In aged care, laundry doesn’t get attention unless it goes wrong. And when it does, you’re accountable for everything from cross-contamination to torn linens.
Yet, no one seems to have the time to explain the science of laundry, even though it could boost your efficiency and wash results.
Our laundry expert, Dean Constable, is filling the gap with this series on laundry practices.
Laundry Soaking
Our fourth topic is laundry soaking.
While commercial washing machines and laundry chemicals are more effective than ever before, soaking is still an integral part of the stain removal process. Soaking is especially important in aged care laundries, where hygiene and cleanliness are critical to meet industry requirements including Aged Care Standard 3 – infection control precautions, Standard 5 – safe and clean environment, and Standard 7 – staff education.
In the hectic life of an aged care laundry worker, it may seem there’s no time to soak linen, but maintaining high standards is essential for safety and building trust in an aged care facility. With assistance from our laundry specialists, managing clean laundry can be a breeze. In this article, we explore effective laundry guidelines for care homes, including when to soak and how to streamline the process to save time.
The Importance of a Laundry Soak
Residents in aged care facilities are vulnerable to pathogens, bacteria, and infections, making hygiene a key priority for laundry managers and infection prevention control liaisons. (For more specific detail, read the Laundry Disinfection article in this series.)
To properly prevent and control infections in aged care laundries, there should be a process for soaking soiled linen such as towels, clothing, and bedding. Stained items, like tablecloths and delicates, should also be included in the soaking process to ensure thorough cleaning.
Regardless of how well-designed your washing procedure is – even when a technician has optimized chemical dosing, temperatures, and cycle times – automatic machine cycles don’t always remove the most stubborn stains. That’s why soaking is essential for removing residues from heavily soiled items. Below, we outline effective guidelines for soaking in aged care laundry environments.
Normal Washing Processes
Start by sorting your laundry items and washing them on their respective cycles, such as whites, woollens, and personals. (View our Sorting and Loading Laundry and Laundry Wash Cycles articles for more specific details.)
Afterwards, check any washed items for stains before transferring them to the dryer. Stained items have a better chance of getting cleaned at this stage, because drying can cause stains to ‘set in’.
Put the stained items through a Rewash cycle. This cycle dispenses more destaining chemicals to remove any stains that didn’t come out in the first wash. Check the washed items again. Anything that still has stains needs to go down for a linen soak.
Soaking Tips
Soaking laundry is an important part of any washing procedure, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare, education, and aged care. While it can be inconvenient, there are ways of making it easier with refinement of processes. Here are a few simple changes you can make:
- Set up stained items to soak overnight.
- Speak to your manager to get some laundry soaking buckets to help the process. The most convenient solutions are tubs with wheeled dollies and drain taps underneath.
- Keep track of which items are most often stained (for example, bed sheets and tablecloths) and increase your stock of these items to prevent shortages.
These simple, seemingly obvious stain removal solutions can help overcome problems like a lack of time to soak linen.
If your washing machines have a programmable soak cycle, you can also automate the process. Just before you leave for the day, all the stained items go into the machine, and you select the Soak cycle. Items sit in the chemical solution overnight and when you begin work next morning, simply put the items straight on for a normal wash and carry out usual procedures.
However, these cycles are best for high-volume usage (i.e. not ideal for a few items at a time) and should be set up by a trained laundry technician. If you need help automating your soaking process, reach out to Veridia today.
Get a Tailored Laundry Solution for Aged Care
Understanding the role of linen soaking in aged care laundries is crucial for maintaining hygiene and meeting industry standards. Soaking enhances stain removal and supports infection control by addressing pathogens on heavily soiled items like towels, bedding, and tablecloths. While routine washing cycles are effective, stubborn stains often require soaking as part of a systematic laundry process.
When you implement our key soaking strategies, you’ll save time and ensure optimal cleaning results, making soaking a practical and essential step in your aged care laundry operations.
At Veridia, we provide laundry chemical products designed specifically for aged care, including proven solutions to help you with accreditation. We take a hands-on, proactive approach starting with a hygiene consumables audit of your facility. Learn how we can make your hygiene systems more efficient by signing up for our newsletter.
