RAL
quality mark
RAL GZ 992 for
professional linen care
Certified laundries
Commercial linen
Until the beginning of the 1950s, laundries only took in the customer's own linen for washing. For this reason, it was essential to introduce a system for maintaining a defined quality standard in relation to products and services. This gave rise to the first RAL Quality Certification Mark for Household and Commercial Linen (RAL-GZ 992/1), which, after the establishment of the German Certification Association specifically for laundries in 1953, was registered with RAL and was aimed particularly at hotels and catering businesses.
Today the RAL-GZ 992/1 indicates that companies are in control of their processes, and is a prerequisite for being awarded the RAL-GZ 992/2 RAL Quality Certification Mark for Hospital Linen.
Before awarding the RAL-GZ 992/1 RAL Quality Certification Mark, experts from the independent Research Centre at the Hohenstein Institute regularly inspect and monitor the operation of the laundry and how the linen is processed, at the request of the German Certification Association for Professional Textile Services, and write an assessment for the German Certification Association.
If the company meets the required quality and testing conditions, the German Certification Association awards the RAL-GZ 992/1 RAL Quality Certification Mark. At present about 330 laundries are members of the German Certification Association for Professional Textile Services.
Illustration: Example of a RAL-GZ 992/1 RAL Mark certificate.
