RFID laundry
tracking

RFID technology in laundry means identifying each textile with a washable radio tag and recording it automatically at fixed points in the laundry cycle. A reader sends a radio signal, the passive tag answers with its unique ID, and the software logs where and when the item was seen. Because UHF tags can be read in bulk and without line of sight, a full cart of linen is counted in one pass.

A laundry tagging system gives every textile a permanent identifier so it is recognised each time it is processed. Options range from printed barcodes and heat-transfer labels to washable RFID tags. RFID adds bulk reading and automatic counts at intake and dispatch. Whichever identifier you choose has to survive the whole cycle: Saphire One, for example, is designed for 200 industrial wash cycles.

Yes, if they are laundry tags made for industrial processing. Standard retail RFID labels are not. Laundry tags are designed to go through washing, water extraction, drying and ironing with the textile. Saphire One is designed for 200 industrial wash cycles, 60 bar in the extraction press and sterilisation at 134 °C by steam, dry heat or gamma. If your process goes further, talk to us about your requirements.

UHF RFID is passive RFID in the ultra-high frequency band, and it suits laundries because it reads many tags at once and over distance. Low and high frequency tags need the reader close to each item, which works for single checks but not for a cart of linen. With UHF, a tunnel or portal counts a full load in one pass. Saphire One reads at up to 12 m, based on EECC free-air testing under FCC conditions. Actual read range depends on reader setup, tag orientation, textile arrangement and operating environment.

Yes, as long as there is a read point at every stage you want to see. RFID records an item only when it passes a reader, so coverage is a design decision, not a property of the tag. You can start with three key stations, intake, drying and folding, and add sorting, dispatch or customer sites where the data shows a gap.

Only within range of a reader. Passive laundry tags have no battery, no GPS and no transmitter of their own: they answer only when a reader powers them, and that happens at the read points the laundry installs. Outside those points the tag is silent. The tag carries an ID number; the link to a customer or item type lives in the laundry's software, not on the tag.

The main downsides are cost and operating conditions. Every item needs a tag, and readers, installation and software come on top, so volume and losses have to justify the investment. Large metal surfaces affect reads, and a badly planned read point can miss items or catch a neighbouring load. That is why we test every read point before rollout, and sometimes recommend something other than RFID.

It depends on how many items you tag, how many read points you need and what the software has to cover, so there is no honest flat price. Tag costs scale with your textile pool, reader costs with your plant layout and flows. We start with a baseline of your losses and counting effort and size the system against it, read point by read point. We do not publish prices, because every system is sized to the operation.

Most laundries use flexible textile tags that are sewn in or heat-sealed, plus specialised tags for particular textiles or processes. Our standard tag is Saphire One: a 70 × 10 mm sew-in or a 72 × 12 mm heat-seal version, both 1.6 mm thick and certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, product class I. For other requirements we offer the GENX2 Tag, Matt Tag, Gamma Tag and MRI Tag.

Yes. Healthcare laundries use RFID to track patient linen and staff garments through washing and sterilisation, and to document what went to which ward or hospital. Saphire One withstands sterilisation at 134 °C. For gamma sterilisation and MRI environments we offer dedicated tags, the Gamma Tag and the MRI Tag, which are new to the market. Contact us for details.

Yes. In uniform rental each garment can be linked to a wearer, so the laundry knows which pieces belong to whom, how often they are washed and which are overdue for return. Dispatch reads confirm what went back to each customer site, which makes replacement charges traceable. Sew-in tags suit garments that go through finishing tunnels and repairs.

Yes, both laundries that serve hotels and hotels with their own laundry. The laundry gets delivery and return records per property, which settles disputes about missing towels or sheets with item-level data. Hotels see stock levels by property and plan purchases from actual circulation rather than from the annual stocktake.

Yes. Rental is where item-level data pays off most directly, because the laundry owns the textiles and charges for their use. Reads at dispatch and return show how many items each customer holds, how long they keep them and which never come back. That turns loss discussions into documented balances and supports replacement charges per customer.

It can be, but it should be sized to the problem. A smaller laundry can start with three key stations, intake, drying and folding, instead of all six, or use only our software with tags and readers it already has. If volumes are low or losses small, a barcode system or a changed routine may pay off sooner. We tell you that in the system check rather than selling more hardware than you need.

No. You can take the full system from us or only the part you are missing. If you already have tags or hardware, you can use our software on its own. If you want to start small, you can begin with three set-ups instead of all six reading stations and add the others later. We check in the system check which parts you actually need.

RFID laundry tracking is the process of identifying and recording each item as it moves through the laundry. An RFID laundry management system is the whole set-up around it: tags, read infrastructure, software and the routines that use the data for billing, purchasing and planning. Tracking tells you where an item is and what has happened to it. The management system decides what you do with that.