What Can Ozone Do for Your Laundry Business?
[This is the first of a two-part feature article on the use of ozone in a laundromat setting.]
Art Jaeger knows a good marketing idea when he sees one.
And, at the Coin Laundry Association’s Excellence in Laundry Conference in 2012, the Southern California multi-store owner stumbled across what he thought might be a good one – ozone injection for laundromat washers.
“When I first encountered the original ozone generator in 2012, I saw a marketing and differentiation opportunity,” Jaeger said. “But what caught me by surprise was that it actually works!
“Not only do the clothes look noticeable better to the customer, but the store smells better,” he continued. “I’m able to promote that every washer is ‘sanitized’ on each wash, and my drains and soap dishes are cleaner – making my employees’ lives easier and cutting down on customer complaints.”
Jaeger went live with his first ozone system in 2013.
Since then, the use of ozone within the laundromat environment has been gaining in popularity. Not surprisingly, Jaeger now features ozone injection at all four of his stores and for his pickup-and-delivery business.
“The demand for ozone as a differentiator was gaining popularity prior to the pandemic,” said Ralph Daniels, president and CEO of Aquawing Ozone Disinfection Laundry Systems. “COVID-19 supercharged the interest in sanitization, and now it’s hard to keep up with demand. Clearly, the game has changed, and in the new normal, people are more educated about cleanliness and eradicating the ‘Ick Factor.’”
Mark Moore, president of ArtiClean Ozone Laundry Systems, reports huge growth in his business in the last five years.
“The pandemic has really boosted the awareness of having sanitized washers and clothing, which is what ozone can offer,” he said. “There’s no cross-contamination from previously washed loads.”
The Advantages of Ozone
One of the main advantages of this mysterious, colorless gas is that it keeps laundromats smelling fresh. If you’ve got a properly operating ozone system, you can be assured that, when a customer opens a machine, there will be no funky smell. There also will be no mold or mildew in the door gasket or soap dish. When you open your bulkheads, they will be clean and fresh-smelling. There will be no leftover residue and no excess smell from detergent, softeners and other chemicals. An ozone system can make your customers’ store visits seem like aromatherapy treatment.
“One laundry-owner customer in the Philippines keeps it simple and just says, ‘Smell my washer, and tell me what you don’t smell.’ That owner’s customers always note that the common ‘foul odor’ is missing,” explained Moore, whose ozone systems are installed in about 200 laundromats. “The customers are then told that the smell in other stores’ washers is the bacteria remaining from previously washed loads, which is contaminating their linen. In the ozone-enhanced store, the smell is eliminated, which drives repeat customers. Linens smell clothesline-dried.”
Another advantage of ozone is the ability to clean in cold water. In fact, ozone actually gets consumed by water at about 110 degrees – so, if you’re mixing ozone with hot water, it will have virtually no use at all. Of course, cold-water cleaning has energy-saving and environmental advantages, which can provide owners with opportunities for rebates from their energy providers.
In addition, cleaning with ozone in cold water significantly reduces the amount of detergent and chemicals required – and increases the effectiveness of those chemicals. However, this sometimes can be a double-edged sword, as self-service customers are notorious for over-dosing their laundry with detergent. Unfortunately, such over-dosing can lessen ozone’s effectiveness, according to Jeff Gardner, president of The Laundry Doctor, a commercial laundry operation based in Minneapolis.
In the cleaning world, ozone is referred to as a “wetting agent,” which means it opens up the fibers of a fabric to aid in the release of soils, as well as creating a natural softening effect. Ozone also will assist in reducing the fabric’s ability to retain moisture and, thus, reduce drying time.
“At the risk of sounding fanatical, ozone is the best tool to use in laundry,” said Daniels, whose company has installed more than 200 ozone systems in laundromats throughout North America. “What other method or product can say it kills germs, loosens fabric strands for soil removal, destroys odors, works best in cold water, and so on? All of these benefits – and no byproducts going down the drain. It’s a green, safe, renewable product that results in whiter, brighter, cleaner, fresher linen, with the benefit of your clothes being sanitized.”
Chemical Considerations
No doubt, there are real benefits to utilizing ozone. However, there also are some chemical considerations when introducing it to your cleaning process.
First of all, ozone has no effect on oil-based stains, Gardner stated. Ozone won’t remove any of those types of stains with any success. In fact, some oil stains will react to ozone by oxidizing and leaving behind a yellow stain. In general, cold-water cleaning – without certain types of chemistry – has no impact on oil-based stains.
A chemical dose in a warm or hot bath with no ozone is the best way to solve these types of stains. Fortunately, the chemicals with which ozone reacts poorly all work better in warm or hot water.
Those chemicals that negatively impact ozone are citrus-based cleaners and enzymes – both of which are ideal for attacking oils and greases. In fact, ozone will kill the enzymes and actually have a negative chemical reaction with citrus-based solvents.
Additionally, ozone and oxygen bleach cancel each other out. But you’ll notice that your ozonized cold rinses will be much more effective than bleaching. At my business, we’ve nearly eliminated bleaches from our chemical arsenal.
For typical, residential laundry loads, cleaning in cold water with a warm-water wash will be the most beneficial method. You’ll get the benefits of the ozone during the rinse cycles.
A commercial accounts application benefit of ozone is that you can follow a hot wash (more than 160 degrees) with a cold rinse (70 degrees or less) with no fabric shock, if the cold water is ozone-saturated, according to Gardner.
How Much is Enough?
What is the right amount of ozone? To find the answer, you need to understand your water. Every laundromat has different water, and it can change throughout the year, depending on its source.
The two major factors that affect the cleaning ability of water and ozone are hardness and pH levels, Gardner pointed out. Ozone’s effectiveness is altered by both, so be sure your ozone system is designed around each. And, if you do commercial accounts work, have your chemical supplier check those levels a few times per year.
Traditionally, ozone is measured in laundry applications by an electrical charge (in millivolts) that increases in the water with the presence of an oxidizer. The measurement is called oxidation reduction potential (ORP).
As an example, a commercial swimming pool with chlorine (an oxidizer similar to ozone) will be between 650 and 750 ORP. By contrast, a typical laundry application will look to achieve an ORP reading in the 850 to 925 range.
Here is where water quality comes into play. ORP is not a measurement of ozone in the water. Rather, it’s a measurement of the effect ozone is having on the water to create the ideal level for cleaning. In other words, if your water is hard or features high PH levels, the ozone will be consumed, thus requiring a higher quality of ozone to reach the 850+ OPR reading required to enjoy the full benefits of ozone for a traditional laundry application.
As a result, it’s important to have ozone professionals size your system to ensure it will deliver the results your business needs.
Introducing Ozone to the Wash
Gardner shared two methods of getting ozone into a washing machine. One way is to inject it into the cold water supply using a Venturi valve – making a single washer, a bank of washers or an entire laundromat’s cold water supply the delivery system for the ozone. The second method, which is common in fire/water restoration applications, involves “bubbling” the ozone directly into the sump at the bottom of the washer wheel.
Both methods have pros and cons. For example, ORP sensors last only a year or two and are sensitive any residue buildup. If ozone is being generated for each washer individually – as with the bubbling method – each washer would require a sensor. However, if the entire water supply or a dedicated group of washers are all on the same ozonized cold water supply – as with the injection method – the ozone can be measured at one single point.
With injection, ozone – mainly at higher levels strong enough to be effective on tougher commercial accounts, such as medical laundry – can sometimes break down and deteriorate the rubber in your water valves more quickly than normal. Of course, if you already have high pH or hard water, you’re likely going to be experiencing that level of diaphragm deterioration in your washers anyway – and, therefore, you already should be replacing those diaphragms in your machines every couple of years.
If your water is soft or you have neutral or low pH levels, you will require less ozone to achieve the 850 to 925 ORP level. So, deterioration will be less of an issue.
Clearly, when bubbling ozone into the sump at the bottom of the washer, you’re avoiding the rubber components and water valves, so you won’t experience the deterioration to your valves. Again, with this method, you’ll traditionally have some type of sensor monitoring the ozone so that it doesn’t off-gas – and this means extra electronic equipment on each machine to regulate how much ozone is actually in the washer.
Excess ozone and the eventual excess off-gassing of that ozone into a confined space like a laundromat over a period of time is a potential risk to customers and staff, Gardner warned. Ozone can have short-term respiratory effects, especially for those who already suffer from preexisting respiratory conditions. Just as a safety precaution, Gardner suggested installing a room sensor that detects high ozone content in the laundromat.
When ozone tops a 975 ORP reading, the water typically can no longer “hold the ozone” within it any longer, and the gas begins to escape within the drum, which means a heavy ozone smell within that space.
Understanding the ways in which ozone can benefit a laundry operation and managing your expectations for ozone use is important.
If operating a correctly designed ozone system, you’ll see amazing results with many types of cleaning. Ozone clearly outperforms all other methods when tackling human or animal soils, such as urine, blood and other bodily fluids.
Gym clothing can be washed in just cold water. Any type of animal coverings or beds will be cleaned and sanitized – and the odors removed – in cold water alone. And terrycloth garments will look and feel like new after a few ozone washings, as the fibers will open up and any residual chemical buildup will be removed.
Perhaps best of all, at the end of the day you’re going to have a cleaner, more sanitized and better feeling laundromat with ozone. Your store will be much more appealing – and your customers will notice it.
Of course, this all should lead directly to a positive impact on the laundromat owner’s bottom line, according to Moore.
“We’ve seen a 30 percent increase in revenue from ozone upcharges and as much as a 25 percent reduction in drying time and natural gas usage,” said Moore, who explained that a properly designed ozone system should last about 10 to 15 years.
Education is Key
Promoting your business differentiator is critical. However, getting your customers to understand how ozone benefits them can be a common hurdle to laundromat owners. Therefore, aside from the traditional marketing techniques like signage and advertising, educating your staff about ozone is crucially important.
“It’s very important that the users know the value of what they are getting.” Moore said. “And laundry attendants must have the knowledge to explain ozone and its benefits to the customers.”
“Your attendants should be ambassadors of ozone knowledge,” Daniels suggested. “They need to be aware of the negative spins and myths about ozone so that they can dispel them and educate your customers of the true benefits.”
After all, what good is having the only ozone system in town or in your marketplace if no one is aware of it or really knows what it does?
“Differentiators need to be in your face,” stressed Daniels, who shared that 100 percent of Aquawing’s laundromat projects have been full-store installations and that more than 85 percent of those owners are upselling their ozone washes. “Dynamic, immediate feedback directly to the customer is important. For example, when customers start a washer, and the system lights up or the automatic soap froths suds all over the wash wheel window, they have witnessed that ‘a thing’ just happened and feel better about spending a premium price.
“Soap’s benefits are easy for customers to understand, as everyone knows its function. Ozone is more of a challenge, as it is obviously not as ubiquitous, so we rely on that dynamic feedback to educate. For instance, a bright screen – displaying, ‘Your laundry is now being sanitized!” – ever time a wash cycle with ozone begins is one of the techniques that we’ve found to be effective.”
Moore agreed that marketing and education are one of ozone’s biggest hurdles.
“The laundry owner has to be able to market it to his or her customers,” he noted, adding that his company provides videos and signage to help with this aspect of adding ozone to a laundry operation.
“One of the biggest mistakes is hiding your system from your customers,” Daniels warned. “Be proud of your investment, and show it off. Don’t assume that your customers will read the one sign you’ve got up that explains ozone. Get dynamic about it. Educate your attendants in the basic advantages ozone provides. There isn’t much interaction time between attendants and customers, so make it count – and be sure your employees are able to provide answers to questions, rather than just a shrug. Focus on marketing, customer and attendant education, and dynamic customer feedback.”
In Part 2 of this article, four successful laundromat owners will share their experiences with adding ozone to their operations.
