We have 10 pairs of free tickets to give away for the Laundry and Cleaning Today CleanEx Exhibition, to be held at Ascot Racecourse on Sunday 29th April. Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis to the first 10 customers who email us at enquiries@idealmanufacturing.com

On Shrove Tuesday Ideal made the short trip from HQ to watch the 2012 Olney Pancake Race!

Olney's world famous race dates back to 1445! Participants have to be female, and should have lived in the town for more than 6 months. This year 22 runners took part in the 415 yard race. We joined the crowds to cheer them all on, and made sure that we got to sample a few pancakes afterwards.

When it comes to oven, fryer and pan cleaning... Ideal are the experts!






 

 

Here at Ideal, we've always loved watching the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures. So, we are really pleased to see the launch of the beautiful new Royal Institution Video Channel!

The RI's lecture archive has been completely transcribed, so that all the videos are searchable. Users can even click through to specific time codes in films, add their own footnotes, and link to other videos!

In addition to the RI's archival films and self-produced spots, the website also has a huge selection of science-related videos curated from all over the web.

We've been taking a look at some of the old chemistry lectures, and we especially like this one from Sir William Lawrence Bragg talking about oil, soap and detergents back in 1959

More at richannel.org...

Come and visit Ideal on stand number 3 at the LCT CleanEx on Sunday April 29th at Ascot.

Here at Ideal HQ, we're very pleased to have been successfully re-certified by the ISOQAR audit team for another year.
Special thanks to Sharron, for doing such a great job ensuring that we continue to meet the objectives of our Quality Management System.

Ideal Manufacturing is accredited the the ISO 9001:2008 standard.

Ideal's brand new OPL-OXY is the perfect choice for laundries processing large volumes of white and pastel hospitality sheets and towels.
Hotel, B&B or Holiday Camp linen will race through your laundry with very low rewash levels using this simple to use, single-shot powder.

Benefits include:

• High oxygen levels and soil suspension agents ensure excellent body-stain removal and brightness retention.
• High quality detergent blend removes oily make-up and skin-cream staining even at lower temperatures.
• Performs well at 40, 60 or 80°C in a single wash of 8 to 15 minutes duration.
• Use 10 to 25 grams per kilogram of linen depending on wash time, temperature, soiling and water hardness levels.
• Free flowing formula flushes well through dosing hoppers.
• No need for extra bleach, resulting in a long service life of the linen.
• Also very effective on shirts and fast colours.

Call 01933 681 616 to order now

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We'd be really happy to see you on our stand at the forthcoming CleanEx Show at Ascot racecourse on the 29th of April 2012 organised for the entire Textile Care Industry by Laundry & Cleaning Today.

The show promises to be the biggest ever one-day spectacular for the Trade and all our customers. It will be more than 12 years since the last Wembley Clean UK event organised by SLEAT. Judging by the information you will have seen in LCT, this show will be really well attended by hundreds of visitors and over 45 exhibitors.

We will be showing a selection of our impressive range of chemicals, specifically designed for Textile Care professionals. Our laundry experts will also be on-hand to provide help, advice and training. More information to follow...

We are genuinely excited about CleanEx, and we encourage you to arrive early so that you can enjoy a full day with the supply side of the Textile Care business.

We look forward to seeing you and your colleagues on stand no. 3

For free tickets, email info@laundryandcleaningtoday.co.uk

season's greetings and a prosperous new year

Thank you very much for choosing Ideal Manufacturing as your professional chemical supplier.

We look forward to working in partnership with you in 2012.

Graham Fletcher with Ozzie, the ace spotting technician...

Graham Fletcher, and his son Steve, run a successful high-street laundry service in East London called 'Cleaner The Betta'. The company also runs a blossoming linen hire, restaurant and event-linen business from the rear of the premises.

'Have you got expensive tablecloths and napkins sitting on the shelf?' asks Ideal Manufacturing. Unused and forced out of service because of mysterious, unsightly and impossible to shift black marks?

Most laundries have! These marks are often a result of customer abuse or contamination during transit. Common causes are; window cleaning, work-top wiping, metal polishing, getting jammed in trolley wheels, or being walked on or dragged on dirty wet floors. When specialist chemical wash recovery processes have failed, you can succeed with direct spotting techniques.

Graham Fletcher of 'Cleaner The Betta' laundry recently contacted Ideal for help solving the problem of stubborn black marks on his table linen:

"Until recently, I had forty banqueting cloths forced out of circulation, due to a few unsightly black marks on the surface of the linen. These cloths had cost me £20 each to buy, totalling £800! We had washed them several times in heavy chemical treatments, without complete success. After some advice from an Ideal expert, I tasked one of my staff to apply Ideal products to the marks with a spotting bone and to rewash. Remarkably, they were all restored to service successfully!

"The recovery operation took a total of five hours, about seven or eight minutes per cloth. This was a tough task, but for £30-£40 of labour and chemical, I saved £800 of linen from the rag man!"

Watch out for news from Ideal of a new chemical recovery process for the removal of black marks on white linen in 2012, currently in the advanced stages of development.

Page 12, LCT, December 2011

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Laundry & Cleaning Today featured another article about Ideal on page 11 in the December issue. Here's what is says...

Chemicals company Ideal Manufacturing has recently agreed a new exclusive distributor deal that will take a new range of bespoke Ideal manufactured professional drycleaning spotters and specialist drycleaning products directly to Greece and Turkey, under the new 'Racing' brand. Ideal has developed this range of products in association with Kostas Papadopoulos, who has more than 30 years direct experience in drycleaning and spotting.

"Papadopoulos - or 'Dr Spot' as he is known locally - presented Ideal with a number of particular drycleaning issues for which he wanted new products to help resolve. After a lengthy period of practical research, and some thorough testing, together, we have proudly introduced a complete range of products," explains Ideal's Phillip Kalli.

"Last year Mr Papadopoulos, who owns a chain of drycleaning shops in Athens and supplies to a number of other drycleaners in Greece, contacted Ideal Manufacturing. He had already been a long term user of our regular drycleaning detergent, having purchased it through an intermediary for a number of years. He was very fond of the product, and when he was unable to purchase it (because the third party ceased trading) he approached us to see if we would export to him directly.

"After identifying that our managing director, Dr Mike Kalli, was also Greek speaking, Mr Papadopoulos was very enthusiastic about Ideal helping him to develop a comprehensive range of bespoke products. We sent him a set of samples of our existing spotting and drycleaning products (which had recently been developed in the UK) along with the fulfilment of his order for drycleaning detergent. This was soon followed up with a very enjoyable visit to Athens, after Mr Papadopoulos had had an opportunity to test all the various products personally, and identify any additional requirements that he had.

"The visit was a real success, and enabled us to see exactly what his needs were in the field. Mr Papadopoulos was an excellent host, and was able to demonstrate a range of spotting techniques proving the versatility of the products we had manufactured for him - some of the benefits and applications had even been hitherto unknown to us. Mr Papadopoulos has more than 30 years direct experience at the spotting table, dealing with every perceivable fabric and problem on a daily basis. We therefore felt that this was a perfect opportunity for us to really put the products to the ultimate test.

"We came back from Greece, and made the necessary adjustments to complete the bespoke range within a few months."
Ideal was also able to develop the necessary packaging solutions according to the required design and approval of the client. The first shipment was despatched in October, and based on initial reports from his customers.

Kostas Papadopoulos is very happy with the finished product saying, "Ideal has created all the products I need to tackle even the toughest stains."


Ideal Partner: Kostas Papadopoulos has signed an exclusive distributorship

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Ideal Manufacturing is very proud to have been nominated as a regional finalist in the Outstanding Export Award category at the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards, held today at the Heritage Motor Museum in Warwick.

It was the first time Ideal Manufacturing has entered the awards, and we're very proud to have been involved in celebrating the growth, innovation and future of manufacturing in the UK.

The Future Manufacturing Awards categories have been designed to highlight the resilience, determination and ingenuity of the UK’s manufacturing community, providing a fantastic opportunity to showcase everything that is great about manufacturing in the UK.

All of the nominees in The Outstanding Export Award category, introduced in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, were praised at todays celebration event, for the extremely high quality of their submissions, particularly at a time when it is too often claimed that we don't 'make anything' anymore in the UK. Presenting the awards, Doug Mahoney, International Trade Director UKTI West Midlands, announced that, if it were up to him he would "give all the nominees an award."

The Outstanding Export Award was created for companies that have developed and implemented a new export strategy and successfully traded goods and/or services in the last two years. It's aim is to recognise and celebrate increased export, sustainable growth and an intelligent business strategy to help secure a manufacturing future for the UK.

We are really proud of our achievements in export this year, and look forward to continued growth and innovation in 2012.

If you are interesting in working with Ideal, to import products to your region, please contact us at www.idealmanufacturing.co.uk

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Ideal Manufacturing Christmas Opening Times 2011

We would like to make you aware of our Christmas and New Year closing times, to ensure that you have everything you need over the festive period.

Our office will be closing on Friday 23rd December at 5.00pm and will re-open on Tuesday 3rd January at 8.00am. We will be unable to receive or process any orders between these dates.

Therefore, our last despatch date in 2011 will be Wednesday 21st December, and the first despatch date in the new year will be Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

We would really appreciate it if all orders could be made, wherever possible,
before Friday 9th December 2011, to ensure delivery before the festive period.

We will, of course, endeavour to despatch any orders received after this date, subject to stock and transport availability.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our team on 01933 681 616 , or you might like to visit www.idealmanufacturing.co.uk to find out more about what we can do, and what we’re currently up to!

Thank you for choosing Ideal Manufacturing Ltd. as your professional chemical supplier. We look forward to working in partnership with you in 2012.




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The nice folks at Laundry & Cleaning Today featured an article about Ideal on the back page of their October issue. Here's what is says...

" Ideal has launched two new products for the laundry and drycleaning trade. Professional Spotter range and luxury fabric conditioner.
Ideal Manufacturing offers a complete spectrum of professional spotting agents for effective pre-spotting or after-spotting of all known stains, for direct application. They are available in a convenient box containing six individual 250ml bottles, complete with a spotting stain chart Refills are available in five litre drums, and represent excellent value. The chemicals have all been designed and manufactured in-house, here in the UK, by Ideal.

The range is as follows:

Ideal Red Spot: For effective pre-spotting or after-spotting of blood, milk, cream, beer, vomit, meat, gravy, perspiration and other body fluids.

Ideal Blue Spot: For oil and water based stains such as grease, tar, paint, mineral oils, cod liver oil, lipstick, nail polish, ink, wax, carbon paper, ointments and skin-creams.

Ideal Yellow Spot: For oil and water soluble stains such as mud, chocolate, urine, liquor, honey, albumin, starch, sugar, mustard, ice-cream, mould and perspiration and can be used as an aid for chewing gum removal.

Ideal Green Spot: For dry or hard spots of oil, paint, tar, adhesives, nail-polish, candle wax, lacquers, varnish, sugar and natural or synthetic resins. Also removes colour stains from leather belts.

Ideal Orange Spot: For tannin and vegetable stains such as tea, coffee, cocoa, grass, tobacco, fruit-juice, perfume, wine, cola, medicines and unidentifiable yellow-brown stains.

Zero Nero: One of the major problems relating to spotting agent usage in the past has been the persistent presence of watermarks on stained articles after spotting. Zero Nero deals with this problem. Tests have revealed that Zero Nero can be applied as a post spotter to avoid water marks, and as a pre spotter on grimy collars and cuffs for both wet washing and drycleaning. This product is now included as part of the professional spotter kit.
Auxiliary products, available as part of the new drycleaning range:

Ideal Rust Remover: For instant removal of rust stains.

Regular DCS (drycleaning soap): For removal of water based soiling in the dry cleaning machine. Combines brilliant soil suspension, anti-static and softening properties for an excellent finish.

Also new is a luxury fabric conditioner, which has a clever built in odour neutraliser. Used in the final rinse, it will impart effective softening and antistatic characteristics to linen (particularly nappies, towels, woollens and blankets) while eliminating any residual malodour. The product smells really good and works a treat - perfect for pet/horse blankets and smoke damaged fabrics.

Ideal's Phillip Kalli comments: "We have continued to develop our drycleaning range, completing field tests on a range of products with an expert drycleaner in Athens, along with some highly experienced drycleaners working at major laundry sites in the UK. The results have been fantastic, and have enabled us to develop new products in response to some specific issues."

He adds: "Ideal has a bright history as a specialist designer of high performance laundry detergents and detergent sanitisers. We are always looking at new ways to develop and improve our powders and liquids. Direct involvement with our customers means that we witness the problems they face, and our hands-on approach laundry chemistry means that we formulate products with the real needs of the modern laundry in mind."

Our Managing Director, Dr Mike Kalli recently spoke to Janet Taylor about the current trends that influence developments in this important sector. Here's how it was reported in the October issue of Laundry & Cleaning News... [p22-24]

"Chemicals are an essential part of the laundering process. The way they are being used is changing and is affected by several factors such as the need to save water and energy, environmental legislation and the type of textile being processed. The chemicals in common use fall into generic categories [...] Mike Kalli at Ideal Manufacturing specifically highlights the use of sanitation chemicals as the trend to low temperature washing means that more chemical action will be needed to remove contamination. He also mentions de-staining chemicals to remove obstinate stains such as tannin, coffee and spice dyes. [...]
Kalli at Ideal Manufacturing says that chemical manufacturers need to help launderers save water and energy by providing chemicals that will remove soiling and allow effective sanitation at lower temperatures. It is not only the visible soiling that must be removed. Lower temperatures could mean that there is a risk of pathogenic bacteria and other infectious contaminants being carried over and the wash liquor must deal with these and also prevent odours lingering on the linen.

The cotton crisis effect
The past eighteen months have seen a tremendous hike in the price of cotton, which has affected all sectors of the textile care industry. Though prices have settled a little, the level is still high and prices are still fluctuating, making laundry cost management more difficult.
This has led to textile manufacturers including more polyester in their blends. Textile rental companies are putting greater emphasis on prolonging textiles' life cycles. This applies to 100% cottons and blends with a high cotton content.
[...] Mike Kalli at Ideal describes a number of textile trends that affect the laundering process. The use of specialised protective workwear including garments with reflective and flame retardant properties is increasing. The processes and chemicals used to clean such garments needs to be effective in removing heavy mineral and oil deposits but must do so at lower temperatures and without using substances that will damage the special protective properties.
The greater use of synthetic and synthetic mix fabrics also affects processes such as starching and makes greater demands on the chemicals used.
The company believes that the best way to handle these changes in textiles is to classify work correctly before washing and choose processes that will avoid residual stains, which will then be set during finishing, leading to costly rewash. Ideal also believes that all laundry operators must have effective training so that staff understand the consequences of incorrect processes and procedures [...]
The chemicals manufacturer/supplier has a responsibility to assist in putting the principles into practice.
The role of the chemicals' supplier has also changed and most now go beyond simple supply to offer specialist expertise in areas such as water and energy management.
Ideal says that in its experience few launderers have an in-depth knowledge of the chemistry and microbiology involved in the laundry process. The laundry manager is primarily concerned, and rightly so, with profit and loss.
The manufacturer/supplier therefore has a duty to provide the expertise and to train the processing team to understand the chemistry involved and the characteristics of the products they use. The company must also be available to advise and resolve potential problems.

Hands-on approach
Ideal says its approach to developing and applying chemicals is very much a hands-on one. It has its own in-house testing operation.
It has a full range of laundry, drycleaning and janitorial products and has introduced a series of products that deal with specific problem areas.
The luxury fabric softener includes a built-in odour neutraliser. The formula is designed to soften and impart antistatic properties to items such as towels, nappies, woollens and blankets.
The dark detergent is a concentrated liquid designed for washing darker shades and is said to help prevent running or fading and keep the colour looking vibrant.
The delicate detergent was designed in answer to a request for an effective product for washing down-filled clothing and duvets and is also suitable for wool, silk, cashmere, mohair and coloured cotton."


Ideal's Bacstat 2 safely disinfects items that cannot be treated with bleach or at high temperatures because of their colour or fabric type.

Ideal has put together this helpful guide to correct chemical storage:

1. All liquid products need to be stored indoors, away from extremes of heat, sunshine and cold.

2. A range of 2-25°C is best. During winter, temperatures below 5°C should be avoided. Detergent liquids and starches can thicken and may be difficult to pump.

3. Bleach liquid & powders suffer at higher temperatures e.g. Sodium Hypochlorite can lose 20% strength over time, if stored in temperatures over 21°C.

4. Dampness is the main hazard to powders. Store bags in a cool dry place, raised on pallets to avoid flood damage.

5. Always leave product on pallets provided. Avoid storing on cold concrete floors in winter.

To download and print, just click here.