ALEXANDRIA, Va. — June 12, 2020 — Crown Health Care Laundry Services, the Pensacola, Fla.-based independent full-service healthcare laundry processor and linen company serving the southeastern United States for more than 60 years, has recently achieved the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification for its Spartanburg, S.C. facility. This location joins the following Crown facilities that also carry the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification: Selma, Ala., Lakeland and Pensacola in Fla., Quitman, Ga., Columbia, Miss., and Bishopville, S.C. Hygienically Clean is the quantified, validated standard and measure for hygienically clean textiles in North America since 2011, and achieving this certification reflects their commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing based on established hygienically clean healthcare textile methods and standards.

The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the organization’s continuing dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that:

• Employees are properly trained and protected;
• Managers understand regulatory requirements;
• OSHA-compliant; and
• Physical plant operates effectively.

To achieve certification initially, laundries pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. They also must pass a facility inspection. To maintain their certification, they must pass quarterly RODAC and semi-annual USP 62 testing (RODAC results less than or equal to 20 cfu per square diameter and USP 62 results must show an absence of specified microorganisms) to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained. Re-inspection occurs every two to three years.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations by verifying quality control procedures in linen, uniform and facility services operations related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced by TRSA in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for Hygienically Clean healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with Hygienically Clean launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles.

“Congratulations to Crown on their most recent certification,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their commitment to infection prevention and that their laundries take every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Hygienically Clean reflects the evolution of healthcare laundry certification in light of growing global concerns about infection control, documenting practices that ensure elimination of potentially harmful microbial content while adding quantifiable verification of continuous improvement in overall cleanliness.

Posted June 13, 2020

Source: TRSA

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — June 12, 2020 — TRSA, the Association for Linen, Uniform and Facility Services, is hosting its Inaugural Workwear and Facility Services Conference, Sept. 22-23, 2020, at the Embassy Suites O-Hare-Rosemont in Rosemont, Ill. The in-person event provides opportunities to network, learn, and share with executive and management colleagues providing uniforms, workwear, garments and facility services to businesses, manufacturing, food processing, manufacturing and others. The Conference combines general sessions and interactive panels for sharing best practices, emerging issues and innovations. Participants will gain immediately applicable knowledge, skills, strategies, and tactics to advance your understanding and knowledge of workwear and facilities processing, service and management.

The conference will kick off with an executive panel discussion on COVID-19 and Plant Operations that will provide insights into how COVID-19 has transformed the production and labor markets for national uniform service chains and their perspectives on how the coronavirus could impact the practices of plant operations relating to hygiene, supplying facility services products and more. The following panelists will participate:

• Jim Buik, TRSA chair and president, Roscoe co., will be the facilitator;
• Bill Ross, senior vice president, UniFirst Corp.;
• Stefan Schurter, senior vice president, cleanroom services, Prudential Overall Supply; and
• Art Wake, president, uniform services, Aramark Uniforms and Apparel.

Conference speakers and presenters are experts from the linen, uniform and facility services industry. They’ll identify a wide range of everyday associated with keeping laundries operational and profitable. Benefit from their expertise on the following topics that will improve your business:

• Increasing Revenue Per Stop;
• Rerouted Relationships;
• Stockroom Management;
• Who Has the Highest Productivity?; and
• Networking Reception.

The conference will close with a first-hand look at the Roscoe Co., and UniFirst Corp. plants. These tours and follow-up debriefing sessions will explain how their business philosophies and use of current technology impact operations.

Individuals who earned the TRSA Certified Professional Laundry Manager (CPLM) designation can receive 12 credit hours toward recertification by attending the Inaugural Workwear and Facility Services Conference’s educational sessions and plant tours.

Posted June 12, 2020

Source: TRSA


GREENSBORO, N.C. — June 11, 2020 — Cone Denim® is pleased to launch its Pride Selvage Denim in honor of Pride Month. Pride Denim is the newest fabric in the Cone® Community Collection to show Cone’s support of a wider and more inclusive community. Cone will donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of its Pride fabric and accessories to the HRC Human Rights Campaign whose work focuses on achieving equality for the LGBTQ Community.

“The importance of equality, inclusion and unity resonates across our world,” said Steve Maggard, president, Cone Denim. “The Cone Community Collection offers an additional voice to these principles and a way for individuals to visibly support those causes and communities that are important to them. Denim is the most globally iconic fabric and one that people identify with and personally connect to when they wear it. We are pleased to offer our Pride denim as an expression of support for the LGBTQ community.”

The Cone® Community Collection fabrics are designed with neutrality in mind and are perfect for both Men’s and Women’s collections. These limited edition fabrics have a timeless authentic character and a brilliant optimistic indigo shade with just the right stretch for comfort. The Pride Denim incorporates the rainbow colors of the Pride flag into the selvage of the fabric.”

Pride Denim fabric and accessories made with the special denim are available on the White Oak Shop. Accessory items include a large tote bag, wallet and travel kit, all crafted using the unique rainbow colored selvage. Smaller quantities of Pride denim fabric are also available on the Shop. Larger volumes of Pride Denim are available for order through a Cone Denim sales representative.

Maggard continued: “Denim breaks through boundaries and speaks to many individuals. Our hope is that by designing fabrics that have broad appeal we can reach as many brands and people as possible in support of meaningful causes.”

Posted June 11, 2020

Source: Cone Denim


CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — June 11, 2020 — Americhem — a designer and manufacturer of custom color masterbatch, functional additives, engineered compounds, and performance technologies — has announced another webinar in its recent series, called “Antimicrobials in Fibers 201” that will take place on June 25, 2020.

This webinar class will teach you how antimicrobials make fiber applications inhospitable to microbes and how you can use them as additives in masterbatch and compound polymeric solutions. And your burning questions answered on the spot!

Key Takeaways:

• The basics of antimicrobials;
• Types of antimicrobial options for fiber applications;
• How to choose the right antimicrobial for your fiber product;
• What regulatory claims are appropriate for the fibers industry; and
• Other additives to enhance many fibers such as nonwovens and textiles.

Event Details:

• Thursday, June 25, 2020
• 9:00 – 9:30am EST
• Presented by Robert Baldy and Roger Threadgill

If you want join “Antimicrobials in Fibers 201” webinar on June 25 at 9:00am EST, register at the following link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/289273120525828879?source=Press+Release

Posted June 11, 2020

Source: Americhem

ZÜRICH — June 11, 2020 — In 2019, global shipments of spinning, texturing, weaving, knitting, and finishing machines decreased on average compared to 2018. Deliveries of new short-staple spindles, open-end rotors, and long-staple spindles dropped by 20 percent, 20 percent, and 66 percent, respectively. The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles declined by 4.5 percent and deliveries of shuttle-less looms shrunk by 0.5 percent. Shipments of large circular machines contracted by 1.2 percent, while shipped flat knitting machines fell by 40 percent. The sum of deliveries in the finishing segment also dropped by 2 percent on average.

These are the main results of the 42nd annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. A summary of the findings for each category is presented below. The 2019 survey has been compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production.

Spinning Machinery

The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by about 1.7 million units in 2019 to a level of 6.96 million. Most of the new short-staple spindles (92 percent) were shipped to Asia & Oceania, where delivery decreased by 20 percent. While levels stayed relatively small, Africa and South America saw shipments increasing by 150 percent and 120 percent, respectively. The six largest investors in the short-staple segment were China, India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

563,600 open-end rotors were shipped worldwide in 2019. This represents a 147,500-units drop compared to 2018. Ninety percent of global shipments went to Asia & Oceania where deliveries decreased by 21 percent to 517,000 rotors. Indonesia and Pakistan, the world’s 5th and 6th largest investors in open-end rotors, increased their investments by 120 percent and 15 percent, respectively. China, Vietnam, India, and Uzbekistan, the world’s 1st to 4th largest investors in 2019 decreased investment by 48 percent on average.

Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles decreased from 120,000 in 2018 to nearly 40,000 in 2019 (-66 percent). This effect was mainly driven by a fall in deliveries to Europe (-72 percent) and South America (-80 percent). Eighty percent of total deliveries where shipped to China and India.

Texturing Machinery

Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) increased by 12 percent from nearly 22,800 in 2018 to 25,500 in 2019. With a share of 88 percent, Asia & Oceania was the strongest destination for single heater draw- texturing spindles. China and Chinese Taipei were the main investors in this segment with a share of 64 percent and 12 percent of global deliveries, respectively.

In the category of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) global shipments decreased by 5 percent to a level of 464,000 spindles. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments decreased to 90 percent. Thereby, China remained the largest investor accounting for 77 percent of global shipments.

Weaving Machinery

In 2019, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms decreased by 0.6 percent to 133,250 units. Thereby, shipments in the categories of “air-jet” and “rapier and projectile” fell by 7.7 percent to 30,200 and 22 percent to 25’000, respectively. The deliveries of water-jet looms increased by 12 percent to 78,000. The main destination for shuttle-less looms in 2019 was Asia & Oceania with 95 percent of all worldwide deliveries. Ninety eight percent, 93 percent, 86 percent of all water-jet, air-jet, and rapier/projectile looms went to that region. The main investors were China and India in all three sub-categories. Deliveries of weaving machines to these two countries reached 89 percent of total deliveries. Bangladesh further played an important role in the rapier/projectile segment with 20 percent of global shipments.

Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery

Global shipments of large circular knitting machines fell by 1.2 percent to 26,400 units in 2019. The region Asia & Oceania was the world’s leading investor in this category with 86 percent of worldwide shipments. With 61 percent of all deliveries (i.e. 13,143 units), China was the favored destination. India and Vietnam ranked second and third with 2,670 and 2,210 units, respectively.

In 2019, the segment of electronic flat knitting machines decreased by 40 percent to around 96,000 machines. Asia & Oceania was the main destination for these machines with a share of 92 percent of world shipments. China remained the world’s largest investor with an 80 percent-share despite a 44-percent-decrease in investments from 122,550 units to 68,760 units.

Finishing Machinery

In the “fabrics continuous” segment, shipments of tenters and washing (stand-alone) grew by 34 percent and 0.6 percent. The growth in tenter deliveries is mainly explained by the addition of ITMF’s estimate for the number of tenters. The total number of shipped tenters of 1,700 units thus represents an estimate of the total market for this category.

In the “fabrics discontinuous” segment, the number of jigger dyeing/beam dyeing shipped rose by 35 percent to 561 units. Deliveries in all other machine categories in both finishing sub-segments (i.e. continuous and discontinuous) decreased in 2019.

Posted June 11, 2020

Source: International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)