Industrial Laundry - Then & Now

1. Industrial Laundry - Then & Now The demand for clean laundry grew out of the 19th century discovery of the link between dirt and disease. Clean clothes became a sign of social standing. The white shirt, with the challenge of keeping it pristine, becoming a status symbol. Before electricity became a household utility, laundry was a labor-intensive, time-consuming chore. Laundry was a full-day affair. Water had to be heated over a fire or wood-burning stove. Soap for washing clothes was made from lye and ashes. The earliest washing machines were hand- cranked. Many of these were simply a wooden, tin, or copper tub on legs, with a hand-operated wringer on top. Clothes were moved around in the drum using various mechanical means, not unlike a butter churn. A hand-cranked wringer was used after rinsing to squeeze out the bulk of the water. The first clothes dryers were invented in England and France in the early 1800s. One common kind of early clothes dryer was the “ventilator,” a perforated metal drum that was turned by hand over a fire. For city dwellers, contending with water shortage, and airborne pollutants such as coal dust that settled on drying clothes, laundry day was an even greater chore. Enterprising businessmen recognized a need. With the steam-powered technology at the ready, the steam laundry industry emerged in urban centers in North America and Europe in the 1880s. Steam laundries were industrial operations. These were large commercial laundry facilities that resembled factories, and employed dozens and even hundreds of workers. The steam laundry quickly became immensely popular. One of the best examples is the Parisian Steam Laundry which began in Detroit around 1870. Customers in the city and outlying small towns around the city and even Canada would take their dirty clothes to a local depot. The agent would bundle them up each day, and ship the parcel by train to Detroit. Workers there would wash, bleach, iron, and fold the laundry. Once it was ready, the laundry was shipped back to the local agent for pick up. The Parisian Steam Laundry employed about 80 workers by the late 1870s. The operation handled about 20,000 pieces of laundry every day. Business Address: 211 Erie St. Pomona, CA 91768 Phone No. – 626-791-7954Site - https://www.clmco.com/ Email ID–sales@clmco.com

2. Electricity came to replace steam power starting a little after the turn of the century. The first electric-powered washing machine for the home was unveiled in 1908. All heavy-duty steel, the heavy-duty Thor promised to “make laundry a spare time task, instead of an all day’s job.” The steam laundries, at least for the public, lost out to the electric home washing machine and dryer. Starting in the 1930s, the electric washing machine was promoted and advertised as a symbol of a genteel home. Industrial steam laundry services were mostly gone by the 1950s, replaced by home washing machines. Steam, however, powered industrial laundry into the 1950s. Industrial laundry facilities such as those for hospitals and prisons used steam as late as the 1970s, such as the Yale Steam Laundry in New York City which operated until 1976. Institutional buildings with tall brick smoke stacks are a good indicator of an industrial laundry facility that once ran on steam power. Today’s industrial laundry machines have evolved light-years from the hand-cranked agitator and wringer, and the ventilator drum that rotated over a fire. Today’s laundry machines offer precise, programmable touch-screen controls with multiple languages options. Some of the latest industrial laundry equipment are is self-diagnosing, instantly reporting mechanical problems and limiting down time. Dryers can be programmed to optimum heating, levels of moisture, basket rotation, and airflow, taking out the guesswork for less time and energy wasted. Energy efficiency is a priority for laundry equipment manufacturers. Newer industrial laundry equipment offers emissions control, through Low NOx burner technology. Large scale laundry facilities can opt for almost total automation, with industrial laundry machines that automatically tilt and unload laundry onto a conveyor belt, and shuttle it down to the dryers, where the wet laundry is loaded into dryers. Dryers, similarly, tilt and self-unload. Today’s industrial laundry equipment are heavy-duty machines that can handle loads ranging from 250 pounds to 600 pounds and more; with some of the largest machines on the market handling up to 1200 pound loads. Original Source Link: https://storeboard.com/blogs/business/industrial-laundry-then-and-now/844727 Business Address: 211 Erie St. Pomona, CA 91768 Phone No. – 626-791-7954Site - https://www.clmco.com/ Email ID–sales@clmco.com