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Month: January 2023

George Barclay

If you operate a commercial laundry room in a hotel, a spa or a resort, then choosing the correct equipment is vital. After all, if you invest wisely in the equipment you use, you’ll receive efficiency savings, quality results and machines that perform for cycle after cycle. With this in mind, let’s take a detailed look at why choosing a commercial washing machine is so crucial for hotels and spas.

Commercial laundry for hotels and spas

Long-term use

When you purchase a commercial washing machine for your on-premises laundry, you’re investing in a machine that’s built to last. Put simply, domestic washing machines are not designed to withstand the demands of a commercial laundry room. This is because they aren’t built to run continually and will breakdown because they’re overworked. 

By contrast, our SMART commercial washing machines for hotels and resorts have been designed to complete at least 37,000 washes. This means they’ll stand the test of time.

Cost savings

On top of this, when compared with domestic models, commercial washing machines for resorts will also provide you with cost savings. This is because these machines are packed with SMART features that can help you save up to 32% on your utility costs, depending on the exact model you choose.

Load savings

Similarly, commercial washing machines are larger than domestic washing machines. With a variety of sizes available, you can choose a model that matches your typical load size. As a result, you can generate greater efficiencies and ensure you’re always washing the correct amount of laundry. 

By contrast, if you use a domestic washing machine, you may find that you’re overloading the machine regularly. This will overwork the machine and will lead to poor wash quality and breakdowns.

What if guests will use our machines?

If guests will use your commercial washing machine to clean their laundry or towels, then you can pay off the cost of running your machine by purchasing a coin-operated washing machine and dryer. 

With these machines, you get all the benefits we’ve already mentioned. However, each machine also features a robust coin-op system. Each also features an extra-large integrated coin box, so you don’t need to empty the machine as frequently. Plus, the machine also performs a full audit of cycle counts and monies received. It even features a time of day pricing modifier to ensure that revenue is always maximised. 

As you can see, commercial laundry equipment is always the best option for hotels and spas. Need help choosing a commercial washing machine for your business? Contact our laundry experts today. Whatever you need, we’ll take care of it.

Helen Buchan
infection control

From inconsistent quality to soaring fees, outsourcing your hospital’s microfibre cleaning could be costing you more than ever. So why not take control of the whole process?

Whether you need a new laundry or an upgrade to your existing setup, JLA offers a range of low-energy SMART Wash machines, OTEX ozone disinfection systems and fire risk-cutting S.A.F.E dryers, all designed to reduce your costs, lower your carbon footprint, and protect your investment in microfibre – while still guaranteeing compliance.

One option is our thermal washers, which use highly effective 75°C thermal disinfection programmes as an alternative to costly and damaging 90°C cycles. Meanwhile, OTEX disinfection offers an alternative to thermal disinfection. This technology uses the natural power of ozone to kill C.difficile, MRSA, E.Coli, coronavirus and other bugs, even on a cool wash. Data shows that the OTEX system is an effective approach for the decontamination of microfibre cloths without any detrimental impacts on performance up to 350 OTEX cycles*. In turn, you also save up to 40% on energy, meaning you save money too, while extending the life of your mops and cloths.

Our equipment can be installed free-standing or stacked to save space and offers capacity up to 180kg – perfect for high volumes and round-the-clock use. Barrier systems are also available to help you safely process every load.

We back all of this with a network of 450 engineers and a million-strong parts library. This means you can always expect a local response in the event of a laundry room breakdown, and the assurance that things will be fixed quickly, and often first time.

Then there’s Total Care: our unique, all-inclusive equipment and support package, specially designed for your hospital. Total Care means no upfront payment for new laundry equipment, and gives you free installation with 24/7 emergency support, including servicing and repairs, plus access to essential documents, bills and engineer booking in your free portal. All for a simple monthly fee.

For more about the benefits of bringing microfibre laundry in-house, contact us today.

George Barclay

Commercial washing machines are built to withstand even the toughest commercial laundry environments. However, although all of our commercial washing machines are designed to run for cycle after cycle, you still need to look after them and follow commercial washing machine best use guidelines to ensure they keep working at their best. 

Inside a commercial washing machine

To help you, we’ve listed our favourite commercial washing machine tips. By following these, you can ensure you’re not faced with any unexpected costs or the expense or disruption caused by downtime or repairs.

1. Buy the right machine for the job

This may sound obvious, but you must buy the best machine for the job. Commercial washing machines come in a range of sizes, so do your research and ensure you buy a machine that can easily accommodate your normal load size. If you regularly overfill your commercial washing machine, it will lead to problems further down the line.

2. Regularly put a hot wash on

Although commercial washing machines are designed to run multiple cycles per day, constant use can eventually take its toll and will lead to dirt and bacteria build-up. This is especially true if your business tends to wash on cooler cycles.

To stop this from happening, you should run an empty hot wash at least once a week. This will stop any bacteria or dirt sitting in the machine.

3. Leave the door ajar

The inside of a washing machine will always be a damp environment. However, if you allow this damp to stay present, then mould will inevitably start to grow inside the machine. If this happens, it will drastically lower your wash quality. 

To stop this from happening, simply leave the door of your commercial washing machine open slightly when it isn’t in use. This will allow any moisture to escape. It will also help the machine’s inners to ventilate and dry.

4. Clean the machine regularly

Although the hot wash we mentioned earlier will help you clean the depths of the machine, it will not help you clean the door, seals and soap dispenser. As a result, you should make sure you thoroughly clean and wipe these areas by hand at least once a week.

5. Sign up for Total Care

Although all these commercial washing machine tips will undoubtedly help your machine run more efficiently and help it last for longer, they cannot entirely prevent breakdowns. 

For this reason, when you buy a new commercial washing machine, we recommend that you take out a Total Care package. This way, not only will you receive your new machine without any upfront costs, but you’ll also never face any repair bills or call-out charges. 

If your machine breaks down, we guarantee a local engineer response. Plus, we’ll also provide round-the-clock monitoring to minimise downtime – we can even sort issues before you know about them. 

Follow our commercial washing machine best use guidelines and you’ll have no problem keeping your machine in the best condition. Looking to buy a new commercial washing machine for your premises? Take a look at our full range of commercial and industrial washing machines today.

Peter Westwell

Planning on building a new commercial kitchen? If you’ve never designed and created one of these spaces before, then you may be unaware of the true cost of a commercial kitchen. 

To help make the process easier, we’ve put together this commercial kitchen price guide. Here, we provide a ballpark price for each piece of equipment you require. We also discuss how you can spread the cost of a commercial kitchen with the help of our Total Care solution.

Commercial catering equipment in a kitchen

Commercial catering equipment prices

Pieces of commercial catering equipment are specifically built and designed to withstand the pressures of even the busiest services. As a result, high-quality commercial appliances can be expensive. 

To give you an idea of just how expensive these pieces of catering equipment can be, here’s a commercial kitchen price guide: 

  • Combination ovens – A vital piece of equipment in any commercial kitchen, a new combination oven can cost anywhere between £3,000 and £22,000, depending on the size and the model you choose 
  • Commercial hobs – If your kitchen will make lots of soups and sauces, you’ll need a commercial hob. Small portable options are available, but big gas hobs with six burners can cost up to £4,500
  • Salamander grills – Even small appliances like salamander grills can be costly. Options are available for a couple of hundred pounds, but market-leading salamander grills can cost up to £4,500
  • Bratt pans – These appliances are surprisingly expensive, and some bratt pans can cost up to £7,000 
  • Bain Maries – An essential component in many kitchens, bain maries cost around £200. However, you’ll likely need several if you run a large commercial kitchen 
  • Dishwashers – Another vital piece of equipment in any commercial kitchen, even the smallest and cheapest undercounter dishwashers cost around £1,000 
  • Fridges and freezers – Although cheap upright fridges are available for around £700, these are only suitable for small premises. Larger options can easily cost upwards of £2,000

When the cost of every appliance you’ll need is added together, the total cost of a commercial kitchen can easily exceed £50,000. This cost can be much higher if you need large items or require premium options.

Financing options if upfront costs are too high

Due to these high prices, some startup business owners choose to either lease, rent or finance their equipment, rather than buying it outright. However, we think we have a better solution: Total Care. 

Total Care is our unique, all-inclusive equipment and support package. With Total Care, you don’t pay anything upfront for your new equipment and you get free installation as well as 24/7 emergency support, all for a simple monthly fee. 

The full range of features and benefits available with Total Care include: 

  • Market-leading equipment with no upfront payments, repair bills or call-out charges – ever
  • Installation at no extra cost
  • Guaranteed local engineer response 
  • 24/7/365 support from friendly advisors
  • Access to MyJLA, with billing, essential documents, engineer booking and support in one place
  • Round-the-clock monitoring to minimise downtime – we sort issues before you know about them
  • Keep an eye on your energy usage with live bill estimates and CO2 emissions

If you want to learn more about Total Care and discover how we can help you avoid huge upfront commercial catering equipment prices, then talk to one of our experts today. Whatever you need, we’ll take care of it.

George Barclay

Setting up an industrial washing machine room is no easy task. Thankfully, we’re here to help. In this guide, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about industrial washing machine rooms, including the sectors they’re most applicable to, the types of industrial washing machine you need to install, and where the room should be located.

Commercial and industrial laundry machines

Which sectors benefit from industrial washers and dryers?

Industrial washing machines, such as our range of barrier washers, have been designed to combat the threat of microbiological contamination in hospitals and other healthcare environments. Similarly, the barrier approach is also popular where particle suppression is important, such as in the food or pharmaceutical industries.

Having a dedicated room on your premises for industrial washing machines is vitally important. This is because it ensures linens cannot become cross contaminated.

How do barrier washers work?

Using a special dual-door system, a barrier washer’s ‘passthrough’ system separates the dirty and clean stages of the process and protects staff, all while reducing the risk of cross-contamination. 

When used in conjunction with our OTEX ozone technology, our barrier washers also eradicate 99.999% of bacteria, viruses and micro-organisms, including MRSA and C. difficile.

How do you set up an industrial washer/dryer room?

Although how you set up your commercial laundry room will largely depend on the space you have available, there are some basic rules you should follow. 

First of all, your laundry room should be located on the ground floor of the building. This will facilitate access for laundry equipment and will also alleviate structure-borne vibration. 

On top of this, for infection control purposes, you should always plan the laundry away from the kitchen, ensuring that food and soiled linen do not share the same corridor. 

In addition to this, where possible, your laundry room should have a solid concrete ground floor slab. It should also have at least one external wall to receive dryer exhaust ducts and air inlet panels. This wall should also have a fire door. 

Once you’ve selected an appropriate room, you must create a layout that contains a ‘soiled/in’ door and a ‘clean/out’ door. The room itself should be designed with 1/3 of the space available for the ‘wet’ side and 2/3 for the ‘dry’ side – each side must also have its own sorting and storage area.

Now you have a room and a layout, you need to add the right machinery. In this scenario, selecting the right industrial-grade equipment is a must for both regulatory and practical reasons. 

Here at JLA, we offer a wide range of WRAS-approved industrial washing machines, industrial tumble dryers with a unique S.A.F.E system (Sensor Activated Fire Extinguishing), commercial irons and detergents – as well as our ground-breaking OTEX ozone disinfection system.

Unsure which machines you need or need more advice about setting up an industrial washing machine room? Talk to our laundry experts today.

George Barclay

If you need to heat a large space such as a hospital ward, then a domestic boiler simply will not be up to the task. Plus, if something goes wrong, it won’t be covered by its warranty. 

For this reason, your healthcare setting must invest in a commercial boiler that has been built to withstand your demands. 

 

Commercial boilers from JLA

After all, these boilers are specifically designed to keep patients comfortable, provide more reliable temperature control and achieve consistent heating and hot water. 

In this guide, we’ll outline how to choose the right commercial boiler for your healthcare setting.

When deciding which boiler is right for your healthcare setting, you’ll need to decide whether a floor-standing boiler or a wall-mounted boiler is best for your needs. Here are the benefits of each:

Floor-standing boilers

Floor-standing boilers come with outputs ranging from 80kW to 320kW. The larger your healthcare setting, the greater the output you’ll require. For example, while a JLA B80FS floor standing boiler may be powerful enough to heat a small medical centre, a much larger JLA B320FS floor standing condensing boiler will be required to heat rooms in a care home. 

Compact in size, our floor-standing commercial boilers for GP practices are the perfect choice if your boiler room is small and floor space needs to be maximised. As an added bonus, our commercial boilers for hospitals can fit through standard doors. Plus, their wheels make it easy to move each boiler as required.

Wall-mounted boilers

If your healthcare setting is primarily concerned about energy efficiency and cost savings, then consider a wall-mounted commercial gas boiler.

As well as outputs ranging from 49-150kW, each JLA wall-mounted boiler offers up to 98% gross efficiency. This gives each of our boilers an A-class rating. Plus, our commercial boilers for healthcare settings also come with clear efficiency settings that can help to keep your energy bills to a minimum.

One of the main benefits provided by our wall-mounted boilers is that they can be cascaded with other units to increase output. For example, you can combine multiple JLA B150WH wall hung boilers and effectively heat the largest healthcare settings imaginable. Plus, by cascading our commercial boilers for hospitals, you can also create contingencies, in case an unexpected fault occurs. 

Whether you’re looking to replace a faulty unit or upgrade your old, here at JLA we can design, install, maintain and repair what can be the most important appliances in your building – for no capital outlay. To discover more about our commercial boilers for healthcare settings, speak to our heating experts today.

Helen Buchan

If you work in a hospital or care home, you’ll know just how vital infection control is. To help you achieve the required standards, we’ve put together this guide to infection control for care homes and hospitals. 

Here we’ll explain exactly how our OTEX infection control solutions can help you achieve disinfection and our top tips for infection control in hospitals and care homes.

Hospital worker disinfection process

What is OTEX?

Our OTEX laundry and room disinfection innovations have set the standards in ozone technology since 2004, a time when public concern over the rise of HCAIs such as C. diff, MRSA and E. coli was particularly high. 

At this time, hospitals and care homes needed reassurance that their laundry could be kept clean and hygienic. As a result, we developed our own patented interfusor technology to use ozone as a natural disinfectant within the laundry system.

Having developed the UK’s first validated ozone washer system, we have since made continuous advancements in air disinfection through our range of sanitiser units.

How can OTEX solutions help with infection control in hospitals and care homes? Otex laundry systems.

Our OTEX ozone laundry system can remove all traces of coronavirus and will kill 99.999% of other harmful bacteria, moulds and yeasts. Plus, our best-in-class ozone system can also eradicate harmful micro-organisms in every wash. It even prints a validation receipt to prove disinfection has taken place.

Added to this, our OTEX infection control solution also cleans deeper to give optimum wash quality and extend fabric life. Fibres in linens are gently opened during the ozone laundry process, which enables deep cleaning that adds a high wash quality to the core disinfection process. This leaves users with fresher-smelling laundry, while items such as towels will come out up to 20% fluffier than they would in traditional washing machines.

Ozone room sanitisers

Our ozone room sanitisers can kill bacteria safely and naturally both in the air and on surfaces in under an hour. Plus, our easy-to-use ‘Compact’ and ‘Cube’ disinfection units also neutralise unpleasant odours. By contrast, filters, purifiers, ionisers, disinfectant sprayers and traditional foggers can only mask them temporarily.

Using the natural disinfection properties of ozone, both our Compact and Cube sanitising machines remove unwanted bacteria from air and surfaces. With an ozone room sanitiser, you’ll experience the following benefits: 

  • Destroy bacteria – efficient infection prevention
  • Remove odours – leaving the fresh, smell of ozone
  • Clean and safe – no dangerous chemical residues
  • Short cycle times – quick turnaround of rooms
  • Portable machines – easy to move from room-to-room
  • Easy to use – pre-programmed room settings
  • Robust – sturdy design for reliable long-term use
  • Cost-efficient – no consumable/refill costs
  • Go/No-go indicator – confirms when the room is safe to re-enter
  • Thorough – reach areas routine cleaning can’t

Our top infection control tips for hospitals and care homes

Now you’ve seen exactly how our OTEX solutions can help you. However, as well as using these class-leading pieces of machinery, we recommend that you also follow these seven tips for infection control in hospitals and care homes: 

  1. Ensure all employees wash their hands thoroughly
  2. Make sure staff never cross-contaminate 
  3. Clean all rooms thoroughly and regularly 
  4. Make sure your laundry process is ‘infection control’ compliant 
  5. Run a first aid refresher 
  6. Review your medical/sanitary waste disposal methods 
  7. Re-evaluate all food hygiene processes 

If you’d like to discover any extra detail about these tips for infection control in care homes and hospitals, read our blog on seven key tips for infection control. Alternatively, if you’d like to learn more about our OTEX solutions, talk to our laundry experts today.

George Barclay

In the current economic environment, everyone is looking for ways to make their operations more efficient. Premises with on-site commercial laundries are no exception to this rule. In fact, these are arguably the businesses that will make the biggest savings by finding extra efficiencies. 

Energy saving tips on commercial laundry

To help these businesses, we’ve created this commercial laundry guide. Below you’ll find the best commercial laundry energy saving tips around. Plus, we’ve also outlined several commercial laundry cost-saving measures you can implement. 

Choose efficient machines

If you’re looking at starting a commercial laundry or you need to upgrade your equipment, then the biggest commercial laundry energy saving tip we can give you is to buy efficient equipment. 

Pieces of high quality and eco-friendly laundry equipment, such as the commercial washers and tumble dryers we provide, have been designed to reduce cycle times, use less water and electricity, and increase overall efficiencies. This is particularly the case with our SMART washing machines, which deliver optimum water, energy and detergent consumption on every cycle.

Efficiency is especially important for any commercial laundry that uses coin-operated washing machines and tumble dryers. After all, the shorter the cycle length and the less energy you use, the more profit you’ll make.

Wash at lower temperatures

If you use the right detergents and wash cycles, then you can wash clothes in cold water and get the same results you’d receive by using hot water. In the process, you can use less energy and spend less money. 

If you can turn the temperature down and receive the same high-quality results, then you’ll see a huge difference in your electricity costs. However, before you change the wash temperature, you should ensure you’re still meeting any standards that your commercial laundry must meet.

Clean dryers more regularly

If your laundry room staff clean lint screens before each use and continually clean each machine regularly, then you’ll find that items dry quicker and your commercial dryers use a lot less energy. 

On top of this, you should make sure that your staff members also regularly clean any ducts. This way, you can ensure that the heated air enters your dryers as efficiently as possible.

Other steps you can take

If you’re attempting to save energy and make your commercial laundry a little greener, then it’s likely you’ll spend most of your time focusing on your machinery. However, you can make other commercial laundry energy saving decisions that will help your mission. 

For example, by making simple modifications to your laundry, such as upgrading your lights to energy-efficient bulbs and setting timers to automatically turn off lights and electronics, you can reduce your carbon footprint and save money on your electricity bill.  

Fancy taking some steps to make your laundry room more energy efficient? Our commercial laundry cost-saving tips will help. If new commercial washers and dryers are the best solution for you, then we’d love to help you find the perfect match. Speak to our laundry experts today. Whatever you need, we’ll take care of it.

Need help? Call us on

01422822282

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George Barclay

George Barclay

Laundry Expert

Head of Installations George joined JLA as an apprentice service engineer in 2011. With years of experience in plumbing, engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, he oversees the delivery of safe, compliant installations.

George is Gas qualified for both laundry and COMCAT 1, 2, 3, 5, and holds IOSH Managing Safety and 17th edition accreditation.

Read George's full profile
Helen Buchan

Helen Buchan

Infection control expert

JLAs infection control expert, Helen is always seeking ways to bring new solutions to infection control challenges, and is also passionate about sourcing the best range of products to help customers stay compliant, reduce energy consumption and costs.

Learning, research and development are central to Helen’s role – having led extensive testing of our products, she has an unrivalled understanding of what works best for our customers, as well as the ever-shifting regulations that impact them.

Read Helen's full profile
Peter Westwell

Peter Westwell

Catering expert

A fully qualified electrical and gas catering engineer, Peter brings a wealth of knowledge to JLA after previously owning his own successful catering equipment business.

Now as Catering Project Manager at JLA, Peter helps organisations of all sizes choose the most energy-efficient, cost-effective equipment and support for their needs.

Read Peter's full profile

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