Microbiological evaluation of hospital textiles and textiles from the food-processing industry

Industrial laundries have a goal of maintaining and constantly improving the quality of their services. The main aim of laundering hospital textiles and textiles from the food-processing industry is to remove soiling and microorganisms from infected and dirty textiles and achieving clean, fresh and disinfected textiles ready for use. Although laundering itself is most important in achieving this state, the overall hygiene level in the laundry is also important in preventing recontamination of textiles. Regular sanitary-microbiological analyses of laundries and implementation of correction measures have proved efficient in achieving the goal of clean and disinfected textiles. In this study the hygienic state of two industrial laundries in Slovenia before and after implementing sanitary measures was evaluated by surface sampling using agar plates as well as determining the disinfection effect of the laundering procedures using indicator bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococus faecium and Candida albicans. The first laundry washed hospital textiles and the second washed textiles from the food-processing industry. It was observed that both laundries with no regular cleaning and disinfecting measures did not reach a sufficient hygiene level, but after implementing sanitary measures a sufficient hygiene level was reached.