How Do Hospitals Wash Their Dirty Laundry? | How It’s Made

Learn how hospitals wash their laundry in huge industrial washing plants and discover the process used to restore brass instruments.
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[@gwot]

"The press applies the weight of a couple of large African elephants" ah yes, the Animaltric system.

[@bmhater1283]

Animetric system

[@tornadowarningsofcanada90]

@@bmhater1283 no

[@tonyborgman9857]

African or European elephant?

[@thealienontheinternet]

aka the Imperial System

[@toomanymarys7355]

There are ten baby grand pianos to the elephant, of course. Length in this system is in school buses.

[@jackmidd123]

These documentaries always fascinate me, but - i’d love to see a documentary about the companies that make the processing equipment. They’re the real heroes here. Here’s a machine that folds things….how?!

[@yo64yo]

I work as a millwright apprentice for an automation company and it's like the how it's made of how it's made. there's a lot of nda's and such hiding most of it from everyone else which sucks, but I'm sure if you search around for automation machine tool building you may find something. it's all just machining and assembly at the end of the day for tool builders, then you have electricians and controls programmers, and don't forget the engineers who designed it all.

[@wakcedout]

Sometimes they do those. Youd have to go thru the entire how its made series. The UK version is nicer in my view. Covers more interesting items as oppose to.the American and Canadian ones.

[@akivaweil5066]

I worked for a company a laundry company that had similar machines. They definitely do not work with 100% efficiency, unfortunately. The clothes are folded using either pneumatic cylinders to fold the tank tread surfaces onto themselves, or pneumatic air in the case of those pads. Feel free to ask away.

[@Sw33t146]

And after that they can do a documentary on the companies that make the equipment for the companies that make equipment for the processing companies

[@yo64yo]

@@Sw33t146 yesyesyes the circle of the trades is infinite

[@TheRetroFanatic]

Working in a hospital (in Canada) I was always impressed with how clean everything coming back in was and dreamed of having my laundry as magically clean and completely un fragranced.

[@MrMakeDo]

I like when they roll the dirty laundry onto the scale and it says GROSS.

[@charlietingley3122]

Lol

[@chippytits3803]

@@efishel im not having any fun from that!

[@Kt-cn2rq]

🤣

[@naketizainabu7803]

Yeap🤣🤣🤣🤣👍

[@ChowChannel00]

They are wearing gloves but i think they should also have mask

[@meganmckinleybliss1395]

Does anyone else feel like all "How its Made" videos were only filmed in the early 2000s or is that just the mental date im stuck on when I watch these things...

[@jeeemmm]

Same. You know the low quality video in here on youtube man

[@stephaniespragg5586]

The early 2000s is when How It’s Made dates back to

[@yytyyy5329]

No? Your just a millennial

[@linnsoltwedel]

As a nurse at the hospital its nice to know the behind the scenes things of thing that just works. This is a very important job!

[@yytyyy5329]

The classic"as a"

[@aaronryder4008]

"One of those plunger style coffee maker" You mean a French press?

[@gwot]

i knew exactly what she was describing, but I had no idea it was called a french press.

[@codename495]

It’s not called a French press everywhere, nor is that common knowledge.

[@aaronryder4008]

@@codename495 So, I get that this is a UK channel and that means it might be called something like coffee press or coffee plunger but it is still better than "one of those plunger style coffee maker" imho lol

[@JulieWallis1963]

@@aaronryder4008 this may well be a British channel, but the program is *not* British, the narrator sounds maybe Canadian. A cafetière or a French press is a pretty _common_ name. Much more professional than “one of those plunger style coffee makers”

[@dominiquepocopio777]

@@codename495 what is it called in other places? 😭

[@Leguminator]

I can't believe something like hospital laundry processing can grab my attention and hold my interest.

[@dedduck2479]

I like how the scale rates the dirty laundry on a scale of 0 to 220.5 Gross.

[@joshuavoss4354]

Gross isn't a measurement of weight itself. In packaging and containers, there are two kinds of weight. Tare weight is the weight of only the things in the container while gross weight is the combined weight of the things in the container and of the container itself.

[@jacklyv]

It's not GROSS as in disgusting 🤣🤣🤣 it's a term for a measure of weight

[@hendrianjayyy7395]

Bruto

[@austinmiller1427]

@@jacklyv still quite funny in a way though.

[@Kt-cn2rq]

@@jacklyv 🤣 might as well be gross 😝. People on here are funny

[@oolong2]

02:24 They really should call that conveyer belt.... "the cake walk"....

[@mimisfavorites5269]

To think I used to do the laundry at a nursing home myself, as a NA, just a regular bunch of washers and driers seen at a laundromat, and I sorted and folded it myself.!

[@ddnlee24]

I know a few places that did the same thing.

[@yytyyy5329]

The classic "as a"

[@erikalomeli6582]

I work there they just use commercial sized front loaders. They only thing unique is the cleaning chemicals and automated dispensers.

[@Xmunchiexx]

@@erikalomeli6582 surely those front loaders can also boil the water in the wash? I believe ours can, but we also have three tunnel washers that are capable of heating the water to boiling point and dryers that have an operating temp of 120°c

[@christigoth]

lol no wonder diseases etc spread in those places. even this video doesn't mention high heat sanitizing, which is the best kind , along with chemicals. did you make sure to wear gloves and change them before handling the clean laundry? Washers and Dryers are available with heat sanitizing features . I hope evryone will use those, i plan on gettin g them.

[@sage-py6fr]

love that they call the compressed clothes "cakes"

[@Toebeanmama]

Looks like they’re washing already clean laundry. The stuff we put in those bags at the hospital are absolutely disgusting. Fun fact: they still come back stained with plenty of residue😷

[@mikewalker3169]

Thats terrible honestly

[@morganhough1022]

And don’t forget the baked on electrodes!

[@mrd7374]

I'm sure not all hospitals have access to places like this.

[@khwistal]

Isn’t that unhygienic?

[@mattsnyder4754]

@@khwistal only if they re-use them. They almost certainly just send that stuff back to be re-washed.

[@8ch-Ivy]

I can’t tell you how many nights I stayed up wondering how hospitals wash their laundry. Thanks for this information. Wow!!! What a load off my mind.

[@MissMultiConsole]

love the sarcasm hehe

[@8ch-Ivy]

@@MissMultiConsole - I tried to lay it on thick.

[@MissMultiConsole]

you did a great job sometimes it's not always easy to see sarcasm through written text.

[@8ch-Ivy]

@@MissMultiConsole 😂😂😂 too funny!!! What would of been better is if I replied, “who’s being sarcastic?”

[@liaminelli9085]

Lmaoooooo

[@michaelknauer7471]

that's some of the cleanest dirty laundry from a hospital i've ever seen...

[@Xmunchiexx]

Yeah it is. I work in one, but we have to sort it while it's dirty as they require their correct wash cycle to sterilise properly.

[@kiera7987]

@@Xmunchiexx How do you put in a application and is it called laundry attendant or something else . How much y'all make an hour 💰.

[@DontBeMad911]

I use to work at a job that did this, basically a laundrymat for hospitals in simple terms

[@michaelwhite6614]

Was the job terrible in terms of repetitive strain injuries etc?

[@ArneRagnarsson]

In Sweden, they just had a program about just this. When the laundry was clean, it was put back in the same carts where they come from Without the carts being cleaned. There was dirt and old blood left in and on the car..

[@TheRandompaint]

What an oversight🤦‍♂️

[@unitedastronomer]

naur

[@NoCluYT]

Where I’m from they have a machine that’s specifically made to clean the carts

[@TheWaynester101]

What we do is that the dirty laundry is stored in plastic bags and the clean laundry is also stored in plastic bags. No worries of cross contamination

[@Xmunchiexx]

@@TheWaynester101 ours is stored in bags when it's dirty. The carts are disinfected and then a liner gets placed and the bottom and clean folded stuff goes right in

[@itskindofemily]

As an assistant nurse who's made many beds, I wish that ECG stickers wouldn't sometimes be on "fresh" sheets HAHA

[@bonlob23]

I work at a place like this and we wish egk stickers wouldn’t make it to the plant;)

[@brideoflister]

I sometimes get a ballpoint pen steamed and pressed permanently in to he pocket of my scrubs!

[@yytyyy5329]

The classic "as an"

[@TheWaynester101]

Well take the damn stickers off of the sheets before you send them away! Lol Those stickers are horrible. They melt and get permanently stuck to the inside of the dryers. They literally have to be worn off with a grinder. They also occasionally get stuck in the ironing equipment ruining the ironing pads.

[@christigoth]

thanks for your disclosure ! bless you !

[@BokChoyLee]

2:23 tell me what a cake is next time you have a patient with explosive diarrhea, urinary incontinence, and purulent draining wounds, all in one white blanket 🤪

[@be5952]

*Please turn on the automatic closed captions!* This is useful for many people, _besides the hearing impaired_---if children are playing in the backgroud; outside noise coming through an open window; listening late at night when others are asleep, and other reasons. *_PLEASE TURN ON AUTOMATIC CLOSED CAPTIONS._*

[@eugenenzivo2828]

they missed out on a chance to name the compressed load of hospital gowns, a tablet🤦‍♂️

[@whospilledmybeans]

At least they recycle the plastic bags. Thats what should always happen

[@JohnSimpson36]

Some use plastic bags made from the same material that dishwasher tablets are coated in so they don't have to touch it altogether

[@Leagues88]

1:10 just listen

[@yytyyy5329]

Should?

[@putimeow3380]

I have a neighbor, she is a janitor in one of medical center hospital in my city. Every time she came home from work, she always brought a big bag of dirty cloth from the hospital. I don't really understand the laundry system at the hospital, but I often see hospital bed sheets and surgical gowns hanging out above of her dog house 😅 . So I think this big laundry system is cool and amazing. I hope the medical center hospital in my city can have it, so they have more hygiene clothes.

[@mattt198654321]

If I were the guys at 1:00, you can bet your a55 that I'd be wearing a full respirator.

[@codename495]

The suction opening for the bags likely acts as a vent hood as well.

[@Xmunchiexx]

I work at a laundry and these guys have it easy. We sort it when it's still dirty so it gets the correct wash cycle to sterilise correctly You have never lived till you open a bag that reeks like shit, then you open another where some moron has decided it'd be a good idea to clean piss with ammonia. Ends up smelling like the most potent rat piss you've ever smelt 🤢

[@nathanpatrick7094]

That was way better than one I work at old hospital 15-20 years ago

[@MagnaEssence]

😭i work at a place that does high-end stuff and i wish i had all thisssssssss, we only have ME, 2 washing-machines for normies, and 2 dryers...for a LOT of stuff...this video looks like HEAVEN.

[@hackdog5767]

this kind of clips make me entertained in this time of pandemic

[@stevenclloyd]

wow that is a clean laundry facility definitely not in the US lol! I was a HVAC tech and we had a customer that did this scale of cleaning. those folding machines look terrifying in person when you see how close their hands get to the rollers. trying to keep the line workers cool and the lint in the air, filter changes happened often and it was a all day project.

[@composimple364]

Seems like this video is from Canada.

[@raetheray]

2:57 guy in gray not wearing gloves.

[@ShoppingwithRina]

This is so amazing to watch

[@NathyIsabella]

me during the pandemic shocked that they don't use masks to deal with potentially contaminated clothes

[@janinem9794]

🤔🤔

[@choirkitty]

Could very easily have been filmed long before COVID days

[@gooderic11]

@@choirkitty even before covid there are isolated rooms for infected patients...... they do the laundry the same as other

[@laurynanderson5198]

This was filmed in the early 2000s

[@laurynanderson5198]

@@gooderic11 i understand what you’re saying yes they’re are patients that would have contagious viruses or infections but you don’t need to wear a mask to handle that stuff. Contaminated linen is not airborne 😂 all u have to do is wear gloves and don’t touch your eyes nose or mouth while handling them. It’s not the same thing as being around a sick person.

[@cyyyyyuewalkers2205]

This is so fascinating, Human are really intelligent to make such things♥️ As a student Nurse, This is really informative for me♥️

[@yytyyy5329]

The classic "as a"

[@pippaliciousj]

I wanna know what detergent they use on their whites 🤔

[@nilolee2426]

Brian is the man when it comes to dirty laundry,he is the expert

[@MrPLC999]

So no clue as to how they ensure each hospital gets its own laundry back.

[@john40539]

I don't think it really matters. The items are probably purchased by the supplier, then hospitals pay them a fee for x clean linnens a day, essentially renting them.

[@pbernier15]

I’m at manager at a plant like this. We rent out linen to the hospitals which is then sent out and back. Each piece of linen gets us money when washed and processed. We do around 650-750k pounds per week

[@toomanymarys7355]

@@pbernier15 That's a lot!!!

[@Paata02]

God bless Mr. White's soul, we can't look at commercial laundromats same way ever again 😂

[@ramiabram6010]

VERY CLEAN

[@johnsnow5414]

Omg!! No wonder they are so neat and folded !!

[@AVLZOfficial]

very interesting... i like this documentary... cheers!

[@hallelujahhosanna4144]

Wonderful

[@revorocks123]

man that theme tune takes me back

[@OnlySlams]

Why did I think they just threw them out lol I always rolled the gown up and put it in the bin after I was seen...oops lmfaooo

[@genquiptyler7128]

i’m glad i kept wondering how laundrys are washed since then thanks algorithm

[@clashreplayz6419]

My hospital sends it too the local dry cleaning shop lmao

[@utt003]

That cringe it gives you to see them not wearing mask while handling this.

[@savannahoneil-pindar4207]

Or gloves... One of them wasn't wearing any gloves.

[@birdgirl8390]

God knows what lingers in those sheets, I prefer to know that my workers are well protected

[@MelodiaSeira]

@@birdgirl8390 that was clean laundry already

[@fredgrebner526]

Masks are cringe.

[@scythal]

@@fredgrebner526 Got it, I'll tell that to my surgeon next time!

[@ghosthorse77]

Maybe in the USA but not (at least) in Exeter UK where they have there own Very large laundry plant. I beleive that applies to most hospitals in the UK.

[@FatGaz99]

Very few hospitals now have their own on site laundry. RDE have contracts to supply linen to other trusts in the south west, but most outsource to private companies.

[@buddyclem7328]

A local regional hospital in the US has their own laundry plant, so I know of at least some hospitals that don't use outside laundry services.

[@Nitinchannel428]

Amazing machine ❤❤❤

[@RonPiggott]

I enjoyed seeing this the laundry

[@lyndelllyon754]

Awesome

[@da3musceteers]

Same

[@HikikomoriDev]

So much poopy clothes cleaned up! Neat!

[@mav48185]

Man I wanna work there

[@lildrftr]

But how do they untie/ fix the knots on a patent gown tie string of it gets like that? Seen that alot happen

[@spikeshostagetv5935]

I work at one.clean and repair the machines

[@JoshBombFiberArts]

Wow so much dedication so many instruments, no wonder their pianos sound so bad!

[@woody7155]

the place I worked at did this but we sorted before we washed

[@KurtBob]

What they don’t tell you is that the price of the service starts out at X and within a year or two will be about double unless the customer calls to complain in which case the company will “renew the contract with a promotional deal applied and get that back down for ya.” Just to jack the price back up again every 6 weeks till another complaint. Businesses who don’t pay attention to their bills can sometimes pay up to $400 for what should be about $50 of service.

[@TheNamesArif]

I want to watch a huggbees version of this

[@phuckwhyteamerikkka723]

Oh my God I hope huggbees have a field day with this one

[@oggabooga1171]

My area hospital just have their own washing room section in the basement

[@SmooshGoo]

Mmm yummy hospital gown cakes. 😋

[@jimbob1ist]

It's odd watching How It's Made without Tony Hirst narrating.

[@beefchicken]

They’re voiced by Lynne Adams when they’re produced in Canada, then re-voiced for local markets (US, UK). What you’re hearing here is the original voice. I miss Mark Tewksbury. He was the oddest choice for narrator.

[@AliAli-fy7zo]

Awesome work, I liked it. Can I also get a job?

[@bugsrcool55]

Y can’t I un-dent my car like that LOL

[@megsayaers7918]

@0:40 I like how they measure the laundry by how gross it is

[@skippy8294]

Lol i work there !

[@leifdux7277]

I never seen a fabric pancake before.

[@monkeydunkey1]

I'd like to see how processed foods are made

[@thiqh]

They have plenty of videos on processed food, pretty interesting!

[@Walter26walter]

Makes you wonder how many saxophone's they cleaned and refinished for Kenny G

[@99Getrdone]

Our hospital uses Midwest laundry

[@shadowbanned3716]

That dirty laundry is way cleaner looking than what i imagine hospital laundry would look like. I think for filming purposes they ran some already clean stuff through. No way those cloths have no blood, poop, urine, pus or vomit on them.

[@philipc1709]

Lmao you telling me they don’t throw out the ones with blood on them?

[@TheFreshSpam]

Why? Do you throw away clothes with blood? You can clean it out you know, I dont get how much cloth would be thrown away in it had blood on it

[@gwot]

blood is pretty easy to clean from cloth.

[@thiqh]

@@gwot I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it is possible.

[@TheFreshSpam]

@@thiqh it's easy if you clean it as it happens and dont let it cake itself into the fabric. It's like any stains, or frankly most things in life, the faster you act the higher chance you will succeed

[@theapplequeen5832]

Thiqh no not at all. As long as it doesn’t dry lol- just put it in cold water until ur ready to sent it off to be cleaned ^^

[@alazar3746]

I’ve worked at one

[@yas1981]

i know this is an old video but ☠️☠️☠️ the way those handle dirty laundry from a hospital without a mask is so whdbsjjsskksksks

[@M20AFKS]

vive le Québec

[@maincheez562]

I now know 3 types of cakes 🎂 nice 😏

[@StockHeightChevy603]

It was at the automatic folding part where I liked this video.

[@hendrazair9898]

3:50 too cute 😋

[@rodypony]

The hospital I just stayed at did not have clean laundry like this. There were so many little balls of hair all over the towels. It was gross. I wonder how these machines deal with human hair and other random objects that might accidentally get tossed into those bags, like forceps and such.

[@acebirindwa737]

I want to open something like this in Africa what could be a good advice?

[@miso4030]

You'll be surprised by how much layers there is for a hospital bed. We had our training last semester and there's sooo much shit that you need to put on the bed and replace.

[@simonpatterson1041]

Ugh and it’s awful cuz a lot of the time the patient will take the extra sheets off anyway.

[@hendrianjayyy7395]

Lazyness is the mother of progress, so I'm not lazy, I'm just progressing

[@dyscea]

A lot more automation than i thought.

[@SuperMiIk]

Laundry cake lol

[@tribulation138]

I work as a mechanic in a laundry plant like this. Imagine being in a 100°F ENVIRONMENT thats smells like stale dirty diapers and blood. Every day!

[@zhisu2665]

anything used for cleaning is done by general services but things used for patients are sent to a different service outside of the hospital.

[@austinmiller1427]

Oh so this is how Dirty Laundrie is washed.... Time to send Brian through.

[@chasityboat9811]

I always WONDERED THIS.................☁️🤔

[@mad1mg]

I need one of those washing machines at home, all the newer appliances are JUNK!

[@user-un8ql4kj6q]

if they can update the line with robotic arm much less spaces would be needed

[@daftphil9706]

Third! Do I get bronze? Interesting vid tho. Ta!

[@leslie703]

So they are going to put Laundrie into that compressor and turn him into a cake too? I’m all for it

[@itsdweezy]

LOL

[@CutieRingoJoy]

This must be a demo version because those looks clean and real ones come back still stain

[@atlantic2233]

Is the narrator Canadian? I love how Canadians say "out" and "about"; her accent makes her sound possibly Canadian?

[@bkurtz8770]

My local hospitals all do it themselves

[@Spencer-ez4we]

I too am a cake breaker.. Nom nom nom

[@thotparraka6690]

I take it. Sent yangon hospital.

[@GabGotti3]

There is definitely a Meth lab under that Laundry factory.

[@matthearne9170]

Most ship off to outside sanitizing washing facilities have done electrical work as a contractor have to be careful any people get mersa in these facilities

[@theapplequeen5832]

Question, what do they do with the robes which people died in? Do they wash them or throw them out?

[@Xmunchiexx]

Oh yeah they get washed and reused. Replacing it every time people die becomes very expensive very quickly.