- UK Based Linen Supplier for Healthcare & Hospitality
Call 01246-293014 to order Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
Call 01246-293014 to order Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
If you manage a care home, you will know your laundry has to meet infection prevention and control guidance. What gets talked about far less is the other side of that coin: every towel, sheet and pillowcase you buy has to survive that laundry process hundreds of times over.
Buy textiles that cannot handle it and you end up with faded, shrunken, scratchy linen within months, plus a replacement bill to match. This guide covers what the guidance asks of your laundry, and how to choose linen that copes with it.
This article is about choosing textiles. For your laundry procedures, always follow the current version of HTM 01-04 and the advice of your infection prevention and control lead.
HTM 01-04 is the Health Technical Memorandum on the decontamination of linen for health and social care, published by NHS England. It includes a dedicated social care volume that applies to settings such as care homes.
For thermal disinfection, the guidance says the wash cycle should reach either 65°C for at least 10 minutes or 71°C for at least 3 minutes. A chemical disinfection process can be used instead, provided it meets the requirements set out in the guidance.
It also covers how used linen should be sorted and handled, including keeping soiled and infected linen separate and placing infected items in water-soluble bags that go straight into the machine without being opened.
When CQC inspectors look at infection control, being able to show how your linen is laundered, and that your machines reach the right temperatures, is part of the picture.
In a hotel, some items can go through a cooler wash. In a care home, the default is a hot, disinfecting wash, often every day. Over time that takes its toll in predictable ways:
So the first question to ask of any product is simple: is it designed to be washed at disinfection temperatures, again and again? Check the care label, and ask your supplier directly.
Go for 100% cotton. Cotton handles high temperatures well, stays absorbent and is gentle on skin. Many residents have fragile skin, so a towel that dries in one gentle pass is far better than one that needs rubbing.
Choose a practical weight. Medium weight towels, roughly 450 to 550 GSM, balance comfort with drying time. Very heavy towels take longer to dry, which slows the laundry and adds to energy bills. Our towel GSM guide explains this in more detail.
Look at the edges. Double stitched hems and woven borders resist fraying through repeated hot washes.
Think about colour coding. Using different colours for different purposes, for example bathing towels, hand towels and face cloths, helps staff avoid mixing them up. If you colour code, make sure the colours are fast at the temperatures you wash at. White is the most forgiving choice for items that go through the hottest cycles.
Browse our towel range.
Polycotton, typically a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton, is the workhorse of care home bedding. It is lighter than pure cotton, dries quickly, needs little or no ironing and holds its shape well.
100% polyester is extremely durable and is commonly used for flame retardant bedding.
100% cotton feels lovely but is heavier, slower to dry and creases more, so it is less common for everyday care home use.
See our bed sheets, available in polycotton and polyester in single, double, king and bespoke sizes.
Fire safety is a serious consideration in care homes, where many residents have limited mobility. Flame retardant bedding is tested to BS 7175, which uses a range of ignition sources, from a smouldering cigarette and a match flame up to larger flaming sources.
The level you need depends on your setting and should be set by your fire risk assessment. When buying, ask your supplier for test certificates showing which ignition sources a product has passed. It is also worth asking whether the flame retardancy is inherent to the fibre or applied as a treatment, because this affects how well it holds up to repeated washing.
We stock fire retardant bed linen suitable for care homes. [CONFIRM: add the BS 7175 ignition source rating(s) for Towels Direct FR products]
Waterproof mattress protectors protect residents’ dignity and extend the life of expensive mattresses. Check that the protector is rated for disinfection temperatures, as cheaper versions can crack or peel after repeated hot washes. See our bed protection range. [CONFIRM: maximum wash temperatures for bed protection products]
Having enough linen matters as much as having the right linen. If you only hold just enough to cover each bed, the same items get washed every day and all wear out together. A little extra stock lets you rotate.
A few simple habits make a big difference:
As a general guide, bed linen and towels in a care home need replacing every two to three years, and sooner if they are washed very frequently or show signs of wear.
Before you place a bulk order, ask:
We have supplied towels and bed linen to care homes across the UK for over 20 years, and we understand what your laundry puts textiles through. See our care home range, call us on 01246 293014 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or send us an enquiry for samples and bulk pricing.
Tell us what you need and we will talk you through the options and bulk pricing.
