Industry exchange | Medical fabric washing damage and solutions
When patients go to a hospital ward, the first thing they see is the bedding in the ward. If it is white and bright, it will immediately give people a warm and homely feeling, otherwise it will bring an uncomfortable mood. It can be seen how important the management of linen is. Because medical linen is in direct contact with the human body, it can not only reflect the comfort of the ward, but also reflect the scale and characteristics of the hospital.
Linen is getting more and more attention, and it is also a problem that managers often encounter. Improper linen damage is a real problem that affects hospital expenses. If it is ignored, linen resources may be wasted. If this problem is handled properly, the cost can be saved and the best effect can be exerted.
Decreased strength of linen fiber or part of fiber
After repeated washing, the fabric fibers will more or less partially lose their cohesion and strength, but if the strength drops too much, it means that there is a problem with the washing process:
1. The PH value of the chlorine bleaching agent is too low. During the chlorine bleaching process, if the PH value is too low, the available chlorine will be released too quickly, and the fiber strength will decrease significantly;
2. The concentration of bleaching agent is too high, the amount of bleaching agent, especially chlorine bleaching, is too high, and the concentration is too high, which will seriously affect the degree of polymerization of fabric fibers;
3. The temperature is too high during bleaching, continuous heating during bleaching, too high temperature will cause excessive bleaching and damage fibers;
4. Excessive use of acid agent, cotton fabric is sensitive to acid, acid will significantly reduce the strength of fiber.
Pinhole damage on linen
Bed sheets and tablecloths sometimes have holes after washing, and towels may also have broken piles or pinhole damage after washing. Most of the reasons are caused by bleaching, and they may also be damaged by alkali:
1. The local bleaching agent is excessively bleached, resulting in serious local damage to the linen. The specific method is to misuse the bleaching agent, oxygen bleaching and chlorine bleaching at the same time into another bleaching bath;
2. Insufficient bleaching temperature;
3. Strong washing powder or caustic soda is directly dripped on the linen without mixing well, resulting in spots or pinholes;
4. The drum of the washing machine is not rotating, the bleach is unevenly distributed, or the bleach is partially accumulated on the linen with a water temperature of 60-70 degrees, leaving pinholes;
5. Bleach dissolves too slowly;
6. There are trace metals such as iron in the bleaching bath, which partially catalyzes the decomposition of bleach;
The special stains on the linen must be treated separately. If they are not cleaned in time after treatment, but placed for a period of time before washing, small holes will also appear.
Appearance of gray and yellow linen
Graying and yellowing of linen are the most common phenomena, and the quality of washing powder, water quality, bleach, and washing process all have important influences.
Gray reason:
1. The dirt is not completely removed
2. High hardness of water quality, calcium and magnesium salt deposition;
3. Calcium soap deposition;
4. Dirt redeposition;
5. Insufficient water flow;
6. The protein dirt is treated with chlorine bleaching, and it is not cleaned;
7. Some surfactants are treated with chlorine bleach.
Yellowing reason:
1. The dirt is not completely removed;
2. High water hardness and calcium and magnesium salt deposition;
Calcium soap deposition.
The neutralizing acid agent is added during the last watering, which can neutralize the residual alkali, increase the whiteness of the fabric, prevent yellowing, maintain the service life of the fabric, and at the same time protect the skin and inhibit the growth of microbial flora , which must not be omitted. When the softener is poured into the water at the end, it can repair the fibers worn by mechanical force during the washing process and straighten out the tissue structure, making the fabric softer and more comfortable, and can eliminate the adverse effects of static electricity on the human body.
Damaged linen
1. The feeding time is wrong when washing: Do not feed when the water in the machine is insufficient, especially pay attention to bleaching chemicals, which will easily cause the detergent to concentrate on the part of the linen and cause damage to the linen.
2. Improper use of bleaching agents: The laundry room should use bleaching detergents carefully, especially bleaching agents (chlorine bleaching agents). If the temperature is not used properly, the concentration is too high, and too much residue after washing will cause the linen to change color. There are even holes.
3. The linen is stained with corrosive chemicals: Among the various cleaning products used in hospitals, some are corrosive, especially some strong acid cleaners have a great impact on cotton fabrics. If employees are collecting or cleaning In the room, if the cotton fabric is accidentally stained with these detergents and is not cleaned immediately, it will also cause partial damage to the linen and poor fastness.
4. Misuse of detergents: The detergents in the laundry room are all chemical products, which require certain knowledge and responsibility to be used correctly. Otherwise, there may be wrong mixing of detergents, or even wrong addition of ingredients, which will also lead to this result.
5. The drum of the washing machine has burrs or some parts are not smooth: the linen may be scratched or worn during the washing process.
6. The sorting work before washing is not serious: some sharp or hard debris is mixed in it, causing damage during washing.
7. When loading or unloading the machine before and after washing: use too much force or touch sharp objects to puncture or hook.
8. Poor uniform distribution during washing and dehydration or high dehydration time is too long: mechanical force causes tearing, or the washing time is too short, the number of times is small, washing residue or washing procedure is defective, and residual alkali and residual chlorine are not removed by neutralization .
The quality and storage environment of the linen: Cotton fabrics must be stored away from moisture, the warehouse should be well ventilated, and the edges of the shelves in the warehouse should be smooth, etc. At the same time, the linen room should avoid pests and rodents.
Linen faded or stained with other colors
1. Misuse of detergents, such as chlorine bleaching;
2. The washing temperature is too high;
3. Artificial wear and tear;
4. The color fastness is too poor;
5. Color stain pollution and cross-color.
Linen wrinkled
1. The washing temperature is too high, which makes the fabric itself unbearable and easy to wrinkle. the
2. Temperature: Ironing temperature is the main factor affecting the ironing effect. If the ironing temperature is too high and exceeds the allowable heating temperature of the fabric, the fabric is easy to be ironed yellow, scorched, deformed, or even melted; if the ironing temperature is too low, although the fabric will not be damaged, the ironing effect will not be achieved.
3. Wetting during ironing is very important. Its main function is to allow water molecules to enter the internal molecules of the fiber, increase the distance between molecules and lubricate the movement between molecular chains, make the fibers expand and contract, become soft and easy to deform, thereby further changing the characteristics of the fibers. Provide deformation or setting conditions for ironing processing.
4. There is no step-by-step cooling when passing through the water, and the sudden cooling will easily cause the fabric to wrinkle.
5.The density of the fabric itself is too high, or the fabric has performance problems.
It should be noted that the personnel who use the equipment must clearly understand the fabric of the linen and the suitable ironing temperature. Once the setting is wrong, not only will the ironing effect not be achieved, but the temperature will be too high to damage the fabric and shorten the service life. The humidity should be controlled within a certain range, too wet or too dry is not conducive to the flatness of the linen. Wrinkles must not appear, and the on-site management conducts spot checks from time to time.
6. The test standard of pH value is (6.5-7.5) as qualified, and the total number of bacteria is less than 20CM2.
7. The washing temperature is 62°C-75°C. If the washing temperature is too high, the surfactant acting on the linen will form a gel, which will affect the decontamination ability of the detergent. The temperature for pure cotton fabrics can be slightly higher. The washing time is generally 8-10 minutes. If the time is too short, various reactions will not meet the requirements, thus affecting the decontamination effect.
Regardless of whether the hospital entrusts a social laundry factory to wash the linen or builds its own laundry room, the management personnel should track and check the number of linen regularly every month. They should not wait until there are major problems with the linen to solve them. They should be regularly and irregularly The use of linen, reasonable and scientific management, continuous tracking, monitoring and replacement of linen.
This article is transferred from the WeChat public account of Rui Medical Circle
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