NOTES & TIPS 

QUALITY FLATWORK FINISHING

Moisture
The linens should be damp so wrinkles are not set prior to finishing. The ironer is not designed to remove wrinkles from dry linens. Moisture retention should range between 20 to 35 percent. Excess moisture will result in slower ironer speeds, reducing production and possible shrinkage.

Temperature
Ironers are manufactured with either heated chests or heated rolls. Typically the high production machines utilize heated chests as this design offers a more uniform heated surface. The desired temperature will range from 325 to 350 degree's Fahrenheit for steam heated ironers. Thermal oil heated ironers offer a higher operating temperature.

The heat from the ironer transfers the moisture from the linens to the padded rolls and to the atmosphere over the exposed chest area. On ironers with vacuum assisted rolls, moisture is also eliminated via the suction of the vacuum system from the interior of the rolls. Padded rolls will absorb heat from the chests to assist with the moisture removal. The more roll to chest contact will result in faster drying times. Under or over padded rolls will reduce the efficiency.

Surface
The linens obtain their gloss, sheen and crispness appearance from the sliding or gliding of the linens traveling tightly over clean, smooth, polished, lubricated chests. It is important that the chests remain clean and waxed properly.

Padded Roll Resilience
The definition of resilience is, "the property of a material that enables it to resume its original shape or position after being stretched or compressed; elasticity". A padded spring roll offers better resilience than a padded hard roll due to the springs. The resilience of the roll absorbs the irregularities of linens, seams, hems, embroidery, etc., offering constant contact between the roll and chests resulting in uniform ironing over the entire cloth area. When the roll padding, covers or springs wear over time, the degree of resiliency minimizes. The average life of roll springs is approximately 10 years. Replacing the springs once worn, will ensure the optimum performance of the ironer.

Pull
The pull or stretching of the linens from roll to roll is an important part of achieving a quality finish. Earlier model ironers were designed with the chests butting up to each other. Newer models have a heated transfer plate. This allows the linens to travel over a heated surface for continuing moisture removal between the roll and chest contact. The diameter of the rolls increase from the feed roll to the discharge roll. By doing this the linens are pulled and stretched from one roll to the next as it passes through the ironer. The diameter and the resiliency of the rolls is important to ensure proper linen travel through the entire ironer.