California Luxury Hotel Linens Laundered with Botanical Products

This summer, Royal began using VASKA "herbatergent" and chlorine-free bleach products, made by a company based in Berkeley that is headed by former fashion designer Julia Fry.

When Royal began to encounter problems with their previous chemical supplier, Royal's president Don Luckenbach, decided to look for alternatives. Earier this year, Luckenbach toured chemical plants across the country seeking formulas that would meet his quality and performance criteria and asking for proposals from the top contenders.

When Fry proposed tests using her Vaska green formulas, he was skeptical, but following a successful 10 day test in Royal's largest laundry tunnel, he was ready to give the go ahead.

Luckenbach says he is pleased with the switch to botanically based products to do the laundry for his luxury hotel customers in the San Francisco hospitality industry, including the Joie de Vivre group, Kimpton Hotels, the Fairmont, and the Ritz Carleton.

Clean linens on the Royal Laundry production line (Photo courtesy Royal Laundry)

"Now when I walk into the plant in the morning I am greeted by the smell of lavender, and it makes me feel good that I am making a contribution to the health of our employees and the environment," Luckenbach said.

Conventional commercial laundry products utilize complex chemical formulas that have traditionally contained phosphates, petroleum based surfactants, and toxic solvents.

Vaska's herbatergents use herbs and botanical cleaning agents that are 100 percent biodegradable, gray water safe, and hypoallergenic. Vaska formulas do not contain any skin irritants, dyes or optical brighteners.

The EPA named Vaska a member of the Champion of Safer Detergent Stewardship Initiative in November 2008. Vaska has received EPA approval to display its Design for the Environment logo on the company's scent-free herbatergent and oxygenbleach.

Fry says, "Vaska is passionate about cleaning without poisoning the planet. We've proven that green chemistry can provide quality superior to toxic laundry chemicals."

"There is no reason to continue damaging linens, workers safety, and polluting the bay, when there are safe, viable options," she said. "We're deeply committed to health, safety, and linen quality, and it shows in our results."

Vaska's head of technical sales Mike McFillin said, "We are competing load for load on price and quality with traditional chemical approaches, and the fact that we are not dumping petroleum based detergents and solvents into the plant outflow makes a significant contribution to improving local water quality."

Vaska, which means "wash" in the Old Norse language, was founded in 1999 in Berkeley as what Fry calls an "herbal gourmet" laundry store that sold her natural laundry soaps to local customers and natural grocery stores.

Vaska developed its product line for institutions and industrial laundries and now is coming full circle by introducing its botanical products to the broad consumer market in August. They will be available in grocery stores, drug stores and mass merchants, as well as online through amazon.com.

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.