Textiles can be heavily contaminated with microorganisms. Adequate reprocessing is therefore necessary, especially in hygienically sensitive areas. For example, laundries and textile service providers that reprocess textiles from the hospital sector must meet the requirements of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and have established a hygiene management system in accordance with DIN EN 14065 (RABC). Laundries and textile service providers that process textiles from the food sector should also be able to demonstrate a hygiene management system in accordance with DIN EN 14065 (RABC), which also meets the requirements of the International Featured Standard (IFS) and the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety (BRCGS) and DIN 10524. The wfk seal for textile hygiene proves that textiles are processed in companies according to the respective state of the art and can be used in hygienically sensitive areas such as the hospital and healthcare sector as well as the food industry. It makes it possible to prove the appropriate hygienic quality of textile processing to customers of laundries and textile service providers and thus strengthen trust.

Textile processing is assessed on the basis of certain criteria, which include an assessment of the structural conditions, the organizational framework and the established management system. In addition, the hygiene status is checked in annual company inspections on the basis of microbiological sampling and the implementation of regular self-inspections is required for quality assurance.