Laundry requires specialized knowledge and service. Chemical suppliers often serve as trusted business partners for commercial end users because they provide expert service, especially for large accounts in the healthcare, hospitality, and commercial laundry segments. Kline’s research for our Laundry Chemicals study is underway and, so far, these three end-use segments appear to be contributing to market gains.

Green cleaning trends impacting professional laundry include water recycling/reuse systems, effluent management systems, ozone or electrolyzed water systems, and cold water washing. Water recycling and effluent management systems are expensive and difficult to engineer so only cleaning operations who want to promote a “sustainability/corporate responsibility” image or adhere to government regulations are likely to implement. Ozone water systems have been on the market for 20+ years, and some end users use them as part of their green cleaning initiatives while others are not sold on the usefulness of such systems. Cold water washing, where water temperatures are anywhere from 90-120 °F, use less energy than hot water washing; however, some end users that are particularly concerned with eliminating bacteria, viruses, and other germs from laundry, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, may not be willing to use cold water washing systems. Continue reading→