Recycling is it as the heart of what the LMB Supplies does. It recycles unwanted textiles thrown out by British households and gives these materials a whole new lease of life.
The majority of textiles used to make industrial wipers are collected by LMB parent company. These textiles are sorted and the clothes that can be reused are sent for export. Those that can’t be reused due to blemishes or rips are baled together according to garment and grade, and sent to LMB Supplies to be turned into wipers. In addition to this, textiles are also sourced from commercial laundries that dispose of bed sheets, pillow cases, and tablecloths, when their life is exhausted.
The manufacturing (or recycling) process for all wipers is exactly the same. The textiles are firstly sorted to ensure that they are clean, dry and suitable as a wiper – this basically means that they are cotton rich and therefore absorbent. They are then graded together and sent to our cutting facility where they run along a conveyor belt to be cut into a specified size, dependent upon garment. This produces a wiper of a uniform dimension, which is free from zips, buttons and any other encumbrance.
We use specially-built machines to ensure clean cut wipers, and once made each wiper is passed through a metal detector for final quality control prior to packaging.
Due to the diverse nature of wiping cloths there are a few points to keep in mind when choosing your supplier:
Firstly, the supply of raw materials to make the wipers is hard to control. Luckily, through its size, LMB Supplies can guarantee a consistent supply of the popular grades and manufacture 30 tonnes of wipers a week.
Secondly, industrial wipers are sometimes regarded as a ‘waste or bi-product’ and other wiper companies may not take the same time and effort as LMB Supplies does to ensure that their grading and quality is of a high standard.
Thirdly, an increasing number of companies simply export clothes for sorting and cutting in Eastern Europe and then import them back into the UK. The environmental footprint of all this haulage is massive. LMB Supplies does all it’s sorting and cutting in East London, reducing the need for long haulage whilst also employing local people.
Industrial wipers offer a valuable means of recycling thousands of tonnes of unwanted clothing and textiles. With over twenty years experience LMB Supplies can help your company realise the benefits of using wipers and their diverse range of applications.
The following descriptions of the wipers we stock offers details on the qualities of each grade. However, if you are unsure as to which grade you need please contact the office and we will be more than happy to offer our advice.