Page 46 - Miele D The Magazine 2018

PROFESSIONAL
A gentle service
for duvets and pillows
It is a known fact that we spend a third of our time snuggling under blankets and duvets. The inlet of a duvet containing down, feathers or synthetic fibres is generally only washed once a year – as it is a complicated, time-consuming process and a science in its own right. And that is precisely the reason why the Struve specialist bedding store in the northern German town of Lübeck not only offers its customers pillows and duvets in outstanding quality but also runs a service to gently and hygienically clean these delicate products. The technology comes
from Miele.
Leif and Ole Ginap took over the tra- dition-steeped specialist store which has customers from as far a eld as
Kiel and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania from their father in 2006. Ten years later, the two brothers decided to send their old Miele purchased in 2003 into well-earned retirement. The old machine had clocked up some 60,000 hours of operation – around twice what would be expected of a commercial machine. For Leif Ginap, this was reason enough to remain loyal to the brand. As one of the rst users, he was able to test a model from the new Benchmark generation which has only been on the mar- ket since March 2017. “With a load capacity of 14 kg, this machines is just the right size
for us”, says Ginap. It is far more versatile than a domestic machine and is consider- ably quieter than its predecessor.
“Domestic appliances are simply too small to cope with duvets, down- lled sleep- ing bags or mattress toppers”, says Struve em- ployee Ulrike Schramm, who loads the new washing machine once or twice a day. Even an ultra-light inlet can become extremely heavy when soaked in water. So even the drum on the 14 kg machine can only accomodate one or two duvets, depending on their size.
Special process technology
Problems are further exacerbated by the fact that duvets and pillows contain a con-
Leif Ginap, proprie- tor of the Struve bedding store,
and his employee Ulrike Schramm are a well-re- hearsed team.
siderable amount of body fats through pro- longed use and skin contact.This prevents items from absorbing water. “That's why an extended pre-rinse cycle is needed which wouldn't have the same effect in the drum of a much smaller domestic appliance”, the bedding expert Schramm continues. When washing down and feathers, she always goes for a 60°C programme which was specially compiled by Miele for reprocessing duvets. Automatic liquid dispensing ensures the correct quantity of detergent.
Even after washing, Ulrike Schramm takes consideration of the inlet's char- acteristic properties. “To stop the lling from clumping together, the duvets are transferred to the dryer for just one cycle. After that they are hung on a rack for one to two hours”. At peak times of the year such as the start of the summer or win- ter seasons, the laundry cellar is full. At times like these, the racks are reminiscent of trestle tables covered with long, white tablecloths. After that, the duvets return to the dryer with a matching capacity to the washing machine for a second or even a third time – always for 20 minutes in each case. The results are checked by hand as only a properly dried duvet has that feel- good quality.
46 // Miele The Magazine