More laundries are working harder to make the most of the stock they already have, following sharp increases to the cost of linen and shipping.

The Textile Services Association has reported escalating prices of up to 55% for replacement sheeting and bedding, coupled with much steeper increases in the cost of container freight – by as much as 300%.

This is likely to mean laundries serving healthcare and hospitality providers will need to surrender much more than the current average 10% of their turnover to top-up stock, if they were to continue to order linen in similar volumes.

Instead, many laundry owners and managers are now turning to Regenex to revive greying and stained linen, so it can be returned to stock for many more washes.

Paul Hamilton, technical director of Regenex, said the company has seen an increase in orders and enquiries from new customers. He explained: “These price rises combined with the environmental benefit of avoiding buying new stock are making our treatment an even more compelling solution.”

Increasingly, businesses must be able to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to sustainability, to secure contracts and borrow money, and any “greenwashing” – making unsubstantiated claims regarding good environmental practice – has become subject to greater scrutiny.

Paul continued: “The climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been calling out fast fashion for its vast contribution to global pollution and rightly so, but the commercial linen sector must also make wide-ranging improvements to the way it operates.”

The United Nations’ latest Code Red for Humanity has lent further urgency to UK businesses including laundries to act now in making changes to lessen their impact on the planet.

And the rising cost of linen adds further woes to the laundry sector which saw volumes drop by up to 80% during lockdowns. Other essentials such as chemicals have also gone up in price and labour shortages have led to increased wages.