Sustainably clean in just one hour
With up to 4.5 litres of dirt and moisture per square metre, dust control mats are true suction miracles - and after a while, they have to be cleaned of dirt themselves. Read here how to clean the mats in a resource-saving and hygienic way.
Dust control mats made of special High-Twist Nylon absorb up to 4.5 litres of dirt and moisture per square metre. They thus contribute to both cleanliness and safety. After all, damp shoe soles and wet leaves increase the risk of slipping enormously. Dirt-trapping mats brush off shoe soles and pick up wet and dry dirt in the process. They have quite a job to do: for every 500 customers and guests, up to 3.5 kg of dirt enter department stores, restaurants and hotels every day.
Since most of this is absorbed by the dust control mats, retailers, companies, kindergartens and many other institutions also benefit from cleaning costs reduced up to 70 %*. Individually designed - for example, in the company colours and with the logo - dust control mats are the perfect business card to greet people.
To ensure that the first impression is consistently convincing, the dust control mats should be cleaned regularly - a service that CWS-boco provides for its customers in the rental service routine. As with other textiles, attention is paid to resource conservation throughout the entire service cycle. This includes the washing process.
CWS operates 44 modern laundries in Europe. In addition to cloth towel rolls and workwear, dust control mats are also washed and reprocessed there - 46,971 tonnes in 2017 alone.
In order to use resources as efficiently as possible, the water is used several times - for example, first for cleaning the towel rolls and then for cleaning the dust control mats.
The water is then recycled. Thanks to state-of-the-art technologies, the water recycling rate is 80%.
The residues filtered out of the wastewater are then disposed of, and microorganisms that break down organic substances are added to the wastewater. This way, they contribute to the natural self-purification process of the water.
CWS-boco also pays attention to the environment when it comes to electricity:
The laundries are certified according to the hygiene, environmental and quality standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 14065.
The reprocessing procedure of the dust control mats usually goes like this: After the mats arrive at the laundries, they are desanded if necessary and weighed on a so-called weighing belt (or similar equipment). This is important because the dirt they have picked up makes them heavier than their original weight - as a rule, they weigh about 25 to 30 % more. Mats that are correspondingly heavy can quickly overload the washing machines.
For the cleaning process, the mats are grouped into batches of 100 kilograms each. In some laundries, the first step is to remove the coarse dirt from the mats. This is done with the help of a large device that reminds one of a dryer. It knocks sand, coarse dirt and small stones out of the mats. Dirt that thus no longer gets into the dirty water.
This step helps to save detergent and water. It also reduces washing machine wear and tear - they wash reliably for longer and need to be repaired less often.
Washing tunnel with ten chambers
Now the actual washing process begins:
Spin first, then dry
Dripping wet as the mats are at this stage, they are considerably heavier than they were at the beginning of the washing process. Therefore, they are centrifuged in the next step. This is done in machines that run at 1,000 rpm. Then the mats are ready for the dryer, where the remaining wetness is also removed from them.
Now they are ready to absorb new dirt again. In order for them to be delivered, they are rolled, folded or laid flat on pallets. Service drivers pick them up and transport them to the depot or directly to the customer.
Clean in just one hour
The whole process is well thought out and oriented towards customer requirements. This is also reflected in the duration of the process: the washing process itself only takes around 35 minutes, the entire reprocessing process a maximum of one hour.
