Efficient Laundry Operations: Tips & tricks for getting laundry done right for less.

When it comes to creating efficient laundry operations, Haddon has a ton of tips and tricks for anyone who runs a commercial laundry operation or service in BC or Alberta.

Not only do we know which machines are the best to use for your laundry facilities, we also know which chemicals are going to give you the most bang for your buck AND get your laundry clean.

Whatever sector your BC business is in—hospitality, corrections, healthcare, service, or small business enterprise—if you have to get laundry done and have to do it quickly and affordably without compromising cleanliness, we have solutions.

Here’s the quick and dirty list of what you’ll find in the Haddon resource article about increasing the efficiency of your laundry operations for your BC business.

Haddon’s Tips & Tricks for Running Efficient Laundry Operations

First, let’s talk laundry equipment—commercial laundry machines AND the Lux Advanced Oxidation System.

If you’re looking for the right commercial laundry machine (washer extractor, commercial dryer, stacker, etc.), we carry a wide array of commercial laundry equipment with something to fit every BC business with a laundry room—big or small. What’s really important is choosing a machine that will give you a good return on your laundry room investment and also get your goods more than “acceptably” clean.

But we have a confession…sometimes, as good as a commercial washer is, you still need a little something extra to get your finished laundry where it needs to be—especially you folks in the healthcare industry—and keep your commercial laundry operation efficient.

And we have the perfect solution for that!

The Lux Laundry System: Advanced oxidation using UV lighting during the washing process

Maybe you run a laundry at a healthcare facility in BC and you often deal with soiled linens and towels that you’ve noticed aren’t coming out quite as clean as you would like? And perhaps, even with some chemical dispensing adjustments in the programming, things still don’t seem to be quite right.

It happens and, when it does, sometimes no amount of adjustments can get the grime out of your washables in one cycle because they are really heavily soiled.

And, of course, if you DO run a healthcare laundry facility in BC, clean and safe linens and towels are definitely a priority, no?

This is why the Lux Advanced Oxidation Laundry System by Omni Solutions is the secret weapon of many BC businesses with laundry facilities—it gets s%&t clean (please pardon our french, and the pun)!

It gets s%&t REALLY, REALLY clean!

How can the Lux Laundry System save you money and increase the efficiency of your commercial laundry facility?

There’s a plethora of info on their website, but, in a nutshell, here’s how (and why) the Lux Laundry System works:

So, to recap, here’s how this UV light cleaning system is going to help your commercial laundry run more efficiently and save you moolah:

• The Lux Hydroxyl Laundry system get s$&t really clean by using UV technology to turn air into a strong oxidizer (and oxidizers are really strong cleaning agents) 🧺
• Installing a Lux Advanced Oxidation System will significantly lower your overall costs of doing laundry! 💰
• The Lux system enhances your existing in-house system by using hydroxyl radicals (aka the most reactive type of oxygen molecules) to help kick the dirt and other filth right out of the fibres of your linens and towels.🛏
• The Lux Laundry system kicks a$$ at low temperatures so you can wash in COLD and save yourself big $$! #winning 🥶
• The combo of cold water and UV tech makes your wash water 500x more powerful than hot water and bleach—it will get your whites and brights so dazzling, you’ll need sunglasses. 😎
• The Lux system ALSO softens your linens more than regular chemicals will. 🤯
• The Lux Laundry system allows you to use fewer programmed cycles, less chemicals, and less water. 🌳🌍
• Omni’s biodegradable laundry products work in tandem with the Lux system in cold water to reduce the carbon footprint, leave chemical residue in the environment for less time, and provide a plausible solution to the world’s commercial laundry chemical challenges. #signmeup

Here’s what Omni has to say about their patented SULAOS technology:

SULAOS works by receiving water from the press pump and supercharging it with active oxygen and hydroxyl radicals. The charged water then passes through the UV light reactor before being injected back into the rinse zone. Hydroxyl radicals break down the protective coatings of microorganisms while the UV adds another critical level of treatment, destroying harmful organic contaminants.

SULAOS provides a significant cost savings through the reduction of water and natural gas, while at the same time increasing linen life through a reduction in rewash.  It also provides a safer cleaning process for commercial laundry employees and end users in the healthcare and hospitality industries.

Contact Haddon today if you want to learn more about the Lux UV Laundry System

Here’s what one of our happy clients, Baptist Housing, has to say about the Lux Laundry system we sold to them and installed:

We are using the LUX Laundry system at 4 of our sites:  Sun Pointe Village, Village at Mill Creek, Village at Smith Creek, and Evergreen Terraces and it has proven to bring many great benefits. In Partnership with Haddon, it was recognized that the LUX system is not just reducing energy consumption, but we create a cleaner and safer environment for our team as well. With our investment, the ROI is less than 2 years. After 2 years of operation, we can confirm that the LUX system will be an essential part our laundry rooms at Baptist Housing in the future and, with such amazing results, moving forward, we would happily consider installing these laundry systems into all our buildings.

Erich Klein, Director of Sustainability & Maintenance at Baptist Housing

In the past two years of using the Lux Advanced Oxidation Laundry System, Baptist has seen the following results:

• Reducing gas consumption by 210 GJ annual
• Reduction of water consumption 12,000 Gal
• Increasing disinfection by 100%
• Reduction of chemical use
• Laundry is cleaner, smells better and reduces the temperature overall in the laundry.

Here’s what our long-time clients, Accent Inns, have to say about the Lux Systems we installed at 7 of their hotel locations.

We have had the absolute pleasure of working with the team at Haddon as our laundry equipment supplier, service team and chemical supplier since 2016. In 2021, they approached us with their innovative LUX laundry system. We were immediately interested in the prospect of whiter linens, improved stain removal, reduced chemical use and 70-80% less hot water consumed. At the time we were pursuing the Fortis BC Custom Energy Audit program and the Haddon team worked closely with Fortis to ensure the LUX system would qualify as an energy conservation major and result in a substantial rebate for us. As a result of these efforts and collaboration, we were able to install the system at 7 of our hotel
locations with excellent results. We have had positive reports from our laundry teams on the quality and condition of their linen as well as their overall working conditions. An unexpected benefit of reduced hot water use has meant cooler and more comfortable laundry rooms for our teams. Aside from the employee impact we are pleased to report dramatically reduced hot water consumption for laundry and thus reduced natural gas bills.

Natalie Corbett, Director of Continuous Improvement at Accent Inns, Inc.

Here are some other ways to increase efficiency and save money with your commercial laundry operation in BC

Establish good communication systems with your laundry staff

If anyone is going to know if something in your commercial laundry operation isn’t running well or efficiently, it’s going to be your staff. However, laundry staff are notorious for voicing their concerns to people like chemical and service techs, but not to their own bosses. So make sure you establish open channels for your laundry staff to let them know it’s okay to come to you when something is not working well. Nipping a problem right away will save you big dollars in the long run.

Make sure your laundry staff is properly trained in how to operate the commercial laundry equipment.

We’re not going to sugarcoat this one. We see too many laundry staff operating equipment incorrectly and it causes BIG headaches for everybody—you, your staff, your customers, and anyone who services your laundry equipment and chemicals.

The easy solution is to make sure each and every laundry staff member is fully trained by someone who knows how to properly operate your commercial laundry equipment. Don’t just throw a newb in with someone who’s only been on the job two weeks or someone who was never trained properly and expect them to both nail it. Major inefficiency and major costs are caused by things such as overloading or underloading machines, folding sheets before putting them in the iron (that’s a major NO NO!), using the wrong cycle for certain types of washables, drying fabrics too long, etc. All those mistakes translate to time and money lost for your company while the issues they cause are being dealt with.

If you and your staff need a refresher or training on how to use your commercial laundry machines properly, get in touch with Haddon. We can provide training for your managers and supervisors so they will know how to properly train your staff for maximum output at minimum cost to you.

Make sure you are using the right chemicals for the materials you are washing.

This ties into both cost and efficiency for your commercial laundry operation. Using the wrong chemical cycle on linens, for example, can result in them coming out still soiled or it can degrade the fibres in the fabric, causing them to rip and tear long before their life expectancy has run its course. This can either put your staff behind as they have to rewash the same load (probably on the wrong cycle, again) or it can up your replacement costs for linens, towels, and other materials.

If you think your laundry staff may be using the wrong cycles on fabrics, give Haddon a call. We can help straighten it out.

There are many ways to create a much more efficient and lucrative commercial laundry operation for your BC business and implementing some of the suggestions above will certainly be a great start. However, if you have any questions or want to hear how to implement any of these first hand, contact our team at Haddon and we’ll get you dialled in. That’s what we’re here for!