Healthcare laundry rooms are not just back-of-house spaces; they are critical components of a facility’s infection prevention strategy. For managers overseeing hospitals, long-term care facilities, and outpatient centers, laundry room design plays a direct role in minimizing cross-contamination, maintaining regulatory compliance, and protecting staff, patients, and visitors.
In this blog, we explore how room layout, airflow, and zoning can work together to create safer, smarter laundry operations in healthcare environments.
Why Laundry Room Design Matters in Healthcare
Unlike hospitality or multi-family residential settings, healthcare laundry rooms process textiles that may be contaminated with pathogens, bodily fluids, and other potentially hazardous materials. Because of this elevated risk, the smart design, technology, and layout of these spaces are critical. Poorly planned facilities can allow clean and soiled items to cross paths through shared corridors, equipment, or airflows, creating opportunities for cross-contamination.
This breakdown in separation increases the risk of healthcare-associated infections, putting patients, staff, and visitors at risk. Healthtrust Performance Group recommends each of these tactics to provide a safe and sterile work environment: proper zoning, controlled workflows, and clearly separated clean and soiled areas.
A well-planned laundry room design helps to:
- Support infection control protocols
- Improve staff efficiency and safety
- Reduce equipment downtime and maintenance issues
- Extend the life of linens and uniforms
- Meet accreditation and regulatory expectations
The key lies in designing spaces that both physically and mechanically separate clean and dirty linens or uniforms. This includes clear workflow patterns, dedicated equipment, and controlled access points that prevent cross-traffic between zones. Proper ventilation, pressure differentials, and exhaust systems further reinforce this separation, creating a safer environment that supports infection control and regulatory compliance.
Zoning: Separating Clean and Soiled Workflows
One of the most important principles in healthcare laundry room design is clear zoning. This approach divides the facility into distinct soiled, processing, and clean areas, each with defined functions and restricted movement between them. By establishing unidirectional workflows and physical barriers, Pipeline Medical recommends clear zoning that minimizes the risk of cross-contamination. It also supports staff efficiency, regulatory compliance, and consistent infection control practices throughout laundry operations.
Soiled Zone
This area is where contaminated linens enter the laundry room. It is designed to safely receive, sort, and contain soiled textiles while minimizing the spread of pathogens and debris. Controlled access, durable surfaces, and proper ventilation help protect staff and prevent contamination from spreading to adjacent areas. Best practices include:
- Dedicated entrances or service corridors: Separate access routes prevent soiled and clean linens from crossing paths and help maintain strict control over traffic flow within the laundry facility.
- Hands-free doors and carts: Touchless operation reduces hand contact with surfaces, lowering the risk of transferring contaminants between staff, equipment, and textiles.
- Easy-to-clean, nonporous surfaces: Durable, nonporous materials resist moisture and bacteria, allowing for effective cleaning, disinfection, and long-term infection control.
Soiled zones should never share space or traffic flow with clean areas.
Transitional Zones
Designated transfer points, such as pass-through washers or airlocks, allow linens to move forward without backtracking from soiled to clean areas. These controlled indications of transfer reinforce a unidirectional workflow, ensuring that contaminated and clean textiles never intersect. Key benefits of this approach include:
- Reduced cross-contamination risk: Physical barriers and one-way movement prevent clean linens from being exposed to soiled materials or contaminated air.
- Improved staff efficiency and safety: Clear workflows reduce confusion, minimize unnecessary handling, and lower exposure to contaminants.
- Stronger compliance and quality control: Linear flow aligns with healthcare standards and best practices, making processes easier to monitor and audit.
Clean Zone
Once textiles are washed and dried, they should move into a clean, controlled environment for finishing, folding, and packaging. This area is designed to protect clean linens from recontamination through controlled airflow, positive air pressure, and restricted access. Maintaining strict separation from soiled zones ensures linens are safe and ready for use in patient care areas.
- Folding and finishing
- Inspection and repair
- Storage before redistribution
A physical barrier—such as walls, pass-through equipment, or controlled access points—helps ensure clean items remain protected. Sort these cleaned linens by color or size, whichever works best for your facility. Let your staff know when and how to handle these cleaned items to prevent cross-contamination.
Airflow and Ventilation: An Often Overlooked Risk Factor
Air movement plays a critical role in preventing cross-contamination. Without proper airflow control, airborne contaminants can migrate from soiled to clean areas. We have more information for laundry sorting on our blog.
Effective laundry room design incorporates:
- Negative air pressure in soiled zones to contain contaminants. Implementing negative air pressure is a critical engineering control for infection and safety in healthcare and labs.
- Positive air pressure in clean zones to keep contaminants out. This pressure differential prevents contaminants, dust, and microorganisms from entering the clean area from adjacent, less-controlled spaces.
- Dedicated exhaust systems for dryers and chemical areas. By isolating these exhaust streams from general ventilation, the systems prevent cross-contamination, reduce the buildup of harmful or flammable substances, and protect both personnel and equipment.
According to guidance from organizations like the CDC, airflow direction should always move from clean to dirty spaces, not the other way around. The sorting of soiled laundry in order to prevent moisture and bacteria growth is just as important as cleaning linens themselves.
Conclusion
Thoughtful laundry room design is a powerful tool for preventing cross-contamination in healthcare settings. By focusing on zoning, layout, airflow, and durable materials, property managers can create laundry rooms that protect patients, staff, and operations alike.
If you’re evaluating your facility’s laundry space or planning an upgrade, contact Automatic Laundry today to learn how their healthcare-focused expertise can help you design a safer, smarter laundry room that meets today’s demands and tomorrow’s standards.
