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Mothering Sunday is this weekend, LaundryRevolutionaries! Originally an important event in the Christian calendar, now it’s become a day for honouring our mothers and showing them how much we love them. And if you’re anything like us, your mother may … Continue reading
We’ve added two new friends to the LR team! Let me introduce you to Boris and Steffi, our new Teutonic washing machine and dryer pairing. They are top of the range Bosch machines designed to produce very high quality results. They are also very energy and water efficient (A+++ for the washing machines), while producing excellent results at lower temperatures.
They are part of a range of improvements we are carrying out to provide an even higher standard of care for our wonderful customers’ clothes. You may have also noticed that we are using a new detergent with better cleaning power, and have improved the way your clothes are packaged and returned to you. Our new parcel paper is thicker and better quality and ensures that your washed, dried and folded laundry comes back in a neat, nicely wrapped package finished off with our branded tape.
Would you like to try our upgraded Washed, Dried, and Folded Laundry Service? We’re offering £5 off a standard load (up to 6kg) and £10 off a large load (6 – 12 kg) until July 6th. Simply enter the code LAUNDSW19 in the voucher code box when you place an order at LaundryRepublic.com.
Checking the care label before washing your garments will save you headaches, but here’s some general guidelines to keep it simple:
HOT WATER
Use hot water to wash linens and towels, white clothing and gym clothes (regardless of the colour). Hot water is best at removing heavy soil and grime from your clothing. However, it can make your clothes wrinkle and shrink, so don’t use it with coloured clothes as they could fade!
WARM WATER
Most people use warm water for their laundry. It doesn’t have the power of hot water to remove heavy stains, but cleans well and reduces the possibility of fading, wrinkling and shrinking. It is good for most washable fabrics (nylon, polyester, rayon).
COLD WATER
Cold water is good to clean dark and bright coloured clothes, and delicate items. It prevents your clothes from fading, but it’s less efficient for removing stains. If you have heavy stains, you should pre-treat them before washing, wash the load longer or even soaking the item for a few hours in cold water and detergent to ensure a better cleaning.
If you need help decoding laundry symbols: check our basic guide here:
http://bit.ly/16dPKdh
If you don’t want to deal with your laundry chores, why don’t you try our Laundry Service? We’ll care for your clothes, washing, drying and folding everything nicely into a wrapped packaged for you!
It’s not just your clothes that need regular cleaning – your washing machine too will work better and keep your clothes fresher if it’s cleaned at least once a year. The dirt and grime that comes off your clothes can build up in the machine and eventually affect its performance, so here’s some advice (c.f. our friends at Lifehacker) on how to keep it clean and hygienic.
First, clean the removable parts of the machine (like the fabric softener and bleach dispensers) before replacing them. Clean around the rim of the tub and other hard-to-reach places with a toothbrush.
Dissolve 4 tablespoons of baking soda in a litre of warm water. Soak a clean cloth or sponge with the solution and wipe down the inside of the washing machine drum.
Next, pour 250ml of white vinegar into the detergent tray and run the machine on the longest, hottest cycle available (the vinegar will help to disinfect the washing machine). If possible, pause the cycle with the drum full and leave to sit for an hour (you can use this time to clean the outside of the washing machine).
After an hour, allow the wash cycle to complete. Once the water has drained, wipe the inside surfaces of the tub again using a solution made of 50% white vinegar, 50% hot water. This will help to further loosen any residue left. Then run a rinse cycle and stand back and admire your beautifully refreshed washing machine!
Continuing in our series of tips to make your laundry easier in 2013, today’s post is about how to set up an efficient laundry room/station at home. If done properly, this can really save you hours and hours.
First, put a laundry hamper in your room or bathroom to make transporting your dirty washing to the laundry area easier. Next to your washing machine, have three different hampers or baskets to sort your laundry (see our previous blog post). Separate white garments from reds and other bright colours, and put garments that need special treatment in the third bin. Consider using a fourth one to separate towels and avoid getting fluff on the rest of the load.
Gather all your cleaning products in an easy-to-access location near the washing machine and dryer (ideally on a shelf or in a cabinet). Arrange them in the order you use them: stain removers first, followed by bleach and detergent, then fabric softener and distilled water for ironing at the end. You can also keep space on the shelf for clothing-care items like sewing supplies, lint remover, or shoe polish.
Keep the ironing board within reach and have a drying rack on hand for air drying non-tumble dry items and for hanging items immediately as they come out of the dryer to minimise wrinkling.
Of course, the most efficient way to do your laundry is to give it to our skilled team! We’ll collect it, and then wash, dry and neatly fold your laundry into a wrapped parcel, which we’ll deliver back to your home. For more info visit our website http://www.laundryrepublic.com/ or give us a call on 020 7193 3130.
A dry cleaning machine is best described as a mixture of a large domestic washing machine and a tumble dryer. The core of the machine is a perforated drum, commonly known as the basket, which has a capacity of 20-80lb and rotates within a shell. The clothes are loaded in the basket, while the shell holds the solvent.
During the wash cycle, the chamber is filled one third with solvent whilst rotating the clothing inside. The temperature used is slightly cooler than a common washing machine and a typical cycle lasts between 8-15 minutes, depending on fabric type and level of cleaning required.
When the cycle finishes, the solvent is drained out and sent to a distillation unit to separate any water from the solvent and remove impurities that may have been transferred by the garments. The garments are then rinsed with the distilled solvent to prevent discolouration.
After the rinse cycle, the machine starts the drying cycle, where the garments are tumbled in warm air and the last traces of solvent are removed. Finally, the garments pass through a deodorising cycle which allows the circulation of cool outside air to leave them fresh and ready for pressing and finishing.
Inevitably, dry cleaning and laundry consumes some energy and involves the use of some chemicals. However, we make every possible effort to minimise our impact on our environment. To provide an environmentally friendly dry cleaning service, LaundryRepublic has developed a environmental policy alongside the Ecovate Team at the University of Middlesex. Our key objectives are:
– Minimising waste by encouraging reuse and recycling within our business activities and amongst our suppliers and clients: we provide all customers with a re-usable laundry bag which helps us to reduce plastic packaging. We also aim to recycle all of our hangers.
– Minimising CO2 emmissions: we use dual-fuel LPG vans, reducing our carbon footprint and producing zero particulate emissions to keep Londons air clean
– Modern machinery and super-efficient filters mean we minimize the energy, water and chemicals
At LaundryRepublic we are committed to continually improving our environmental performance, periodically reviewing our environmental policy and setting targets for ongoing improvements. In the near future, we aim to be a carbon neutral dry cleaner, using an accredited program to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by our activities.