The short version. These sectors need two things at once: garments that come back clean and disinfected, and garments that survive the process. Thermal disinfection handles the first but destroys a lot of the second. Wet cleaning with a disinfecting additive covers the gap.
The problem with residents’ own clothing
Flat linen is straightforward. Sheets, towels and blankets go through a thermal disinfection cycle and come out fine, cycle after cycle.
Personal clothing is the difficult part. An aged care resident’s wardrobe is wool cardigans, knitwear, blouses, tailored trousers, items with prints and trims, and pieces that matter to them personally. Run those through a thermal disinfection program and they shrink, felt, fade and lose shape. Run them through a gentle wash instead and you have solved the garment problem by giving up on the disinfection one.
That is the bind most facilities are in, and it is why residents’ clothing so often comes back damaged, or goes out to a cleaner who charges accordingly.
Where the standard sits
Laundry practice for Australian healthcare and aged care is governed by AS/NZS 4146, which sets out how linen should be handled, processed and disinfected. In practice most facilities meet it through thermal disinfection — holding the wash at a specified temperature for a specified time.
Thermal disinfection is effective and easy to verify. Its limitation is simply that a great many garments cannot take it.
Chemical disinfection in a wet cleaning process
The alternative is to disinfect chemically at a temperature the garment can survive. LANADOL ABAC is Kreussler’s disinfecting additive for the wet cleaning process. Under European test standards it is:
- Bactericidal to EN 1276 — in five minutes at 20°C
- Yeasticidal to EN 1650 — in five minutes at 20°C
- Virucidal to EN 14476 — at a higher dose and a longer time: 2.5 g per litre for 15 minutes at 30°C
The bacteria and yeast figures are the point of the whole thing: that disinfection happens at a temperature that does not damage wool, silk, knitwear or tailoring. If norovirus is the reason you are asking, dose and time it properly rather than assuming the low figure covers everything.
Combined with the rest of the wet cleaning process — controlled mechanical action, controlled drying, proper finishing — it means a resident’s cardigan can be disinfected and still be the same shape next week.
Worth being precise about this: meeting AS/NZS 4146 is the facility’s responsibility, and any disinfection process has to be validated for the setting it is used in. ABAC is a tool for doing that job at low temperature, not a certificate of compliance on its own. We are happy to work through the detail with your infection control people.
Full dosage, contact times and the tunnel washer application are on the LANADOL ABAC product guide.
On regulatory status. Kreussler states that ABAC is notified as a biocide in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. Disinfectant products in Australia are regulated separately, by the TGA. Talk to us about the correct Australian position for your facility before building ABAC into a documented infection-control procedure. Use biocides safely, and always read the label and product information before use.
Hospitality
The same capability solves a different problem in hotels. Guest garment services live or die on whether the item comes back right, and guest garments are exactly the wool, silk and tailoring that solvent and high-temperature washing both mishandle. Staff uniforms with printed logos and trims have the same issue.
There is also the simple matter of smell. A guest garment that comes back with no solvent odour at all reads as better service, and it costs nothing extra to deliver.
Why no solvent matters here specifically
- No residue against skin. Relevant for anyone in a care setting, and more so for thin or compromised skin.
- No solvent odour in enclosed residential environments.
- No hazardous waste stream and nothing for staff to be exposed to.
- No solvent storage on a site that has enough compliance obligations already.
Talking it through
Whether this fits depends on your volumes, the split between flat linen and personal clothing, and what machinery you have. Spencer Systems supplies the LANADOL range and the finishing equipment across Australia.
Tell us about your facility and we will give you a straight assessment — including where thermal disinfection is still the right answer.
Thinking about adding wet cleaning?
We supply the machine and the LANADOL chemistry, and program it for wet cleaning. Installed and serviced by the people who sell it.