Many fire departments have their high-performance protective gear cleaned by external laundry services. Experiences with these services vary depending on the provider. Regardless of the quality of the cleaning results, there is one fundamental problem that arises when using an external laundry service. External providers typically need at least two days to professionally launder the protective gear. For fire departments, this means they must purchase expensive replacement gear to ensure they are always ready for duty. This situation was the reason why the Nördlingen Fire Department decided to set up its own in-house laundry facility equipped with STAHL washing machines.
Since 2017, an ATOLL machine has been cleaning and waterproofing this high-performance protective gear. The washing machine holds three sets of protective gear (jacket and pants) per wash cycle. The protective gear is washed and waterproofed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In addition, during larger operations, respirators are also washed and disinfected in the machine. A special insert is used to dry the respirators in the dryer afterward. A separate program has also been defined for the respirators that meets strict hygiene regulations.
Thanks to the in-house laundry facility, laundry can now be washed and dried in significantly less time. Instead of taking two days as it did before, protective clothing is now professionally cleaned within half a day.
In addition to cleaning its own protective gear, the Nördlingen Fire Department now also uses STAHL laundry machines to clean protective gear for other fire departments. The challenges faced by colleagues from other counties are similar, and since the Nördlingen Fire Department is already the go-to place for cleaning respiratory protection equipment, many fire departments are now also taking advantage of the opportunity to have their protective gear cleaned quickly and professionally.
In 2025, the Nördlingen Fire Department added the STAHL TS 1300 drying cabinet to its laundry facility.
