Finding the right formula

Ideal Manufacturing bases its product formulae on efficacy, long fabric life, energy, labour, effluent, water, health and safety, sanitation and biodegradebility.

Dr Mike Kalli founded the company in 1980 and it has grown steadily since. He believes the company has tremendous potential ahead and that it will expand its business in four main areas – direct UK laundry supply, contract manufacture, food manufacture and overseas sales.

While the company’s activities remain extremely varied, with a main range of products for different industries, it concentrates on providing a comprehensive range of products for the laundry and drycleaning industries, combined with reliable service support for the optimal use of its products.

The most significant developments in Ideal’s liquid technology are:

• Prime – an alkaline-built liquid, comprehensive in performance, which can be applied to the most extreme of soil levels. The product is automatically dispensed consistently and reliably through Ideal’s unique flushing system.

The considerations that motivated the formulation of this product concerned the non-handling of chemicals by personnel and the need for controlled additions of product that avoid excessive use or misuse of product by untrained personnel. Prime is a non-phosphate and the surfactants used are fully biodegradable.

• Solar – a mildly alkaline-built emulsion designed for medium to light soiling. This product can be used both for industrial or domestic applications and dosed either manually or through Ideal’s automatic injection system.

Solar is a high phosphate product with a fully biodegradable surfactant system.

• Natural Liquid Starch – this represents a significant development in starching technology as it provides a means of effective starching consistently and reliably by automatic injection. The product contains a preservative to avoid mould formation and is perfumed to leave a pleasant smell on the fabric.

• Bactericides – legislation is, rightly so, becoming more and more demanding in its quest to improve operating systems in factories and work places.

This has highlighted the demand for manufacturers to develop products that not only clean but also sanitise laundered goods. This entails the use of terminal sanitisers on the finished laundered article that will continue to have bacteriostatic properties beyond the point at which the article is used.

• Ecowash LT – the principles of low temperature washing relate to intelligent manipulation of the variables that govern effective soil removal – temperature, time, mechanical action and chemistry.

By careful selection of chemical components and activated oxidising agents, Ideal has been able to markedly reduce the time and the temperature of the laundering process without any adverse effect on the final quality.

The other benefits from this method of processing can be extended fabric life and reduced water consumption. This can imply considerable cost savings in many areas. The product is biodegradable, and presents no hazard in handling.

• Drycleaning – Ideal manufactures the full range of drycleaning detergents and spotting agents for retexturing, effective soil suspension and antistatic properties.

Ideal’s business is structured on four almost equal main lines of activity, says Kalli.

• Direct UK laundry supply – like the other main line suppliers to the laundry industry, Ideal Manufacturing offers a complete product, service and distribution facility that covers the whole of the UK. The company also provides and installs liquid and powder dosing systems for commercial laundries.

• Contract manufacture – the company’s ability to formulate for a range of industries has enabled Ideal to develop a very dynamic and expanding contract customer base. “The customer normally comes to us with a vision and we formulate the products, arrange their packaging, create their labels, in some cases do their distribution and in a lot of cases we even do their trouble-shooting,” says Mike Kalli.

“Most of our contract customers have been with us for many years and continue to grow alongside the company. Other contract customers have matured over the years to the point where the owner has been involved in either a take-over or sale.”

• Food manufacture – “This goes back to my early experience outside the laundry industry,” says Kalli. “The handling of products hazardous to health is significantly more stringent in the food processing industry, therefore the formulation of effective liquid concentrates has been a great asset.”

As an example, the effective cleaning and sanitation of huge fryers is a mammoth task that is made much more manageable with an automated in-place cleaning system that uses a detergent liquid concentrate. Ideal’s product portfolio is up to date and very well received in this industry and one which will continue to contribute handsomely to the business as a whole.

• Export – according to Mike Kalli, exports now form a core part of the company’s business development programme. “Over the past five years we have become a major supplier in Hong Kong and are managing to maintain our position in spite of the economic forces.

“Other markets where Ideal has been able to supply in reasonable volume from our manufacturing base include the Middle East and the western Mediterranean countries.” The company has managed to maintain its position on two important platforms, “the complexity and efficacy of our formulations and the provision of a thorough support service”, he adds.

“The emerging markets in Asia make things more difficult for us because everything is now being copied. It is therefore necessary for products to be sophisticated enough to make it difficult for them to be copied with ease. The export business is on a wide product platform.”

The future

In a rapidly changing world, Kalli believes that the indications for the future suggest a far greater awareness of personal health and hygiene.

As the social structure changes, more and more people live alone but have more personal wealth, he says. “This means that activities like laundering are done by the local laundry and eating is either in a restaurant or from a processed food counter of a supermarket.”

He continues: “In other words, the service industry sector will grow, providing attractive growing markets for the launderer which, in turn, increases the requirement of the services of companies like Ideal.

“This increased demand for processed food means the food processor has a growing requirement for products manufactured by companies like Ideal for their cleaning and sanitation services.”

Kalli foresees increased and more stringent legislation adding to the need for products and services provided by Ideal.

“For example, the UK’s National Health Service is constantly being attacked for failures associated with breakdown in sanitation practices that lead to continuing increases in infections like MRSA.

“Interestingly, the infection is caused by a bacterium, staphylococcus aureus, which can be readily destroyed using either a mild oxidising agent or a quaternary ammonium salt.

“So we shall be seeing more stringent regulation regarding cleaning procedures and perhaps even the application of bactericides at the final rinse of a wash process to ensure continued bactericidal activity of bed linen in hospitals and the use of specific bactericides to eliminate bed mites that harbour infection.”