Rental is the winning concept worldwide, and textile performance plays a crucial role in this success. Now, the development of new BeirTex^® qualities has reached the point where replacing textiles can release considerable untapped potential for the laundries.

Managing Director of Beirholms Væverier, Peter Beirholm, explains: “The laundries can boost their capacity while also reducing costs. The whole process of renewing the products is focused on increasing the output per man-hour combined with consistently high distribution quality. Another important advantage is that it saves energy and reduces emissions.”

“Demanding performance tests show that our latest, light Beir-Tex^® qualities outperform the capacity of the laundry machines. For example, bed sheets can be rolled at a speed of 60 m/min and at 165°C. The aim was to get down to 150°C, but the roller can’t be adjusted any further,” Peter Beirholm explains.

“So, in this example, we are talking about operational excellence that actually outperforms the current capacity of laundry machines. This shows the potential just waiting to be harnessed.”

When the product strategy has evolved into a Lean product portfolio and, consequently, Lean laundry operation, the rental laundries can exploit economies of scale and at the same time usher in a whole raft of benefits.

Today, the purchase price of a textile is approx. 20% of the textile’s total costs, while the remaining approx. 80% is spent on operational costs. “That’s why there’s every reason to focus much more on the attributes of the textiles as a raw material in operations,” Peter Beirholm continues. “Having the right industrial product, including aspects such as optimum fibre composition and weight, means higher output and savings on resources in the form of energy, water and chemicals.

“The new BeirTex® qualities deliver on all these parameters. At the same time, distribution quality is consistently high when they emerge from laundry operations.”

By switching textile choices to a Lean product portfolio, many laundries could raise the bar of production from the lowest common denominator – when large volumes are run on the standard programmes at high temperatures and consequent expensive consumption – to an optimised, standard programme with correspondingly lower energy consumption and a marked increase in product service life.

“It has been documented what a dramatic effect washing and, in particular, ironing at high temperatures can have, resulting in lack of residual moisture and reduced service life of the textiles. In some instances, this is up to 50%, because the fibres get broken down, the product loses strength, and white textiles become so greyish that they have to be discarded.

This is also evident with excessive drying of terry towelling, and, ultimately, it affects distribution quality, which is unacceptable to customers and end users,” says Peter Beirholm.

The new BeirTex^® qualities also excel with approximately 90% dust reduction. This is a significant improvement, minimising nuisance dust throughout the laundry, while also extending the lifetime of the products:

“Tests in an industrial laundry of 100 washing and ironing cycles shows a reduction in weight per unit of only 1.5%. Combining unchanged tear and tensile strength, as well as completely pilling-free surfaces, this guarantees laundries an unprecedented level of textile profitability. This allows for another period of contract rental,” says Peter Beirholm.

In addition to lowering operating costs, the new BeirTex^® qualities also reduce CO2-equivalent emissions – a significant difference for the environment and noticeable in the laundries’ environmental reports.

Consistently high distribution quality is such an important focus area for the laundries because of the end users’ power, which remains considerable:

“That’s why it matters so much to future winners among the laundries to choose textiles that are market-fit, too,” Peter Beirholm emphasises. “Designs and colours must have a strong appeal to end-users, combined with the feeling of comfort and luxury, and the need for sustainability almost goes without saying. All these benefits have been considered in the new, innovative BeirTex^® qualities.”