In the laundry industry’s operations, shoe cleaning is essential to increasing laundry shop revenue. However, most laundry stores and laundromats face a common challenge: residual and recurring odors after cleaning. Shoes cleaned and air-dried at home by customers have a sour odor. Shoes cleaned by professional dry cleaners remain dry, clean, and odor-free for a long time. The root cause of this difference is not the laundry detergent. Laundry stores use standardized disinfection and odor removal processes combined with professional laundry equipment.
Kingstar has much experience in the R&D and manufacturing of commercial and industrial laundry equipment. It also has a large amount of service experience in laundry shops. With a standardized and practical PCMX-based odor removal method, it helps various laundry stores and laundromats improve their standardized shoe cleaning process. This enhances shops’ cleaning reputation and retention rate.
Odor causes
In a long-term closed environment, harmful microbes (such as Bacillus species and Staphylococcus aureus) grow in shoes and socks. Bacteria break down sweat keratin to develop stubborn odors. Regular detergents only remove the surface stains. Deep-seated bacteria cannot be removed. Odor issues naturally occur. To control costs, many small and medium laundry shops blindly use chlorine-based disinfectants. This triggers problems, such as glue failure, fabric fading, and mesh aging and cracking. It not only raises customer complaint rates but also leads to compensation for shoe losses. This further increases the operational costs of laundry stores.
Core Materials
In mainstream professional cleaning, phenolic disinfectant with p-Chloro-m-xylenol (PCMX) is the core material. PCMX achieves disinfection and odor removal at the source by damaging the cell membrane of pathogenic bacteria and coagulating bacterial proteins. Compared with highly corrosive chlorine-based disinfectants, its physicochemical property is milder. It is suitable for canvas, leather, mesh fabric, and sneakers. PCMX cannot damage shoe glue or fabrics. It meets the commercial shoe cleaning demands.
However, PCMX has use limitations. This component may be incompatible with anionic surfactants due to charge interactions. Most common detergents on the market use anionic surfactant formulation. Mixing the two components triggers a precipitation reaction. This results in mutual deactivation of both disinfectants and detergents. It is the critical reason why many laundry shops fail to remove foot odors with disinfectants.
Cleaning Methods
While using PCMX, it is important to avoid its reaction with regular anionic surfactant detergents (most detergents). Professional laundry shops can use the following two standardized processes. Kingstar professional washers also support and optimize operations.
- Simultaneous washing & disinfection method
Use specific detergents without anionic surfactant (such as nonionic/zwitterionic shoe detergents). A Kingstar smart washer is equipped with a precise automatic dosing system. It is programmable. Separately dose detergents and PCMX disinfectants into the main wash stage on wash cycle startup. The equipment ensures simultaneous processing under a mild environment created by nonionic surfactant. This achieves one-stop stain removal and disinfection. The operational efficiency of laundry shops has significantly improved.
- Stepwise soaking method
This is a classical and safe professional process. It is suitable for washing with regular detergents. The core of the operation is staggered dosing.
– Main wash for soil removal
Complete the standardized wash and the first rinse cycle with regular detergents.
– Final rinse disinfection
At the last rinse cycle, the Kingstar washer automatically doses the diluted PCMX disinfectant based on the pre-set program.
– Deep soaking
The equipment stops to time soaking. The time usually lasts 10-15 minutes. In this period, the inner drum rotates in a gentle manner. Disinfectant fully penetrates into shoes to achieve deep disinfection.
– Final spin
After the soak cycle is completed, high-speed spin starts to drain sewage.
Kingstar Equipment Advantages
Kingstar washers have advanced programmable cycle customization, stable water levels, and temperature control. They can precisely complete the above two professional chemical processes. They have independent disinfectant dosing channels and precise timed soaking functions. This ensures the disinfectant works with an effective concentration at the proper time. The equipment helps laundry shops achieve standardized and replicable high-quality services.
Spinning is only one step in the odor removal process. A wet environment easily leads to bacterial regrowth. Drying is essential to remove odors. Kingstar commercial dryers use hot air circulation. It can quickly remove moisture inside shoes. The entire process achieves one-stop stain removal, deep disinfection, and long-lasting freshness. This prevents shoes from having odor again after drying at the source. The equipment helps laundry shops create unique shoe cleaning services. With high-quality cleaning, laundry stores can win customers and expand their store profit margin.
Conclusion
Kingstar is a manufacturer of professional commercial and industrial washers and dryers. It develops equipment according to the operational pain points of laundry stores. The machine type covers single machines for small community-based laundry shops, industrial machine sets for large central laundry plants, and self-service laundry equipment units. Kingstar laundry equipment applies to new cleaning requirements in the details of water circulation, temperature control, and separate-drum rinse. Kingstar continues providing laundry equipment and cleaning methods for global laundry service providers.
Q&A
Q1: Can chlorine-based disinfectant be used for removing shoe odors in laundry shops?
A1: This is not recommended. Chlorine-based disinfectant has high corrosion. It easily leads to adhesive failure, fabric fading, and material damage. Use the disinfectant with PCMX.
Q2: Can common detergents and PCMX disinfectant be put together in a Kingstar washer?
A2: No. Most common detergents have anionic surfactant. They become inactive when mixed with PCMX. Replace them with nonionic shoe cleaners. Or use a staggered dosing method at the last rinse cycle.
Q3: Why are shoes prone to odor recurrence after air drying?
A3: Moisture inside the shoes cannot be removed by air drying. A wet environment enables the growth of residual bacteria to develop odors. Kingstar UV dryers achieve long-term and effective disinfection and odor removal.
