Textile Insights: View from the Mill (Part 1)

CHICAGO — Many factors influence the operation of laundry and linen services.

Materials and costs, the environment, trends in textiles customers want, all these and more affect laundries.

But these elements come into play earlier than the textile/linen supplier. What happens at textile mills is the start of the effect goods have on a laundry operation.

American Laundry News communicated with several textile providers to find out what’s going on with mills and how laundry and linen services are affected by what mills do.

Please give a general overview/status of textile mill operations in producing goods for healthcare, food and beverage, hotel, and uniform/workwear linen services.

Tapash Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Global Sourcing, Monarch Brands: Textile mills that produce towels, sheets, uniforms and similar products typically consist of five to six distinct sections. The production process for towels differs slightly from that of sheets, uniforms and workwear.

Terry towel manufacturing components are pile (loop), warp (ground) and weft (fill). Sheeting and other fabric manufacturing components are warp and weft.

In both manufacturing processes, the following sections are essential within a factory:

Warping Process. Cotton or polyester cones are processed through a warping machine. For towels, two beams are created: pile and warp. For sheeting and workwear, only a single warping beam is needed. The fill yarn is supplied from the weft section of the machine.
Sizing/Starching. This process strengthens the ground yarn to prevent breakage during high-speed weaving.
Weaving. The primary process is where gray fabric is woven using air-jet, shuttleless machines, etc.
Processing Machines. This involves bleaching or dyeing, applying softeners, calendaring and other treatments.
Drying. Tumble dryers or loop dryers are used to dry towels or sheeting.
Cutting and Sewing. The fabric is cut and sewn into the final product.
Packaging. Products are packed either in bales or cases as required.
Quality Assurance and Shipping. Final products undergo quality checks before being shipped.

Bridget Miklausich, Managing Director of Manufacturing & Sourcing, Encompass Group: Today the healthcare textile industry continues to march forward with innovation that improves product performance while being cognizant of the need to be environmentally responsible.

Globally, the industry has changed over the last 30 years. With a new generation leading the charge, we will see continued efforts to improve the look, touch, performance and life span of the textile products that serve our industry while ensuring we leave a smaller carbon footprint and a more sustainable future for generations to come.

Tom Main, Group Vice President, National Accounts, Standard Textile: Our textile mill operations remain strong in producing a variety of goods for healthcare and hospitality.

At Standard Textile, we take pride in being the only remaining commercial manufacturer of towels and sheeting in the U.S. This ongoing investment in domestic production allows us to continuously innovate, offering superior-quality products that help reduce overall costs for our customers.

While global supply chains face significant disruptions, including increased shipping costs and delays in raw material availability, we have mitigated these challenges with our U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities and nine strategically located distribution centers across North America. This allows us to reduce reliance on international suppliers and minimize the impact of global uncertainties on our customers.

Domestic manufacturing also gives us a competitive edge in maintaining a focus on high-quality products, which translates to lower cost-per-use for laundry and linen services.

Additionally, by keeping portions of our supply chain local, we’re able to reduce our carbon footprint significantly. Our energy-efficient and environmentally conscious manufacturing processes, combined with our commitment to sustainability, will help us protect the planet for future generations.

We are also constantly exploring ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in our production and shipping processes. This includes not only the textiles themselves but also our packaging methods.

For example, we recently eliminated poly bags from all U.S.-made products, and we’ve introduced a Take-Back Textile Recycling Program. Through this initiative, we collect out-of-service linens and repurpose or downcycle them into materials such as carpet padding or automobile insulation.

Lenore Law, Owner, Alliance Textile Solutions (formerly California Textiles): The status of textile mill operations in U.S. mills on sheets has improved greatly since 2020, and new products are being added.

The mill I distribute for has added a new finishing plant and is doing more U.S. sheets. Although they still manufacture goods made of imported fabric, then stitched and finished here, they also have a 100% cotton line that is U.S. cotton farmed and stitched and finished in Georgia and South Carolina plants.

Any specifications are true to spec, so a T-180 sheet will always be a true spec, and a T-250 or T-310 will also reflect what the label says in terms of cotton/polyester or 100% cotton. We use no microfibers or any plastic fibers that can harm the water and take away from the product being intended for its actual use, comfort, durability, and longevity in healthcare and hotel and commercial laundry operations.

If your sheets are very warm and spark at times, then most likely there are microfibers and plastics in the actual fibers. Those sheets, in my opinion, are extremely warm with lots of chemicals used in the manufacturing. Personally, I do not like to sleep on those sheets. They are also causing PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) in our oceans and rivers and waterways. The U.S. mill I distribute for is PFAS-free.

Our Pakistan-imported milled sheets, which we arrange containers on and distribute product stocked here, have specs of 55 cotton/45 poly and all information on the label is correct. A T-180 or a T-200 spec is an actual specification and not altered.

The best way to see if a spec has been altered is to put your hand behind the fabric and see if you can see your hand at all. With a true T-180 spec, you cannot see your hand. With a T-130 import, you can. Specs in between are see-through as well. A true T-180 sheet is not.

Many companies will tell you you’re buying one spec when the spec is altered, so the price is lowered. Your product will not last as long and will not finish well nor look as nice on the bed. It will also not be as comfortable to sleep on.

Buyer beware and know what you are buying. It will pay off in your profit margins in the long run. Neither of my import sheet lines use sizing very much, so I’m pretty sure both are PFAS-free, too.

Our towels are manufactured in Pakistan and lower-end towels like bar mops and 10 yarn product are manufactured on power looms. Rapier looms are used for some of our 16 ring spun (RS) lines, and our high-end towels are made on air-jet/shuttleless looms, which are a lot more expensive looms and produce high-end, retail-quality terry towels.

We use 20D yarn on some bar mops and good quality 10 yarn on others. All are 100% cotton or 87 cotton/16 poly for absorbance and tensile strength and longevity of product life. We do not mix in IRs (irregulars) and second quality goods as your life expectancy will be a lot less. Hems will come apart a lot faster and the towel will have slight flaws.

Many companies do mix in IR quality as the cost per pound is less. Sizes can sometimes vary on a B Grade or IR spec as well. Mostly it’s just sewing issues or flaws in weaves. Years ago, when everything was made in the U.S. if a textile product had a 5% deviance on color or weave, then it had to be sold as an irregular. Many U.S. mills I work with still have to adhere to this rule while imported terry goods and sheets do not.

Mostly what I sell is 16 ring spun as well as 16 OE (open-end) yarn as it lasts a lot longer and is much softer for terry towels and bath towels. I also carry a lot of our air-jet or shuttleless loom towels for the lodging market. Customers prefer better quality as do I since there are way fewer product service issues for myself and my customers. Even some of my food markets use a 16 OE towel.

Our high-end air-jet/shuttleless towels are 12, 16, 16 and can also be made with 20, 16, 16 in ground weave and weft and warp. Most of my bar mops are made on newer power looms or rapier looms so they will outlast many in the industry that have way too much fill weave. Those towels can be easily identified in the industry as they pull apart very easily and you do not get nearly as many turns, so your costs will be much greater later.

The old saying you get what you pay for is very true. We can save companies a lot of money, as we are a smaller organization with a lot less overhead.

Check back next Tuesday for Part 2 on the status of mill material supplies, cost and production; mill environmental practices and their influence on processing goods.