A new specialist commercial cleaning service is celebrating a string of business wins, following successful free trials.

Regenex has pioneered fresh methods in stain removal, that are proving successful in around 75% of the most heavily-marked hospitality and healthcare linens.

Now increasing numbers of laundry houses are harnessing the carbon footprint-lowering potential of the multi-bath treatment – based on opening fibres to lift blemishes – to save precious resources as well as money.

Forward-thinking companies enlisting Regenex’s help so far include Shortridge Laundry, which has sites in Workington, Darlington and Dumfries, Saif Linen in Bradford and Bates of London.

All three, serving high-end hotel and hospitality customers, describe themselves as being ‘impressed’ with Regenex’s results so far – enabling 400 tonnes of good linens to be returned to stock, rather than condemned to landfill or rag.

Technical director at Bradford-headquartered Regenex, Paul Hamilton, said: “Customers don’t believe our system can work until they see it for themselves. That’s why we have been offering free 400kg trials to all new customers. They are invariably amazed by the results.

“Unless an item is torn or frayed, there is no need to throw away stained linen. In the vast majority of cases, we can remove those marks. This is huge in terms of conserving resources, and minimising waste.”

The concept for the 25,000sqft operation was formed in early 2017 – by founders David Midgley, Matthew Whitehead and Paul – as a response to the mounting ‘green’ issue of textile waste and unnecessary manufacture.

The project was backed by half a million pounds of investment, allowing processes to be developed and independently tested, before being brought to market.

Regenex has processed 400 tonnes of linen since going from development to commercial production. This represents a total saving of 1,200 tonnes of carbon* and 30 million litres of water** – equivalent to the drinking water of 3,000 people, over 10 years.

Paul continued: “Shortridge, Saif and Bates are alike in that they all prioritise their environmental policies and take the need to minimise the use of resources very seriously.

“We are proud to be able to help them achieve their green vision – and we expect other operators to want to follow their example.”

In Shortridge’s first test batches with Regenex, a total of 6,500 high-quality duvets, towels, pillowcases and napkins, which were on the brink of being binned, were successfully recovered, representing a 78.6% success rate.

General manager of Shortridge, Jason Robinson, said: “We are really impressed with the first batches of laundry to be treated by Regenex and we intend to carry on using this service.”

Bates of London has been working with Regenex for 12 months, saving 14 tonnes of linen in that time and also 38 million gallons of water – the volume that would be needed to grow crops for and manufacture the equivalent amount of replacement fabric.

John Kitchiner, General manager at Bates of London, said: “We are very impressed with the service we’ve had from Regenex in our first 12 months of working together.

“Minimising waste, and making the most of resources, is very important to us. We are so pleased to see stained items, that would otherwise have gone to rag or landfill, revived and returned to stock.”

Saif Linen, meanwhile, benefited from a 70% return rate on the heavily-soiled laundry it sent to Regenex. Of the 900kg processed, a total of 631kg was successfully treated to meet hotel-grade standards of cleanliness.

Regenex is now working with Saif to rescue as much as possible of the remaining 30% of items, by re-dyeing them to turn them into coloured items.

Ali Mohammed Arosh, owner of Saif Linen, said: “We want everything we do here to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Working with Regenex is helping us to make the most of every item, meaning nothing is wasted.

“Of the stained pieces we thought were only good for the bin, 70% have been brought back to life by Regenex. This is very impressive.”

Paul continued: “It is great to work with companies like these who are savvy in terms of their environmental impact. They are constantly looking for new ways to minimise their impact on our planet and it’s very satisfying to be able to help them.”

Regenex continues to offer a free 400kg trial to new customers. Contact us for more information.

* Calculation based on 300 tonnes of linen typically halfway through its natural life cycle returned to stock compared with carbon footprint of 8kg associated with the manufacture and life cycle of 1kg of new linen. Saving is 4kg carbon per 1kg cotton.

** Calculation based on the 10,000 litres of water required to manufacture 1kg of new cotton.