National Clothesline

Record numbers of visitors and exhibitors participated in Texcare International held May 31 to June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany. The increased participation reflected an improving economic outlook, particularly in Germany, as noted by the show’s organizers.

A survey of exhibitors found that 81.5 percent rated the economic situation in the sector as being satisfactory to good compared to just two-thirds who took such a positive view at the time of the last Texcare show in 2004. The change has been particularly noticeable in Germany, where 85.7 percent said the economic situation is satisfactory to good compared to 62.5 percent four years ago.

Altogether, 15,500 visitors from 80 countries viewed the wide range of products and services being shown by the 257 exhibitors, up from 13,300 visitors in 2004. More than half came from outside Germany.

In addition to the exhibition, a textile forum organized by CINET, the International Committee for Textile Care, brought a series of speakers to an audience of several hundred for discussions of issues in the drycleaning and laundry sectors. Under the theme "Challenges in a Global Textile Care and Service Market," the forum presented experts from the scientific world, business and trade associations. The first two days of the forum focused on drycleaning issues and covered topics such as environmental protection, new technologies and market development.

CINET also sponsored a visit for Texcare attendees to a Fred Butler central plant located in an industrial park in Frankfurt which opened two years ago as the franchise’s first plant in Germany.

Fred Butler franchises are located in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark and market themselves as environmentally friendly textile cleaning by virtue of processing all garments with liquid carbon dioxide and/or wetcleaning.

The Frankfurt plant serves ten drop stores with the cleaning processed in three 17 kg (about 35 pounds) Electrolux CO2 machines and about ten wetcleaning machines, which are located opposite the CO2 machines. One of the tour participants, Bill Fisher, CEO of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, estimated that the cost of the cleaning machines alone in the plant at about $1 million, and pegged the overall cost of the plant in the $1.2 to $1.4 million range.

Plant manager Volker Kartmann, who is certified as textile drycleaning master, led the tour. He showed that the incoming work is placed in different colored bags, with the colors signifying the shop that items came from. These are placed in bins marked with the day of the week that work will be returned.

When items come in, they are sorted by type and color. Anything containing plastic or acetate goes directly to wetcleaning. Everything else goes to the CO2 units. The usual cycle is from 30 to 50 minutes in the CO2 machines, with most garments using the longer cycle. From there, most items are wetcleaned.

Kartmann demonstrated the duvet process and took the item from the CO2 machine and placed it in the wetcleaner. In both instances, it was the only item in the load. Down duvets are placed in a cloth bag to prevent feathers from drifting out and into the CO2 machine. Then the covering is removed and duvet is wetcleaned to remove sweat, body oils and other soils.

Finishing equipment is extensive in the plant with multiple shirt units, tensioning units and pants presses.

After inspection, any remaining stains are treated at the post-spotting board.

The plant features an extensive leather cleaning area with its own CO2 machine, a color restoration area and finishing equipment.

The driving force behind Fred Butler is The Linde Group, the world’s largest industrial gas company, with assets of about 12.4 billion Euros, and 55,000 employees. The Fred Butler venture expands the business for Linde’s typical capital goods line to a consumer and service business.




						Improving outlook in Europe





	JUly 2008 This Issue Back Issues Classified Ads Dateline Resources Allied Trades Associations Instruction ABOUT US Home

						Record numbers of visitors and exhibitors participated in Texcare International held May 31 to June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany. The increased participation reflected an improving economic outlook, particularly in Germany, as noted by the show’s organizers. A survey of exhibitors found that 81.5 percent rated the economic situation in the sector as being satisfactory to good compared to just two-thirds who took such a positive view at the time of the last Texcare show in 2004. The change has been particularly noticeable in Germany, where 85.7 percent said the economic situation is satisfactory to good compared to 62.5 percent four years ago. Altogether, 15,500 visitors from 80 countries viewed the wide range of products and services being shown by the 257 exhibitors, up from 13,300 visitors in 2004. More than half came from outside Germany. In addition to the exhibition, a textile forum organized by CINET, the International Committee for Textile Care, brought a series of speakers to an audience of several hundred for discussions of issues in the drycleaning and laundry sectors. Under the theme "Challenges in a Global Textile Care and Service Market," the forum presented experts from the scientific world, business and trade associations. The first two days of the forum focused on drycleaning issues and covered topics such as environmental protection, new technologies and market development. CINET also sponsored a visit for Texcare attendees to a Fred Butler central plant located in an industrial park in Frankfurt which opened two years ago as the franchise’s first plant in Germany. Fred Butler franchises are located in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark and market themselves as environmentally friendly textile cleaning by virtue of processing all garments with liquid carbon dioxide and/or wetcleaning. The Frankfurt plant serves ten drop stores with the cleaning processed in three 17 kg (about 35 pounds) Electrolux CO2 machines and about ten wetcleaning machines, which are located opposite the CO2 machines. One of the tour participants, Bill Fisher, CEO of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, estimated that the cost of the cleaning machines alone in the plant at about $1 million, and pegged the overall cost of the plant in the $1.2 to $1.4 million range. Plant manager Volker Kartmann, who is certified as textile drycleaning master, led the tour. He showed that the incoming work is placed in different colored bags, with the colors signifying the shop that items came from. These are placed in bins marked with the day of the week that work will be returned. When items come in, they are sorted by type and color. Anything containing plastic or acetate goes directly to wetcleaning. Everything else goes to the CO2 units. The usual cycle is from 30 to 50 minutes in the CO2 machines, with most garments using the longer cycle. From there, most items are wetcleaned. Kartmann demonstrated the duvet process and took the item from the CO2 machine and placed it in the wetcleaner. In both instances, it was the only item in the load. Down duvets are placed in a cloth bag to prevent feathers from drifting out and into the CO2 machine. Then the covering is removed and duvet is wetcleaned to remove sweat, body oils and other soils. Finishing equipment is extensive in the plant with multiple shirt units, tensioning units and pants presses. After inspection, any remaining stains are treated at the post-spotting board. The plant features an extensive leather cleaning area with its own CO2 machine, a color restoration area and finishing equipment. The driving force behind Fred Butler is The Linde Group, the world’s largest industrial gas company, with assets of about 12.4 billion Euros, and 55,000 employees. The Fred Butler venture expands the business for Linde’s typical capital goods line to a consumer and service business.