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CLEAN EVEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE! A BARRIER AGAINST MICRO ORGANISMS AND CONTAMINATIONS

It is too elementary to say that an item of clothing is clean when the stains are gone and it smells nice.

In certain contexts the concept of clean goes well beyond these aspects and includes disinfection, i.e. the elimination of the bacterial and viral load that the fabric can contain and carry.

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IT IS TOO ELEMENTARY TO SAY THAT AN ITEM OF CLOTHING IS CLEAN WHEN THE STAINS ARE GONE AND IT SMELLS NICE.

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There are bacteria and viruses that cannot be removed through traditional washing, even at high temperatures.

Accordingly, potentially infected fabric requires greater attention and a different, specific, process.

In fact, there would be no point in washing and disinfecting potentially infected clothing with a traditional washing machine, to then place them back in the environment where there are other infected items waiting to be washed.

One must also factor in that infected agents build up along the edge of the washing machine door when items are loaded in, due to many reasons: the fabric inevitably touches the edges of the door, staff touch the area with their hands, the air in the room can be contaminated, etc.

Many critical factors that a washing machine with two doors solves: the infected items are transferred from the dirty environment to the disinfected one through this equipment only, which runs a washing and disinfecting cycle before allowing the items to be transferred.

The dirty and disinfected rooms never come into direct contact: they are separated by an actual wall.

The laundry is unloaded from a dedicated door which opens onto a room that maintains the disinfection conditions, where different staff members from the ones in the loading zone work, without the possibility of any direct transmission of potentially pathogenic agents.

Furthermore, the equipment is serviced from the dirty side only, always preserving the disinfected zone.

The fabrics are washed and prepared for use easily, quickly and safely at each wash cycle

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Efficient and reliable technical materials and solutions When you need to deal with something so tiny that it is invisible but poses a well known potential for danger, it is necessary to rely on solutions that are efficient and simple to manage, that drastically limit human error.

Using the right materials is the first step in tackling these needs: stainless steel everywhere contact is possible with the items that need to be washed.

The seals and rubber parts are made using a special mixture that is resistant to the chemical agents that are typically used for disinfection treatments, including ozone.

All models, except for the one with a 16 kg load capacity, are equipped with two separate draining circuits, 3� in diameter: the water from particularly arduous treatments, from a chemical, bacteriological or viral point of view, can be drained

separately and then treated before being sent to the normal washing machine water draining circuit.

All of these solutions are managed by a freelyprogrammable microprocessor to enable every type of treatment requirement.

There is a software programme that can be installed on your PC to trace treatments over time, i.e. to manage their database.

There is also an optional static weighing system which electronically weighs the loaded amount of laundry in kilos and proportions the washing parameters.

Photo on the left.

A detail of the aseptic washing machine loading door, made entirely of steel.

Photo on the right.

Bacteria seen through an electronic microscope: with an aseptic washing machine it is possible to prevent it from spreading.

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The process does not end with the washing cycle The entire treatment needs to be aseptic

An aseptic laundry treatment can only be defined as such if it completes the entire process. All of the items that An aseptic laundry facility allows you to provide a certified service, in terms of safety and hygiene.

are washed and disinfected in the aseptic washing machine must stay inside a circuit that is separate from the laundry room.

It will therefore be necessary to install dryers in the clean zone of the laundry room, where only disinfected fabrics will be dried, as well as roller ironers to iron them.

Storage must also be separate: how would it ever make sense to store disinfected items with ones that have been treated traditionally?

In other words, all of the equipment that is upstream of the aseptic washing machines must only treat disinfected laundry, inside a controlled environment, so as to guarantee that when this laundry is used, it is free

of any bacterial and viral load.

The same can be said of the laundry staff: staff working in the dirty laundry sorting and loading zone cannot work in the unloading zone and subsequent treatments of the disinfected laundry, at the same time.

Every time a staff member goes from one zone to the other in the laundry room, he/she must go through a disinfection room, where he/ she is subject to treatments to counter p o t e n t i a l pathogenic a g e n t s contained in elements at risk, such as work smocks, foot wear, gloves, caps, etc..

An aseptic laundry facility entails a radical change in how the area and staff are managed, but it allows you to provide a certified service, in terms of safety and hygiene.

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fields of application: a world of discovery At first glance the fields of application for this type of laundry facility seem quite limited, however this is not the case.

The first examples, perhaps the simplest, are hospitals or senior citizen's homes.

Items coming from operating rooms, There are truly a multitude of sectors that require laundry facilities with an aseptic laundry treatment circuit. as opposed to wards, need all of the pathogenic agents to be removed before being sent back into circuit for use.

The same can be said of senior citizen's homes, especially when there is a centralised laundry facility that treats laundry from various accommodation facilities, often with very different needs.

The food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic sectors also require above-average hygiene standards:

the operators in these sectors are required to observe quite strict hygiene standards and therefore, in the same way, the treatment of their uniforms needs to be equally strict: smocks, overshoes, gloves, caps and special coveralls need to be treated in an aseptic laundry facility.

There are also a number of very specific sectors such as thermonuclear electric power plants or sites where hazardous materials are stored.

In these cases, possibly even more so than in the previous examples, the items being treated are also considered personal protective equipment, and as such, must provide their protective function with the same degree of efficiency.

Clean rooms and food treatments Whether we are dealing with companies that produce special individual protective devices such as gloves for operating rooms or food treatment, the aseptic aspect of the fabrics being used is essential in guaranteeing the quality of the processed product.

Operating rooms and practices The most common facilities requiring a laundry room with an aseptic laundry treatment circuit.

Treatments in special environments What should people in charge of the safety of special environments know?

They cannot even think of wearing protective clothing that they cannot rely on 100%, as it may potentially be contaminated from previous work shifts!

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Washed, disinfected, dried and... ironed as needed Even in special contexts with possibly strict requirements, this does not mean that a wellironed item cannot be more presentable as well as more comfortable to wear.

Then why not include the professional ironing treatment as well?

Grandimpianti offers a complete range of equipment to iron flat items such as sheets, pillow cases, operating room sheets, and much more.

A vast series of appliances allows you to manage ironing shaped items such as staff uniforms, smocks, aprons and all of the personal protective equipment that staff wear to perform their tasks.

Clean side

Laundry is removed from the laundry facility following the complete treatment in the aseptic circuit.

DIAGRAM OF THE ASEPTIC PROCESS

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1 infected laundry is brought in and sorted; 2 Steel sink to pre-treat laundry, when required; 3 Aseptic washing machine loading zone. Laundry is transferred from the dirty to the clean side, only once the aseptic washing machines have completed a full washing and disinfecting cycle.

4 Driers for drying laundry; 5 Ironing flat laundry with roller ironers; 6 Ironing shaped laundry with ironing tables and form finishers; 7 Laundry storage at the end of the aseptic treatment process.

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Dirty side

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Dirty and potentially infected laundry enters the facility and only reaches the clean zone through the aseptic washing machines.

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REUSING ITEMS Items made using particular techniques are required to fulfil specific protection and safety needs, and this means high costs: being able to reuse these items allows you to cut-back on running costs.

REPEATABILITY AND TRACEABILITY When we talk about pathogenic agents and truly unique and specific installations, it is always essential to be able to trace back to the treatments that the items have undergone over time. Guarantee of traceability and repeatability.

Always!

RISK REDUCTION

An aseptic laundry treatment cycle allows you to eliminate the pathogenic agents of the treated items, reducing the risk of spreading contagion to staff and patrons of the facility.

RESULT Efficiency is a key factor for laundromats. With aseptic treatments, efficiency guarantees obtaining the result, i.e. eliminating all elements of risk carried by treated fabrics.

Give us the opportunity to come visit you. We will be happy to explain, in detail, how to set up an aseptic laundry treatment circuit by adopting a work system that is able to satisfy all of the disinfection, safety and hygiene needs of your facility!

All Grandimpianti I.L.E. machines are designed to provide energy savings, even when the treatment needs to be specifically dedicated to guarantee disinfection safety: follow the 4 Rs.

A GLOBAL OFFER

We expanded our horizon and now, in addition to the world of technology, we also scrutinise new territories and opportunities.

We aim to a planet made of beach towns, cities, inland areas and mountains where we can export our complete and professional textile care system.

Farming

Catering sector

Cruise ships

Sport and wellness

Cleaning companies

Food industry

Small and medium size boats Processing dairy products

Airports

Bakery plants Oil plants

Communities and schools

Meat processing

Healtcare sector

Coin-op laundry Gentlewash速

Army