Let the laundresses understand that bad work will not be accepted, and they will not send it. Bad work that was passed in the linen room has often caused embarrassment in the operating room. As far as possible, have a routine order for laundry work, and expect the laundresses to comply. If they understand that clothing sent from the wards on Tuesday morning must be returned to the wards not later than Thursday morning, they can arrange to have it done, while if no limit is set for the clothes to be in the laundry, the haphazard results will be constantly felt in the wards.
Have a method of folding linen and insist on that method being followed. It is impossible to have neat-looking shelves in the linen room if no uniformity be observed about folding in the laundry.
Then see that the work rooms are kept clean. It is useless to expect clean linen unless the laundry and its furnishings are kept in proper condition. The woodwork and windows and floors should be as scrupulously clean as any other part of the hospital. But they will not be kept so unless a time is set for the cleaning, and someone sees that it is done.
Greasy towels or clothes, from the kitchen, pantries and bake rooms, should either be entirely washed by those who use them, or have a preliminary washing before being sent to the laundry. Such articles cannot be washed with any other clothing; a special suds must be gotten ready and time spent that would have counted for more if spent on other work.
A false economy in planning a hospital often results in a space entirely inadequate being set apart for the laundry. As the general work of the hospital increases it is then found impossible to meet the demands, and recourse has to be had to the public laundry—always an expensive arrangement. Another common mistake, is to place the laundry in the basement, where lack of light and air is always a hindrance to good work. Whenever possible, the laundry should be located in a separate building, where plenty of light and air and sunshine can penetrate, and where there is room to separate the clothing while in its different processes and proper work can be done. All clothing should be well aired and thoroughly dry before it leaves the laundry, so that it may immediately be placed on the shelves for use.
The Laundry Plant
It is difficult to give an accurate estimate regarding the cost of installation and operation of a laundry plant, as conditions vary greatly. A list of the articles required for a plant capable of doing the work of a sixty-bed hospital is appended. In preparing this list the elimination, so far as possible, of all expensive features, has been attempted. A laundry plant, like nearly everything else, can be figured on in various ways, and at largely varying cost, so that, with different machines, a plant with the same amount of machinery will cost three times as much as another of practically equal capacity and actual working value. It is well, therefore, before purchasing a plant, to be thoroughly informed regarding the actual needs of a hospital, the various makes and grades of machines, cost of operating, etc.
A very serviceable laundry equipment for a hospital of fifty to sixty patients, is made up as follows:
One 12 h. p. vertical boiler, complete with suitable injector and regular boiler trimmings.
One 6 h. p. horizontal engine, complete with all engine trimmings, and a sight feed lubricator.