I have a great drop-off laundry business. Up until recently, I had no problems with stain removal. However, last month, I picked up a restaurant account and now wash a great deal of their linen. My problem is that I can’t seem to remove the food oil stains from the table linens. And, unfortunately, the distributor in my area doesn’t carry commercial laundry products. What is the best retail brand I can use, and how do I use it?
Removing oil stains from restaurant linens – especially if the material is synthetic – is one of the most difficult stains to remove in a coin laundry setting. It requires hot water and more time in the wash cycle than normal. Plus, you need the proper chemicals.
Unfortunately, most retail detergent brands are designed just for general laundering only. The best retail brand to use is Liquid Wisk, as it contains solvents with oil-removing properties. Use approximately six to eight ounces in a 50-pound washer, along with a quality chlorine bleach, if the linens are white cotton. If the items are made of a synthetic material or are colored, use a color-safe, oxy-clean type of bleach. And, of course, wash in the hottest water possible.
What is the most effective way to remove that smoke smell from clothes after a fire?
The smoke smell is very difficult to remove. The first option is to wash the clothes in a normal fashion. However, rather than bleach, use ammonia, alongside your detergent.
Use straight ammonia in a hot pre-wash setting. I would use a cup of ammonia in a 30-pound washer. In your wash cycle, include detergent with the ammonia, but no bleach. Finally, use a fabric softener on the last cycle.
If this method doesn’t work, your second option is to buy Febreze or a similar type of product. In your pre-wash, use a cup of it in a 30-pounder. Then, use a cup in the wash cycle with a small amount of detergent – maybe two ounces, just to loosen up the fibers. Follow through with Febreze or something similar in the last cycle.
If that doesn’t work either, call your local distributor and ask for an odor neutralizer. These products are a bit more expensive; however, if you follow the instructions on the containers, they generally are quite effective. Of course, with heavy-duty chemicals like commercial-grade odor neutralizers, you may need to alter your washing process a bit.
I want to offer a laundry pickup service for restaurant towels, bar mops, aprons and chefs’ coats. I have checked with my local supplier for detergent, and I use the Dissolve All degreaser.
I’m hesitant to offer these services until I am absolutely certain I am able to adequately clean the items. Can you advise me on tried-and-true products and procedures for laundering these items so that I can move forward with confidence?
Laundering bar mops, aprons and chefs’ coats requires not only the use of the proper products, but also proper wash procedures and proper water temperature. Generally speaking, your water temperature should be at least 140 to 145 degrees.
The product Dissolve All is a metasilicate and it’s designed to handle oils and greases, but it doesn’t do much to remove other food stains, or what I call “carbon stains.”
Therefore, you also require something called a “built detergent.” This is a detergent that includes silicates but also features a high level of surfactant to remove the other types of stains you’ll no doubt encounter.
In addition, be mindful of your water temperature and wash time. The proper wash cycle would be a three-minute pre-wash using a small amount of a built detergent, followed by a nine- to 12-minute wash cycle; use hot water and include either oxygen bleach or chlorine bleach. Then, follow up with three rinses, and that last rinse should feature a sour, as that will neutralize the alkalinity and bring the body back to the fabric.
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