Care and Maintenance of Fabrics in Institutions

Written and reviewed by Anjali Sharma, Biology & Home Science faculty at UniDrill (M.Sc. Botany, Banaras Hindu University · 8 years teaching). Based on NCERT Home Science Class XII (Human Ecology and Family Sciences Part II), Chapter 10.

Same white sheet, two different jobs

Picture a plain white cotton bedsheet in a hospital ward and another on a hotel bed. Both are washed every day, in huge numbers. Yet the hospital will not care if the sheet comes back slightly soft and unstarched, while the hotel will reject a sheet that is not crisp, bright and folded to perfection. The hospital's question is "is it safe?" The hotel's question is "does it look perfect?" This one contrast runs through the whole chapter, and CUET builds many questions on it.

Two aims of fabric care, and why laundry is a science and an art

Fabrics are chosen for a purpose: bandages and masks in hospitals, heat and sound insulation in institutional interiors, uniforms and bed linen everywhere. Good care keeps those properties alive for the full expected life of the material. Care and maintenance therefore has two aspects.

Laundry is both a science and an art. It is a science because it applies scientific principles and techniques (what the water, detergent and machine action do to dirt). It is an art because it needs skill to get an aesthetically pleasing result, such as a crisp, well folded shirt. The way a fabric should be cared for depends on five things: its fibre content, the type of yarn, the fabric construction technique, the finishes applied and the purpose it is used for.

Three kinds of equipment, four kinds of workplace

Equipment falls into three groups: washing equipment, drying equipment and ironing or pressing equipment. The same work is done in different places, and the scale changes everything.

Why institutions run their own laundry. Hospitals, prisons and hotels need a constant, predictable flow of clean linen, working clothes and uniforms. Organised collection, laundering and timely delivery are part of the institution's operation, so they keep the laundry under their own roof. Hotels and hospitals are the two institutions with in-house setups. Smaller hotels often link up with outside commercial laundries instead.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: dhobis work from their homes and use dhobighats. In reality: a dhobighat is a shared washing place with water access. Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat is a well known open-air example, and it shows how a traditional, hand-based system still serves a modern city.

Washing machines: types you must separate

A washing machine can be classified in two independent ways, and mixing the two is the commonest error.

An automatic washer in one line: fill water → control water level → regulate temperature → wash → rinse → extract water. Water level can be controlled automatically or manually. Temperature is chosen with a button, dial or panel and may be the same for wash and rinse or different for the two.

The one principle behind every wash

All washing machines work on one principle: keep the fabric moving in the washing solution so that dirt is carried away. They differ only in how the movement is created.

Memory rule: only tumbling belongs to front loaders; agitation and pulsation both belong to top loaders. In the first two, water moves through clothes. In tumbling, clothes move through water.

Agitators may be made of plastic, metal (aluminium) or bakelite. They must not be affected by detergents, bleaches or softeners, and agitation speed can be changed to suit the fabric.

Pause and predict: a machine washes by lifting clothes in a revolving horizontal drum and dropping them into the water. Is it top loading or front loading, and which method is it?

Check your answer: front loading, using tumbling. The horizontal drum is the giveaway. Agitation and pulsation need an upright tub with a blade or pulsator in the centre.

Why rinsing matters. Rinsing is an important phase of the cycle. If it is not thorough, clothes look grey and dull and feel harsh, because leftover cleaning agent and loosened dirt stay in the fabric. This is why most machines rinse more than once.

Getting the water out: three ways to extract

Water is extracted after the wash phase and after every rinse phase.

Spin speed can range from 333 to 1100 rpm, and the amount of water removed depends directly on speed. The optimum is about 600 to 620 rpm. Spinning to near dryness is avoided because it creates wrinkles that are hard to remove during ironing. So the highest speed is not the best speed.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: optimum spin speed is 600 to 620 rpm. In reality: the maximum spin speed printed on a machine is only the top of its range. Most machines let you choose a lower speed for delicate or easily creased fabrics, which is the same idea as avoiding near dryness.

Drying and ironing

Outside the home, apart from drying in the open, driers are used at commercial and institutional level. They use one of two air systems.

Ironing and pressing sound alike but do different jobs.

An iron has a smooth metal surface that can be heated. Most electric irons have an inbuilt thermostat to set the temperature for the fabric, and some produce steam while in use. Irons weigh 1.5 to 3.5 kg. Light irons are preferred at home, while heavy articles such as curtains and bed covers may need heavier irons. In India you can still see charcoal irons, a metal box with a lid into which live coal pieces are put.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: heating is mostly by electricity, with charcoal irons still seen in India. In reality: street-corner ironing stalls are where most people meet a charcoal iron today. The idea is the same as a thermostat iron: heat plus pressure flattens the fibres, but the stall worker must judge the temperature by hand, which is why a thermostat protects delicate fabrics better.

Inside a commercial laundry

A commercial laundry is organised into sections, and each section does one job.

Equipment is bigger and more plentiful: washing machines of 100 kg or more per cycle (against 5 to 10 kg at home), hydro extractors, driers, flat bed ironing and pressing equipment, roller ironing and calendaring machines, folding and packaging tables, and trolleys to carry material between sections.

Why records matter. When an article arrives, it is checked and any damage or special care need is noted. The customer gets an invoice listing the kind and number of articles and the date of delivery, and code tags matching the invoice identify each customer's items. Without this, thousands of similar-looking items from different customers would be mixed up and damage claims could not be settled.

Hospital laundry versus hotel laundry

This is the most tested table in the chapter.

The quantum of bed linen is therefore much larger in hospitals than in hotels, even though a hotel may be more demanding about the finish.

Why cotton and wash-fast dyes? Hospital linen is washed very frequently and must be made hygienic each time. Cotton and dyes with excellent wash-fastness can take that repeated washing without fading or wearing quickly. Department-specific colours also make it easy to tell which department a piece belongs to.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: hospitals stress disinfection and use disposables, which are burnt, where infection is a threat. In reality: hospital infection control relies on washing linen with detergent at a suitably high temperature or with a disinfectant, and on keeping soiled linen bagged at the point of use so that germs do not spread through the air. The aim is to make the linen safe, not to make it beautiful.

Hospital laundry in ten steps

Learn this sequence in exact order. It is a direct-recall favourite and often appears as an ordering question.

One line to remember: Collect → Transport → Sort → Wash → Hydro-extract → Dry → Press/Fold → Mend → Pack → Distribute.

Linen stock and changes. Hospitals need a minimum stock of six sets of linen per bed, where one set normally means a bed sheet, a draw sheet and a pillow slip. Sheets in the Operation Theatre, Maternity ward and Labour room may need five or more changes a day. Blankets are not changed daily unless soiled. Besides bed linen, the laundry handles patients' dress (gowns, kurta, pyjamas), doctors' dress (coats, gowns, kurta and pyjama, generally in a different colour from patients' and sometimes of tericot) and general items such as tablecloths and curtains.

Hospitals also keep a record for collection and issue of linen to each department. A typical receipt for washable linen carries a receipt number, who it was received from, date, time, and a list of articles such as bed sheets, draw sheets (white and green), patients' and doctors' kurta and pyjama, doctor's gown, towels (split and hand), face masks, baby frocks, blankets, pillow covers, slings, aprons and dirty linen bags, each with a quantity and remarks.

Pause and predict: a 150 bed hospital wants to calculate its minimum linen stock. How many sets does it need, and why might it need more than one set per bed?

Check your answer: 150 × 6 = 900 sets. A common way to see why: while one set is on the bed, another is at the laundry, and another waits in stock, with spare sets covering heavy soiling and delays.

Careers and scope

Fabric care is a technical field. The four primary requirements are knowledge of the material (fibre, yarn, fabric production, colour and finishes), knowledge of the processes, knowledge of chemicals and reagents and their effect on the fabric, and a working knowledge of machinery and its functioning. Because every set-up has different equipment, practical training or an internship is needed.

Exam traps

60-second revision

Where this chapter connects

• Earlier: Care and Maintenance of Fabrics in Class XI covers household laundering, stain removal and finishing, which this chapter scales up to institutions.
• Same book: Hospitality Management shows where the hotel laundry fits among housekeeping and other hotel services.
• Careers: Work, Livelihood and Career places laundry management among the career pathways in Home Science.