Rotary-Irons, the page dedicated to the insider knowledge of how to do ironing with a rotary iron or callender.

What about rotary irons? How do we assess the capacity of the iron needed.

From this answer we can decide on the size of ironing bed or the width of the iron we would like to do the job.

Obviously if you have 10 large sheets to wash and finish there would be no financial reason to buy a large roller iron.

BUT, If you had fifty large sheets every day or several hundred then the choices become more complicated.

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We want to know the total weight of the proposed flat-work, and the total length of the items added together end to end to come up with how many metres of flat-work has to be passed through the iron in a given time-scale.

From these figures we can then look how much labour is required to finish the work; taking into consideration the allowance for placing and removing the items on the feeder and outlet of the iron.

We normally allow for half the total capacity of the iron if you were to have one long continuous sheet supplied on a roll directly into the feeder.

So if an iron will run at 8 metres per minute allow 4 metres per minute as a rule of thumb or half the listed DIN standard of the iron.

Also how much moisture will be left in the sheets from the tumble dryer or spin dryer depending on the size of the job.

To take wet washing straight from the washer spin cycle at 55% water content, you will almost certainly need a double roll iron with a hot bed between to dry the sheet as it is passed through.

Always try to get a demonstration of Rotary-Irons from the supplier before placing an order, and ask to be shown one their machines in operation. When I was working for the Miele company we always took prospective customers to a site to see the machines working and the typeical through put in a working laundry.

Rotary-Irons, Typical example of an ironing calculation for a single pass unfolded cotton sheet.

Take the smallest width to provide you with the length of the required roller of the iron.

In this case the nearest to 1.8m is a 2m roller.

Allow 2/3 of the DIN standard capacity for slippage (placing and removing the sheets on the iron). The iron will in practice process 32 kg per hour.

Therefore you will require 3 hours labour to complete the ironing of 120 sheets.

Most hotels have 75% as flat work which requires ironing.

Nursing homes have 50%, and because they are normally single beds and not doubles a 1.5 metre Rotary-Irons will suffice.

Things to look out for when thinking about rotary irons and their use.

Is the heating bed steel or aluminium; steel can be subject to hot spots and care must be taken not to use the same place to iron napkins etc., place them in rotation along the bed as you work.

Has the heated bed been fitted with an efficient thermostatic control?

Has the iron a full length safety bar to stop the machine should fingers get trapped, which lifts the roller away from the bed quickly? Has it got a hot plate quick release operation which switches everything off like a dead-man switch?

Large irons with wet sheets produce a lot of steam and require outside vent pipes.

Have the controls on the chosen Rotary-Irons been made simple and easy to understand for the laundry personnell.

Small 85cm Rotary Ironer which plugs into the normal 13A 240volt socket outlet, with 2.8kW heaters plus motor..

It has a full length finger bar to operate the cut out should fingers or too thick folds be passed into the iron.

It has variable speed and temperature to deal with all types of fabric and dampness, after a spell in the tumble dryer.

The heater plates is aluminium across the full width of the bed, which means it is evenly heated and conducts the heat into the flat-work efficiently without hot spots.

It has a free end, which enables the feeding of larger items with part hanging over the free end.

Typical 2.5m commercial Rotary-Irons of medium size will require 3phase and neutral 415v 15 ampsper phase supply.

A 250mm iron is the largest machine that can be operated by one person, with a return feed system, or with a helper on the out table to remove and fold the items.

They will typically cope with about 47kg per hour oc cotton sheets with a residual moisture content after tumbling of 25%.

The speed of the iron varies between 1.2-3.9 metres per minute.

The cover is normally Nomex heat resistant cloth with a long life at high temperatures.

The hot air and steam needs extracting to fresh air allowing 115cubic metres of exhaust vapours.

Controls are simple to operate, and can be easily operated by laundry staff.

There is normally a foot bar to stop the roller to adjust the item or apply extra pressure on a stubborn crease.

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