In the cooperation of the global laundry industry, a pain point — linen quality defects has always been affecting the profits and customer relationships of laundry plants. It is not caused by the laundry process. But laundry plants have to be responsible for the results. Hotel clients often complain about uneven and easy-to-tear linens. They question the laundry operations, while laundry plants have difficulty communicating with them effectively.
Two linen quality defects lead to this situation: fabric skewness and weak selvage structure caused by the dual-air-jet weaving process. Kingstar deeply understands that the core competitiveness in modern laundry plants has changed. It shifts from a single “cleaning capacity” to “supply chain quality risk management”. This article will analyze the two issues. And it will help laundry plants address unnecessary losses through professional expertise and technical methods.
Fabric Skewness
● Phenomenon
After multiple wash cycles, bed covers and sheets become distorted. For example, the linen sides become skewed. Linen corners lose their square shape. And linens fail to align properly when folded. In the high-speed ironing line, these types of linens easily track off-center and become wrinkled. Finally, the loose linens severely affect the room presentation.
● Reason
This situation is not rooted in poor ironing methods. It is a fabric skewness caused by the weaving or finishing process. Fabric skewness means the weft yarns are not perpendicular to the warp yarns. Its initial state may not be noticeable. But the repeated actions of industrial laundry, high-speed extraction, and high-temperature ironing may release the internal fabric stress. This enlarges the fabric defects.
● Effect
- Low efficiency
Workers need to spend a lot of time manually adjusting and pulling skewed linens. This lowers the capacity of the high-speed ironing line.
- Quality complaints
Hotels visually find the uneven linens. They place the responsibility on the finishing process of laundry plants.
- Damage claim disputes
Laundry plants often make a compromise. They undertake the cost of rejected linens.
Weak Selvage Structure
● Phenomenon
During feeding and spreading, the fabric selvage tears under the feeder clamp tension. Hotels blame detergent damage and heavy mechanical action.
● Reason
This is often caused by the dual-air-jet weaving process. To increase weaving speed and reduce costs, the fabric selvage structure formed by this technology is loose and has poor yarn cohesion. The tensile strength is lower than that of the linen itself. This weak fabric selvage completely fails to withstand the mechanical tensions of a high-speed spreading feeder in modern laundry plants. To improve efficiency, the mechanical tensions are often precise and quick.
● Effect
- Financial loss
Before entering the laundry plants, linens are damaged. Laundry plants are often required to make full compensation.
- Trust crisis
Misunderstandings of operation and detergent usage damage professional reputation.
- Operation disruption
Torn linen shreds may twine the equipment. This leads to the pause of the production line and secondary loss.
Kingstar Suggestions
The key to the above issues is information asymmetry and professional barriers. Hotels focus on the price, hand feel, and appearance of linens when purchasing. While some suppliers make a compromise on materials and technology. Laundry plants are responsible for the final execution and quality presentation in the industrial chains. Lacking the systematic recognition of linens causes them to be blamed for all issues.
Kingstar thinks that laundry plants in the new era must redefine their role. Kingstar provides advanced equipment, such as tunnel washer systems and high-speed ironing lines. It also helps customers to establish a stronger risk management system through smart laundry plant planning solutions.
● Incoming inspection standards
During linen intake, laundry plants can take simple methods, such as fabric skewness inspection (whether yarn is perpendicular) and random sampling inspection on fabric selvage strength. This helps identify quality issues in advance through paper records.
● Data-based management
Laundry plants can use IoT technology to record abnormal operating data of different linen batches in the production. Subjective disputes are replaced by objective data. This helps clarify liability determination.
● Professional purchasing advice
Laundry plants can actively give linen purchasing advice to hotel clients based on laundry experience. For example, advise hotels to follow a minimum yarn density standard and recommend weaving methods (stronger fabric selvage made by rapier looms). Hotels can also require suppliers to offer third-party test reports about wash durability and tensile strength. This makes a laundry plant a reliable advisor to clients.
● Process Adaptation
For weak linens, laundry plants can fine-adjust the relevant parameters on Kingstar smart control systems. For example, a press extractor supports different extraction programs, proper spreading feeder tension, and ironing speed based on the linen types, quality, and age. This helps protect linens while completing the process. Laundry plants can also clearly explain the reasons to clients for these adjustments.
Q&A
Q1: How can a laundry plant quickly identify the fabric skewness issues?
A1: The first step is to tear and fold linens simply. Randomly choose a piece of linen and make a small tear along the weft yarn direction. See whether the tear line keeps straight and is parallel to the fabric selvage or not. Or fold the linen along the warp yarn direction to check whether the upper and lower selvages can align with each other or not. If the tear line is obviously skewed or the selvages fail to align, fabric skewness exists. For important batches, it is recommended to do a random linen inspection when linens enter plants initially.
Q2: Are linens made by the dual-air-jet weaving process unusable?
A2: It is not absolute. The dual-air-jet weaving process is an efficient method. But the firmness of fabric selvage highly relies on the yarn quality, starching methods, and finishing process. To control costs, the standards for these cycles are excessively reduced. Therefore, linen issues arise. Laundry plants should advise hotels to clarify the minimum tensile strength of fabric selvage in the purchasing contract (such as the international standard ISO 13934-1). Hotels can also require suppliers to offer authoritative testing reports to prevent poor linens at the specification stage.
Q3: We want to help hotel clients purchase more durable linens. What key elements should be paid attention to?
A3: Besides yarn count, fabric weight, and hand feel, laundry plants should focus more on the following industrial laundry indicators:
● Fabric structure: Prioritize products with stronger fabric selvage made by rapier looms;
● Tensile & tear strength: The data of weft yarn and fabric selvage directly relates to the resistance to mechanical stress;
● Shrinkage rate: A larger rate sharpens fabric skewness and dimensional instability;
● Rubbing & wash fastness: They can ensure the brand-new appearance after multiple wash cycles;
● pH value: It ensures linens are neutral in pH to avoid fiber damage.
Post time: Jun-17-2026