Textile service: workwear made for industrial laundering

In a clinic, a care home or a large hotel, staff clothing is rarely washed at home. It is collected, sorted, washed at high temperature, dried and finished in a continuous flow, and the next morning it has to be ready to wear again. That is textile service, industrial laundering, and it asks something different of a garment than a household machine does. ID Identity, which Endyma Ikos represents exclusively in Greece, has a whole range developed for it, and we explain what sets it apart.

What industrial laundering asks of a garment

In laundries, textiles move through a continuous flow: sorting, washing, finishing, and round again. The garment has to withstand repeated industrial laundering and daily wear without losing its function. In practice that means three things: low shrinkage, so a size stays a size; shape retention, so the fit does not change after the first month; and colour that does not fade, so the team still looks like one team a year later. A garment without those is replaced early, and its cost is not its price but how many times you buy it again.

PRO Wear: developed together with the laundries

ID's PRO Wear range was developed in close collaboration with laundries and is tailored to textile service. Each style is tested for durability, washing performance and efficient handling in operations. The essentials:

• Washing and drying: suitable for washing at 80 °C for whites and 60 °C for colours, for tumble drying and for tunnel finishing.
• Sizes and colours: from XXS to 7XL as standard, in 22 colours, so each department can have its own.
• Materials: high quality, chosen for a long life in daily use.
• Stock: very large volumes in stock, with delivery reliability of around 97%.

The philosophy is "wash, wear and repeat". The range is tested with the product's life cycle in view: fewer replacements, and so a smaller investment in new textiles over the course of a contract.

The same products, year after year

For anyone managing a clothing contract, perhaps the range's most important quality is its consistency: the same products, at the same quality, throughout the contract period. An extensive stock range, easy and fast reordering, and the same style in the same colour when a new colleague arrives mid-year. In care homes, where washing is daily, this is why we recommend the PRO Wear CARE garments: T-shirt, polo shirt, sweatshirt and zip cardigan, all tested for industrial laundering to ISO 15797.

Documentation for tenders and contracts

More and more tenders ask for documentation, not promises. The range has it:

• OEKO-TEX®: the textiles have been tested for harmful substances, for daily use and for repeated laundering.
• OEKO-TEX® STeP: documentation of responsible production conditions and traceability in the supply chain.
• EU Ecolabel: 48% of PRO Wear products are certified, to strict requirements across the whole life cycle.
• ESG report: ID's initiatives, targets and documentation across the value chain.

If your tender asks for the certificates, Endyma Ikos provides them together with the manufacturer's statements.

Comfort you can feel: TENCEL™ Lyocell

Durability does not mean a stiff fabric. Part of the range is made of TENCEL™ Lyocell, a soft fibre that breathes and wicks moisture away from the body effectively, for comfort that lasts the whole shift. For the staff of a practice or clinic, standing and moving for twelve hours, that counts as much as the washing temperature.

Before you order

Tell us how you wash: in your own laundry or an outside one, at what temperature, with or without a dryer. Our proposal starts there. For a team that launders industrially, the PRO Wear range is almost always the answer; for those who wash at home, caring for the garment makes the difference. In both cases we tell you, before you order, which garment suits your laundry.

Source: ID Identity, Textile service.