Oakham School, an independent boarding school in Rutland turned to Miele to help cope with laundry volumes that are similar to 200 times the UK’s average household.

Oakham School offers 125 different activities to its 1,000 boarding pupils, including art, cookery, outdoor and indoor sports. As a result, weekly washes regularly exceed 2,000 clothing, bedding, sporting and linen items.

This number frequently rises to 6,000 after the matron rounds up all items pupils fail to send to the laundry room. The school also discovered that its 11 washing machines and tumble dryers were not adequate to cope with its mounting daily laundry volumes. Having been impressed by the quality of wash achieved with its Miele washing machine the school’s cleaning co-ordinator, Zoe Holford, decided to consult with local Miele partner, Hughes Pro Leicester on its laundry requirements. Hughes Pro was able to deliver and install five Miele commercial washing machines and six tumble dryers in response to the brief and within the desired price range.

All apparatus was installed and demonstrated to staff in just one day to avoid creating a backlog of dirty laundry. Miele’s PW 6207 washing machines provide a range of programmes suitable for the wide variety of laundry items the school needs to wash. The Miele PT 8303 SL tumble dryer was selected for short cycles, a much needed function to help speed up the laundry process. The various wash programmes help laundry staff deal with stubborn stains on sports whites.

As a result, sports kits last longer, reducing the need for regular replacements – a financial benefit to both the school and parents.

Holford says: “As a boarding school, there’s a huge range of activities that take place on our premises and our pupils frequently get dirty. It’s essential for our machines to specialise in different washes and ensure that items are cleaned and disinfected to a high standard.

Speed is also a priority for us, but it’s a difficult balancing act to wash items quickly while cleaning them thoroughly. “Other items, including bedding and uniforms, can be washed, dried, pressed and returned to students within a day. Despite laundry staff using the same detergent as they did when the previous machines were used, items are now cleaner and smell fresher too.”