Laundry Guide

It is essential to ensure excellent water quality for the treatment process, especially in view of the frequent recycling of the wash liquor. Recommended values are: calcium carbonate < 35ppm (2 °dH), hydrogen carbonate < 200ppm, sulphate < 200ppm and the liquor should be free of metal ions such as iron, manganese and copper. This is necessary to maintain colour quality, avoid excessive greying, prevent damage to the textile and to achieve a perfect ironing result.

The machinery should be regularly maintained and free of burrs to avoid mechanical damage to the textiles. For the water filtration systems, explicit attention should be paid to ensure that the filtration works correctly and sufficiently. An insufficient filtration of the water can lead to deposits on the textiles (mostly fluff) and cause various problems such as pilling or greying / discoloration.

Separate white from colour so that dyes cannot be transferred - this is especially true for coloured new products. Dibella textiles are mostly pre-treated with optical brighteners to avoid problematic colour changes in the washing process. Since each laundry uses a specific washing program and thus a different quantity/type of brightener, the white/colour change can be individual.

Make sure that the textiles are placed straight and accurately into the ironer. The cylinder pressure should be evenly distributed over the entire width. Machine speed, cylinder pressure and ironing bed temperature should work together in such a way that an optimum residual moisture of the textiles after ironing is achieved. If possible, the textiles should be fed with the head side first and not with the opening, i.e. as an example not with the hotel/bag closure. If you are processing textiles from different suppliers, yarn counts, qualities, m²-weights or weaving & confection types, please make sure to adjust the ironing program accordingly. A uniform ironer program, e.g. with a coarse fabric quality TC150 on the one hand and a fine TC300 or 50/50% polyester and 100% cotton on the other hand, is not optimal.

In order to maximize the lifetime of the textiles and to achieve an optimal washing/ironing/drying result, over-drying of the textiles should be prevented. Pay particular attention to ensuring that the residual moisture of the textiles is adapted to the subsequent drying process. Immediately after the last process (drying/ironing) the following residual moisture should be achieved: cotton = 6%, 80/20 = 5% and 50/50 at least 3%. If you have any questions regarding the measurement of the residual moisture, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If possible, the drying process should be monitored via infrared measurement. Do not mix especially heavy articles such as bath mats with considerably lighter ones such as towels. This prevents overdrying of the textiles and maintains the whiteness, fluffiness, haptics and durability.  When using new terry towels, it is recommended to clean the filters afterwards. (terry towels tends to have a higher fiber loss than e.g. bed linen or sheets due to the lower yarn twist).

For articles that are mainly made of polyester, e.g. incontinence pads or bathrobes with a 100% PES velour outer surface, we recommend setting the input temperature to 120C°. The exit temperature should be limited to 60C°. In addition, ensure a residual moisture content of at least 2% - strong overdrying of polyester usually leads to non-reversible damage to the textile (polyester melt).

The pH value after rinsing should be about 6 to reach a pH value of 6.5 after drying.  The rinsing temperature should be kept below 40C° to avoid creasing and excessive drying of the textiles already in the transport system. This applies in particular to textiles with a higher polyester content.

A special pre-wash program is usually not necessary, but we generally recommend to work pH-neutral during the first wash cycle, to select an increased wash liquor or alternatively to reduce the load.  In case of any problems regarding remaining chemicals from the production process, the leading detergent suppliers offer various auxiliaries such as Beisol/CHT, Byor/Christeyns, Turbo Super Wetting/ Ecolab, or AppexA/ Burnus Hychem.

Although the textiles can be bleached with chlorine, the pH value and temperature must be adjusted accordingly.  When chlorine is used, no more than 350 ppm active chlorine should be present, while the pH value should be 10.5 and the temperature should be 60°C. When oxygen bleaching is used, the active oxygen should not exceed 250 ppm, while the traditional temperature should be 80°C and pH 11.

For fabrics from approx. 300 thread count (warp and weft threads added up to one square inch) the set pressure and the pressure build-up must be observed to avoid bursting of any air cushions that may occur.

Always use a suitable washing process from your chemical supplier, which is adapted to your machine configuration and the specific material composition of the textiles.