The future of laundry lies with engineering

There is much talk about improving the chemicals used in the laundry industry. Hygiene chemicals manufacturer Christeyns has come a long way in formulating detergents that not only produce improved wash outcomes but that are also kinder to the environment.

However, the future of the industry relies heavily on innovation in engineering as well as in chemical formula. Technological advances over the past decade have made a huge difference to laundry operations and as we look forward engineering developments will continue to invent the future for this ancient, yet progressive, global industry.

“Engineering is without doubt at the heart of laundry,” states Peter. “Be that in the design of the washers, auto-dosing, energy and water saving equipment or monitoring systems. Laundry is now most definitely high-tech.”

We live in a world that is increasingly environmentally conscious and the laundry industry is under pressure to ensure it keeps up its part by reducing the negative impact it has on the environment. This includes reducing carbon footprint, water and energy use and chemical waste. And all of this without reducing quality of output.

Christeyns sees engineering as a crucial part of its business offering, so much so that it has recently opened a new engineering unit to provide a hub for its commercial laundry engineering division, currently handling multi-million pound contracts for laundries nationwide.

“As the largest player in the UK Commercial Laundry sector with around 75% market share, high-tech engineering systems have become a critical part of our customer offering, “ continues Peter.  “We have expanded our efforts on providing laundry expertise rather than just chemicals and our bespoke solutions help to reduce water, energy and improve wash results through all round laundry efficiency.”

Christeyns intend to continue to grow their engineering expertise, adding to the current team through both external recruitment and its apprenticeship programme.  Although Bradford is the division headquarters, the team operate across the UK and Ireland and work in close collaboration with the commercial team to put together tailored chemistry and engineering packages.

In 2013 the Textiles Services Association (TSA) negotiated the Climate Change Agreement with the government to encourage laundries and textile rental services to use energy more efficiently. Participating businesses committed to reducing their water and energy consumption in return for substantial rebates on the Climate Change Levy tax.

Christeyns has been at the forefront of enabling many commercial laundries to achieve these targets and claim the rebates. Peter explains:  “Lower water and energy bills and of course the positives in terms of conservation, are attainable, as we have seen with many customers. With the right systems in place the typical tunnel wash process has changed from 15 years ago when for example, water consumption was 8-10 L/kg.  Now a modern or modified wash process can be reduced to as low as 2 L/kg.”

“Water can be captured from the main wash and then filtered and redirected to be used in pre-wash and washer extractors. At the same time, clean press water is recovered and recycled for rinsing, previously this water would generally have gone down the drain. Also recovering heat from this water, via heat exchanger technology, allows for lower temperature washing and Christeyns’ Cool Chemistry chemicals were developed to facilitate this. The use of neutral pH chemicals, low temperature washing and safe effective bleach also minimise damage to textiles.”

Christeyns Engineering not only installs equipment. At any project outset, an Engineering Project Manager will scope the project and provide a cost estimate that will form part of the offer package to the customer. The team will go on to order and arrange delivery of all the agreed equipment, carry out the install and set up all the programmes, ensuring everything works correctly and meets the agreed delivery outcomes, both in terms of water and energy usage and wash outcomes.

Once the installation has been signed off, the team will provide training to those operating the equipment as well as the in-house engineers. The customer is then in the hands of the Christeyns Account Management team who handle the day to day maintenance and running of all the systems and wash quality. Engineering do provide backup should there be any issues requiring more expert attention.

“A big part of the engineering role at Christeyns is to show potential and current customers where they can improve their energy and water usage, “ says Peter. “But this forms part of a total, integrated solution that includes both chemistry and equipment as well as knowledge and training.”

Laundry is an essential part of life and as resources dwindle and laundry needs become more complex in terms of textiles and luxury fabrics, cost efficiency and sustainability are even more important for both the launderer and the end user.

A commercial laundry is a tough environment, quality results, reliability and safety are essential and in order to meet all of today’s challenges, it pays to have systems that are not only reliable but that make life easier for all involved.

As a business leader in their sector, Christeyns aim to innovate change, providing bespoke business models that help manage targets, business goals and the changing laundry environment in order to help launderers to be future ready.

“Christeyns will continue to invest in research and development and innovate via new engineering processes that complement our ground breaking wash treatments such as Cool Chemistry and Speed-O.  We won’t be standing still; there is a long way to go and we are very much aware of the role that engineering plays in keeping the industry ahead of the game,” concludes Peter.

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