This was the case for Ben King, an ex-product designer from Maidstone, Kent, who was determined to use his inheritance to start a new business. Ben began exploring possible options with his father-in-law Robert and came across Electrolux Professional’s lagoon® Advanced Care, recognizing immediately its investment potential.

Ben explains: “There are a lot of people who work in London but live in Maidstone because of the short commute. They’re professionals who don’t want to pay London prices for their garment cleaning, so we could see the business opportunity in meeting the needs of those commuters.”

After speaking to Electrolux Professional, both Ben and Robert felt comfortable with the equipment from the off. Taking the plunge, they invested in a full lagoon® Advanced Care system, including: a 15kg washer and dryer to handle the majority of garments, a 6kg washer and dryer to process a few small items without having to use the larger machine, and an ironing table to put the finishing touches on the process.

The machines were up and running two weeks before the shop was due to open, giving the team time to train. He continues: “It didn’t take long to figure out the equipment. The machines themselves were much more user-friendly than the competitors, and I liked the streamlined programming immediately. We began by practicing with our own garments, just in case anything were to go wrong. We cleaned whatever we could get our hands on, but even so we had no problems dealing with anything we came up against. Then, our first-ever customer brought in a 100% wool wedding jacket – there was quite a lot of tension as we put the garment on the finishing table, but it came out brilliantly”.

Ben says that understanding the different types of garments and materials out there is something he is still learning, but he remains confident in his investment. “It might sound biased, but wet-cleaning is far superior to dry cleaning. I listen to a lot of testimonials from people who use wet-cleaning, and it’s clear that you’re providing a much higher quality service, and your customers notice that. “Not only that, but you can actually do more with wet care. We’ve cleaned wedding dresses full of beading and other garments with acrylic feathers – garments that dry-cleaners just won’t touch – and all of them have turned out perfectly.”

“It’s been challenging, for sure. Most businesses that offer wet-cleaning have switched over from dry cleaning after 15-20 years in the industry. That said, where many of those people are still dry cleaning, we know we’re getting in on the ground floor of a fantastic new system. It means that, soon, we’ll be the experts – and we can always go to Electrolux with any questions we might have in the meantime.”

“If you’re already in the industry, I can’t see any reason not to switch to wet-cleaning. Not only is it better for the garments and better for the environment, but you can get your cost prices down immediately. And if you’re looking for a new business venture, it’s not a difficult industry to get started in if you have the ambition and the vision.”

Ms. Tatjana Modic, owner of the Eko Laguna shop in Lucija Portoroz, Slovenia, worked in the pharmaceutical environment for many years and felt she needed a change in her life. Chemistry was always her love and sewing was her hobby, so she thought of combining the two by taking care of “spots” on delicate materials with a lagoon^® shop.
“I am in love with stains and fabrics, these are my challenges and I love problem solving and my clients know it. Our results are coming from many efforts, quality comes before quantity, trust in technology where lagoon^® is something different, as a niche in a high-end profile. Technology and the mixture of detergents are the basics for our success”, comments Tatjana.

Still today, spots are a challenge, but by neutralizing the problem she can then rely on the quality performance of the lagoon^® solution, where her favorite part is the “finishing” equipment.
Having specialized in specific problem solving, she is now collecting the “difficult problems” from a distance of 100 km from her shop; wool garments, wedding gowns, evening dresses, silk, crystal applications and even silver fibers (no one else has dared to wash these). She feels the fabric, analyzes the spot and makes it disappear.
She has been very happy with the proposed solution and by our partner BE-GRE Maribor Slovenia, since she can still rely on them when a problem occurs. The training and sharing of experience is the thing that made her decide to open a second shop in Koper. This as well with lagoon^® which will enhance her vision in making a change.

Personal Laundry was opened in 1964 and from 2002 is run by Grant Giber, a person who is extremely passionate about his business. Offering dry cleaning and laundry services, Personal Laundry has established a need in the market to service Hotels and Restaurants with quality industrial laundering and now is proud to be one of the biggest laundromats in Africa.

Grant, together with his team, has created a professional, well-balanced, outcome focused laundry, with a personality and the understanding that ‘The Customer is King’. Presently supporting many three to five star hotels from their ideally located premises, Personal Laundry operates a twice per day collection and delivery service, 365 days per year, setting the bar very high.

In order to serve their customers better, the company’s focus is to move towards green & eco-friendly cleaning methods. “Globally, there is a trend to move away from perc and our company is moving towards environmentally eco-friendly cleaning processes where lagoon^® Advanced Care is the perfect solution”, comments Giber.

“Having all types of garments to process, we used to have a challenge with delicate fabrics. Now, with lagoon^® Advanced Care, we have a choice of alternative cleaning processes. Delicate garments have a gentler wash process, far gentler to garments, the feel is silky and upon completion, there is no smell as with perc or K4.  We have less risk when dealing with very delicate garments,” states Giber.

Silver Blue Laundry is a Lagoon Laundry outlet in Dubai that prides itself on providing “Premium Cloth Therapy” for all types of clothing. Born with the unique idea of “Caring about the Clothes”, they strive to adopt global standards in treating customers’ clothing and accessories.

A promise for an exceptional “Customer Experience” paired with added value services such as meticulous garment finishing, crisp folding options, delicate textile preservation and additional services for shoes & bags therapy.

Its team is comprised of highly professional people from the industry, from the pressman to the driver and front receptionist to the delivery man.

Faresta Brothers who are the minds behind the shop’s idea recall: “We were looking for a strong, reliable brand that would be able to support our plans of opening an ultimately different laundry concept shop and while going through various feedbacks of Electrolux’s existing customers on-line, we discovered Lagoon Advanced Care and the journey started.”

“The results are incomparable, the fresh feeling when getting your clothes cleaned with Lagoon Advanced Care which smells great. Our clients are very happy with the results and are recommending our services to their friends, family & colleagues, which is extremely important as we are a new company in the market. We go out of our way every day to make sure all the items are cleaned to perfection and Lagoon Advanced Care by Electrolux makes it possible.”

“We love the fact that we save water & energy with the Dosing System and the way we can select the program to treat all kinds of fabrics and achieve excellent results every time. The speed gives us an opportunity to offer 1h express services to our clients”, comments Imran Faresta.

Silver Blue Laundry is environmentally friendly and proudly promotes that no toxic chemicals are used during the washing processes.

Sustainability

Having taken the decision to ban PERC for use on its ships in 2012 due to its potentially hazardous effects, the purchasing department at Saga realised the need to introduce a more environmentally-friendly alternative to the traditional dry cleaning process

Terry Wiseman, Hotel Purchasing Manager at Saga Cruises, commented: “As the lagoon^® system uses water as a natural solvent, items are handled with the utmost care, and with no environmental consequences. Our staff also enjoy using lagoon^® as there is no longer a requirement for them to handle potentially hazardous solvents either before, during or after the cleaning process.”

Quality

With each member of staff required to wear one of a variety of different uniforms, lagoon^®’s status as the first and only professional fabric care system to be approved by The Woolmark Company meant the laundry staff could be assured of the technology’s ability to handle the most delicate of garments to the highest standards.

Terry adds: “We’re finding that the process is not only much cleaner than it was before, but that passengers are commenting on how pleasant their clothes smell after being treated by lagoon^®.”

Usability

From an operational point of view, the quality of the laundered garments is matched by lagoon^®’s ease of use for laundry staff. The transition from dry to wet-cleaning may have initially required a step change in behaviour, but this transition was made smoother thanks to a three day training programme, which allowed each operator to benefit from the experience and support of Electrolux’s B2C and lagoon^® Segment Manager.

Earl Gutierrez, Laundry Master on the Saga Sapphire, said: “Any challenges we’d anticipated before using the lagoon^® system were overcome very easily before we started using the equipment as part of our routine.

“Having now used Lagoon^® for a number of months, I can certainly say I’d never go back to using a system with a requirement for perchloroethylene. The wet-cleaning method has proved to us that it can clean garments to a higher standard without posing any risks to staff, guests, or the environment.”

In addition to its wet-cleaning-based valet service, the Saga Sapphire also boasts a main laundry comprising of six Electrolux W5240H commercial washing machines and five T5300S tumble dryers to process the ship’s linen. A combination of W555H commercial washing machines and T5130 tumble dryers in its smaller crew and passenger laundries meanwhile, complete the vessel’s overall offering.

DobiYo!, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a laundrette specialized in washing delicate garments. In January, 2016, Mr. JC Poon, founder of DobiYo!, opened his first shop and chose the Electrolux Professional lagoon^® Advanced Care solution. He is now the proud owner of the first lagoon^® Advanced Care solution in Asia.

“I heard about wet cleaning for the first time during my study in London in 2014”. After this, I decided it would be the perfect solution to promote my personal business in Malaysia”, commented Mr. Poon.

“We chose lagoon^® Advanced Care for our shop because it is free from PERC (Perchloroethylene), the most commonly used dry-cleaning solvent, typically toxic for humans as well as dangerous for the environment. With lagoon^® Advanced Care, now we only use water, and thanks to the water we can really do anything. You just need to select the customized program, specifically designed for delicate garment care and then you are just one button away from cleaning… in 55 minutes!”

“We have no need to use solvents anymore. Now, we only do wet cleaning instead of dry cleaning. It is safer for us and it is safe for the environment”, concludes Mr. Poon.

Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai redefines the business hotel experience, seamlessly combining high technology, efficiency and unparalleled luxury.

In Jumeirah Emirates Towers, the hotel laundry not only services the entire hotel of 400 rooms and suites with multiple dining outlets but also clients of the second business tower by taking laundry to new heights at their Laundry@The Towers’ Kiosk. Laundry@The Towers offers the very best in service quality and reliability empowered by Electrolux Laundry Solutions.

Sensational service of laundering excellence from the moment of drop off to the short time it takes to deliver directly to the client’s office. The Jumeirah Emirates Towers staff takes pride in setting the benchmark for freshly laundered and ironed clothes, exceeding expectations on all accords always supported by Electrolux technology. The hotel has been using Electrolux heavy duty washers & dryers as well as ironers since its opening more than 10 years ago.

Recently, to the Electrolux Professional vast washers & dryers “family”, laundry manager Nizar Al Mohammad added an essential set of lagoon^® Advanced Care in order to continue exceeding guests’ expectations and giving processed laundry a fresh look and feel. “Electrolux is very reliable and innovative brand, especially the newly developed lagoon^® system.  It is of great quality and durable equipment “, comments Nizar Al Mohamed on his choice of lagoon^® Advanced Care.

lagoon^® Advanced Care helped the hotel solve some of the challenges faced in their laundry on a daily basis.

“The most challenging in our laundry operations is the staff uniforms, dry clean items such as suits and wool with PVC-lined garments and finer fabrics with sequins as well as removing sweat and protein stains, including garment with buttons and plastic zips that require a lot of additives and professional cleaning methods.

In everyday use, garments are continuously in contact with various substances and agents, which make up our environment, and in short, they get extremely dirty. By using the lagoon^® Wet Cleaning solution, we achieve exceptional results, comfort and softness, while the process is healthy, allergy free, environmentally friendly and solvent free.”