old dirty times, but they tried.

Those women crammin' that laundry in those machines. When exactly did people loose their minds? We know that fabric ain't clean. And they got to show all the steps to prove that their wash is clean. I like that!

I want a triple dose of chloroform before I have to head off to the home. Boils and goin' septic. No way.

B.


Post# 632014 , Reply# 36   10/16/2012 at 03:51 (4,181 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

shouldn't the operators loading the dirty items in the machines wear gloves?The unload side wouldn't be a worry so much-unless an operator had an infected sore or something on their hands.Hotels--SCARY-seen hidden camera films on both TV and YouTube about what hotel housekeepers do-yes wipe the drinking cup wrapped in the "sanitized" wrapper with the same rag for cleaning the sink and potty-or even the shower,too!when you visit a hotel-motel these days bring your UV light with you-you may be SHOCKED what you see under the light!!!Human and rodent Pee-Human semen stains!and so on!!Esp on the "clean" looking bedspread-makes for a spectacular UV display!You can buy portable battery powered LED and flourescent bulb UV lamps-all kinds od suppliers have them.Easy to find from companies on the "Web" that sell flashlights and portable lights.


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