How Hotels Weight Sheets For The Laundry Using Scales

By Author: Larry Tang
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Industrial laundry applications are quite widespread. One of the most commonplace is for hotels, who must launder bedsheets, towels, and a wide variety of other items. Hospitals and other medical facilities must also have the means to do laundry. Prisons and similar institutions will often have the ability to do laundry within the organization. Summer sleep away camps could choose to do laundry on site, or could use an outside service. Military facilities are yet another application where material must be laundered. And there are a host of other situations which require their own capability.

For all of the organizations that may choose to have laundry operations, there are many more who outsource to private companies. Even larger business operations may have uniforms or other items that must be laundered. Of course, most restaurants also require this type of service.

In most situations where articles must be laundered, these items may also need to be weighed. This may be done for efficiency, in order to determine the appropriate full load for a washing machine. It may by necessary to weigh the loads for internal ...
... cost determination, or to properly charge the correct department. For commercial laundries, they obviously need to charge their customers for their services.

Typically, large laundry facilities use laundry carts to move the laundry around. These carts come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Some have only 2 wheels, while others have 3 and 4 wheels for added stability. In almost all cases, they are designed to be pushed manually. Therefore, their maximum load is usually around 200 pounds.

It is quite important that an appropriate scale be used to weigh these carts. First of all, the scale must be large enough to easily accommodate the footprint of the cart. This might range from a platform size of 22 x 44 for some of the smaller carts up to as large as 48 x 48 for a four wheeled heavy duty cart. Scale ramps are usually used to allow the cart to be pushed onto the platform. For ease of use, the lower the profile of the scale, the easier the operation will be. A very low scale will only need a short ramp, so it will use a smaller amount of valuable floor space. An ideal scale height would be less than 2. While there are very few high quality industrial scales that meet this requirement, one excellent choice is the Arlyn Series 3200 Platform Scales. They include platform sizes ranging from 20 x 27, through mid sizes of 30 x 30 and 36 x 36, up to the larger sizes of 27 x 60 and 48 x 48. All of them have capacities of 500 lb, excellent readability of 0.1 lb. And their overall height is only 1 7/8.

Another feature that should be included in scales used for laundry purposes is a type of construction that will not be harmed by a wet environment. Furthermore, the soaps, bleaches and other types of detergents and chemicals that are used for laundry should not adversely affect the scale. Standard painted scale platforms will not be suitable for this. Any small scratches in the paint surface will offer a path for corrosion. Rust of this nature will actually then form under the paint layer, and will quickly compromise the scale. Once again, the Arlyn line of scales is most suitable, as the platforms are constructed from welded aluminum. Some types of chemicals may cause a layer of oxidation, but the scales will not be compromised by excessive corrosion.

For the most severe chemical environments, the Arlyn platform scales are also available in full stainless steel construction. This option will only be chosen when the standard units are not suitable, as stainless scales are more expensive and quite a bit heavier.

The actual device inside a scale that incorporates the weighing mechanism is the load cell. High quality platform scales usually use four cells, one in each corner of the platform. Cheaper units may try to save costs by using just one, but that results in a higher profile platform, more deflection of the platform, and usually shorter field life of the scale. The load cells are often the component of the scale most prone to damage from overload and shock load. While most scales use aluminum or plated steel for the load cells, the best choice is to use stainless steel, as this material will stand up much better to abuse. Once again, the Arlyn Platform scales only use high quality stainless steel for the load cells.