'Chipped' linen to benefit hotel guests

A washing service in Central China's Hubei province implants chips for each towel and sheet with the help of Internet of Things technology so hotel guests can scan them to get information they need, Chutian Metropolis Daily reported.

The service base, located in Xinzhou district of Wuhan, was recently put into operation.

A thin chip, smaller than a cigarette lighter, is stitched on each towel and quilt. Resistant to water and high temperature, the chip is like an electronic ID card for hotel linen. Thanks to this device, reservation information and washing information are linked.

Soon in the future, QR codes will also be printed on each towel and sheet. Hotel clients will be able to scan the QR code to find out the once-unknown “secrets” of the towels and sheets, including when it was washed last, how many times it has been used and at what temperature it was disinfected.

The equipment at the base are imported from Germany and Japan. All washing procedures but three are automatic. Staff members only need to put unwashed linen on a conveyor belt, put washed linen on a cloth-spreading machine and put the folded linen into packages.

Inside the scanning chamber at the base, different kinds of data can be read immediately from the chips as soon as the linen is put inside, saving a lot of manual effort. The data is then displayed on the screen outside the chamber.

This washing base is one of two recently established in Xinzhou and Qingshan districts. Because of raised environmental protection standards, 79 washing companies were shut down and the city’s washing capacity dropped from 1,000 tons per day to 300. To fill the gap, nearly 1,000 tons of linen per day must be sent elsewhere to be washed, resulting in doubled costs.

To solve the problem, advanced technology was incorporated into this traditional industry. The newly introduced environmentally friendly washing equipment is not only equipped with sewage treatment equipment that can minimize wastewater pollution, but also use secondary purified water for washing so the linen is cleaner and softer.

Wuhan is considering building another washing base in the future,.