Soiled linen in one way, clean linen out the other

🧺 Keep washed linen from being recontaminated, starting with the right linen flow

Clean linen is easily recontaminated by airborne lint, staff hands and carts. Separating soiled and clean linen work keeps your investment in washing from going to waste. Based on the hospital laundry unit design guide from Thailand's Department of Health Service Support (2017), laundry owners can check their own layout against the same principles:

1. Divide the area into three zones: soiled, decontamination and clean.
2. Linen moves one way only, from the soiled zone to the clean zone.
3. Staff move in the opposite direction to the linen, from the clean zone to the soiled zone.
4. Control airflow from the clean zone to the soiled zone. The CDC specifies negative pressure for the soiled linen receiving area, while the UK's NHS specifies negative pressure, or airflow from the clean zone to the soiled zone that is then exhausted outside the building.
5. Keep separate carts for soiled and clean linen, and wash each type of cart in its own zone.

Without this separation, washed linen can be recontaminated before it reaches the customer.

Note: this guide was written for hospitals, so smaller shops should adapt it to their space. None of the sources we read gives a numerical value for air pressure.

Ask the KHT team about the washers and dryers for your site.