kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021

Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities

This Technical Specification recommends characteristics, test methods and minimum performance specifications for unused textile for the healthcare and social service facilities (hospitals, residential care homes, etc.) to give guidance on the suitability of products intended to be maintained by industrial laundering.
This Technical Specification is not applicable to surgical textiles under the medical devices directive nor protective clothing under the PPE directive.

Textilien für Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens und von sozialen Diensten

Textiles dans les établissements de santé et de services sociaux

Le présent document recommande des caractéristiques, des méthodes d’essai et des spécifications minimales de performance pour les textiles neufs utilisés dans les établissements de santé et de services sociaux (hôpitaux, maisons de retraite, etc.) afin de donner des recommandations relatives à l’aptitude à l’emploi des produits destinés à être entretenus par blanchissage industriel.
Il ne s’applique pas aux textiles chirurgicaux relevant de la Directive sur les dispositifs médicaux ni aux vêtements de protection relevant de la Directive sur les EPI.

Tekstilije za zdravstveno in socialno oskrbo

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 30-Jun-2021
• ICS: 11.140 - Hospital equipment
• ICS: 59.080.30 - Textile fabrics
• Technical Committee: ITEK - Textile and textile products
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 01-Dec-2021
• Due Date: 05-Feb-2022
• Ref Project: CEN/TS 14237:2021 - Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities

RELATIONS

• Revised: SIST-TS CEN/TS 14237:2016 - Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities
• Effective Date: 01-Jun-2021
• Replaces: SIST-TS CEN/TS 14237:2016 - Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities
• Effective Date: 01-Dec-2021

Standards Content (sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
01-junij-2021
Tekstilije za zdravstveno in socialno oskrbo
Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities
Textilien für Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens und von sozialen Diensten
Textiles dans les établissements de santé et de services sociaux
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: FprCEN/TS 14237
ICS:
11.140 Oprema bolnišnic Hospital equipment
59.080.30 Tkanine Textile fabrics
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021 en

2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FINAL DRAFT
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
FprCEN/TS 14237
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
April 2021
ICS Will supersede CEN/TS 14237:2015
English Version
Textiles for healthcare and social services facilities

Textiles dans les établissements de santé et de services Textilien für Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens

sociaux und von sozialen Diensten

This draft Technical Specification is submitted to CEN members for Vote. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee

CEN/TC 248.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,

Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and

United Kingdom.

Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are

aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a Technical Specification. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change

without notice and shall not be referred to as a Technical Specification.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels

© 2021 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 E

worldwide for CEN national Members.
---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
Contents Page

European foreword ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

1 Scope .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

2 Normative references .......................................................................................................................... 5

3 Terms and definitions ......................................................................................................................... 5

3.1 Products ................................................................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Properties ................................................................................................................................................ 6

4 Properties, references and requirements ................................................................................... 8

Table 1 — Bed textiles ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Table 2 — Pillows and quilts ......................................................................................................................... 10

Table 3 — Children’s cot duvets (excluding duvet covers): Relationship between design

characteristics and hazards (according to EN 16779-1:2018) ........................................... 11

Table 4 — Mattress protectors against liquids ...................................................................................... 12

Table 5 — Blankets ........................................................................................................................................... 13

Table 6 — Towels .............................................................................................................................................. 14

Table 7 — Curtains ........................................................................................................................................... 15

Table 8 — Patient's clothing/Baby clothing ............................................................................................ 16

Table 9 — Staff clothing .................................................................................................................................. 18

5 Product information .......................................................................................................................... 19

Annex A (informative) Information about legal provisions in a CEN member state ............... 20

Table A.1 — Legal provision in France ...................................................................................................... 20

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................................... 21

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
European foreword

This document (FprCEN/TS 14237:2021) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 248

“Textiles and textile products”, the secretariat of which is held by BSI.
This document is currently submitted to the Vote on TS.
This document will supersede CEN/TS 14237:2015.

In comparison with the previous edition, the following technical modifications have been made:

• The normative references and bibliography were updated.

• Requirements were modified following past experiences with the use of CEN/TS 14237:2015.

• Guidance about children’s cot duvets (excluding duvet covers) was added.
---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
Introduction

This document provides minimum specifications for the purchase of unused textiles for healthcare and

social service facilities. It is intended to assist healthcare and social services organisations select textiles

products produced from these textiles and which they intend to be maintained by industrial laundering.

It is recognized that textile materials are currently available which outperform these minimum

specifications in this document and it is unable to provide information to correlate these minimum

specifications with textile life and value in typical industrial processing. Furthermore, these minimum

specifications cannot be correlated with textile life as measure by industrial launder-use trials.

Consequently, it is strongly recommended that purchasers discuss the quality of materials and their

expected performance requirement with any prospective laundry company prior to making a purchase.

Moreover, there is a need for safety of patients and clients which needs to be ensured by hygienic

cleanliness according to EN 14065, which is not reachable by domestic washing.

Production technologies in laundries places a requirement for high performance characteristics on the

textile to ensure sufficient durability, and which could increase acquisition costs, It is therefore

encouraged to carry out some trial processing in the prospective laundry, to better assess textile life and

lifecycle costing.

The properties, references and specifications for textiles shown in Tables 1 to 9 provide guidance as a

starting point for products to be industrially laundered. It is possible that National Standards may set a

higher level of characteristics for textile products.

This document only addresses the properties of the materials used, not the constructions.

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
1 Scope

This document recommends characteristics, test methods and minimum performance specifications for

unused textile for the healthcare and social service facilities (hospitals, residential care homes, etc.) to

give guidance on the suitability of products intended to be maintained by industrial laundering.

This document is not applicable to surgical textiles under the Medical Devices Directive nor protective

clothing under the PPE Directive.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1 Products

NOTE This document classifies the requirements for the fabrics according to its use in the following product

groups.
3.1.1
accessories

components different from the main materials of the product (e.g. cuffs, buttons, sewing thread, press

studs, zippers, etc.)
3.1.2
baby clothing
garment being provided by the hospital that is worn by babies during their stay
3.1.3
bed textiles

two-dimensional textile such as sheets, pillow covers, secondary covers, mattress covers, draw sheets,

bed spreads
3.1.4
blanket
covering used on beds to provide thermal comfort
3.1.5
curtain

piece of hanging cloth that can be drawn to cover a window or to provide a screen

3.1.6
encasing
fully fitting article which covers all faces of the mattress
3.1.7
mattress protector against liquids
mattress cover impermeable to liquids
---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
3.1.8
patient's clothing
garment being provided by the hospital that is worn by a patient during a stay
3.1.9
pillow
cloth bag filled with soft material used for patients support
3.1.10
quilt

cover made of two layers of cloth with soft insulating material in-between to provide thermal comfort

3.1.11
staff

person charged with (part of) medical treatment of a patient or the performance of a medical duty

3.1.12
staff clothing
over-garment without a specific protective function worn by the staff
3.1.13
towels
piece of cloth used for drying a person
3.2 Properties
3.2.1
air permeability

velocity of an air flow passing perpendicularly through a test specimen under specified conditions of test

area, pressure drop and time
[SOURCE: EN ISO 9237:1995, 3.1]
3.2.2
bursting strength
strength at burst

pressure obtained by subtracting the diaphragm pressure from the mean bursting pressure

[SOURCE: EN ISO 13938-1:1999, 3.3]
3.2.3
colour fastness

resistance of the colour of textiles to the different agents to which these materials may be exposed during

manufacture and their subsequent use

Note 1 to entry: The change in colour and staining of undyed adjacent fabrics are assessed as fastness ratings.

Note 2 to entry: See EN ISO 105-A01.
---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
3.2.4
dimensional change

change in length and/or width of fabrics, garments or other textile articles which may occur when

subjected to an appropriate combination of specified washing and drying procedures

Note 1 to entry: See EN ISO 5077.
3.2.5
burning behaviour

property of fabrics whereby flaming combustion is slowed, terminated or prevented

Note 1 to entry: See EN ISO 12952-1, EN ISO 12952-2, EN 13773 and EN 16779-1.
3.2.6
liquid absorbency time

time required for a test specimen of fabric to become completely wetted by the test liquid

and imbibe test liquid into its interior structure
[SOURCE: EN 1644-1:1997, B.1]
3.2.7
liquid absorptive capacity

mass of liquid absorbed per unit mass of the fabric, expressed as a percentage, after either

a standard immersion time or after the time needed to completely wet the fabric and after drainage has

occurred

[SOURCE: EN 1644-1:1997, C.1, modified — The term “fabric” is used instead of the term “nonwoven” in

the present definition.]
3.2.8
pilling
generation of pills over the surface of the fabric
[SOURCE: EN ISO 12945-1:2000, 3.3]
3.2.9
tensile strength

maximum tensile force recorded in extending a test-piece to breaking point, the tensile force recorded at

the moment of rupture

Note 1 to entry: The tensile strength and tensile strength at break may be different if, after yield, the elongation

continues and is accompanied by a drop in force resulting in tensile strength at break being lower than tensile

strength.
3.2.10
thermal resistance

ratio of the temperature difference between two faces of a test specimen to the rate of flow of heat per

unit area normal to the faces

Note 1 to entry: It is analogous to electrical resistance in the case of current flow through an electrical conductor.

[SOURCE: EN ISO 11092:2014, 2.1, modified — The definition itself had to be redrafted, the original notes

to the entry were deleted and the present Note 1 to entry was added.]
---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
3.2.11
water penetration
hydrostatic head supported by a fabric

Note 1 to entry: It is measure of the opposition to the passage of water through the fabric.

Note 2 to entry: See EN 20811.
3.2.12
water vapour resistance

water-vapour pressure difference between the two faces of a material divided by the resultant

evaporative heat flux per unit area in the direction of the gradient

Note 1 to entry: The evaporative heat flux may consist of both diffusive and convective components.

[SOURCE: EN ISO 11092:2014, 2.2, modified. The present Note 1 to entry was shortened and Note 2 to

the entry was deleted.]
4 Properties, references and requirements

The following tables for properties, references and requirements of product groups are recommended as

the basis for agreements between the supplier and customer.
Table 1 — Bed textiles
Properties References Requirements
Colour fastness
Light EN ISO 105-B02 ≥ 4
Washing EN ISO 105-C06 E2 S Change ≥ 4 Stain ≥ 3–4
Bleach (peroxide) EN ISO 105-N02 ≥ 4
Bleach (hypochlorite)
(not for FR treated EN 20105-N01 ≥ 4
fabrics)
Rubbing EN ISO 105-X12 Dry ≥ 3–4 Wet ≥ 3
Perspiration EN ISO 105-E04 Change ≥ 4 Stain ≥ 3–4
Dry heat (for printed
EN ISO 105-P01 ≥ 4
polyester)
Dimensional change
---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
Properties References Requirements
Washing + Processing EN ISO 5077 (max. %) WARP WEFT
Woven fabrics
Prior treatment:
±5 % ±5 %
EN ISO 6330, 3
washing cycles
Knitted fabrics LENGTH WIDTH
programme 4N or 6N,
+2 % to −5 % +5 % to −8 %
plus drying process F
for knitted fabrics
Tensile strength EN ISO 13934-1 WARP WEFT
(for woven fabrics Basic requirements
≥ 400 N ≥ 400 N
only)
Bursting strength (test specimen 7,3 cm2) ≥ 200 kPa
EN ISO 13938-1, or
(for knitted fabrics
EN ISO 13938-2
only)
Burning behaviour EN ISO 12952-1, Shall not ignite
(where specified) EN ISO 12952-2,
Pilling Prior treatment: see ≥ 4 (woven fabrics), ≥ 3 (knitted fabrics)
Dimensional Change –
Washing
EN ISO 12945-2
(2000 rubs)
Additional
References Recommendations
properties
Health, safety According to European and/or national regulations
properties
Making up + ISO 4915; ISO 4916 Construction, accessories and making up should be
Accessories appropriate to product and its intended use. Coloured
EN 12590
threads to be colourfast to the same level as the basic
EN ISO 13936-1 and
product. Industrially launderable
EN ISO 13936-2

Where burning behaviour properties are not inherent, the producer shall certify the durability in laundering and

the test method used.
---------------------- Page: 11 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)
Table 2 — Pillows and quilts
Properties References Requirements
Colour fastness
Light EN ISO 105-B02 ≥ 4
Washing EN ISO 105-C06 E2 S Change ≥ 4 Stain ≥ 3–4
Bleach (peroxide) EN ISO 105-N02 ≥ 4
Bleach (hypochlorite) EN 20105-N01 ≥ 4
(not for FR treated
fabrics)
Rubbing EN ISO 105-X12 Dry ≥ 4 Wet ≥ 3
Perspiration EN ISO 105-E04 Change ≥ 4 Stain ≥ 3–4
Dry heat (for printed EN ISO 105-P01 ≥ 4
polyester)
Tensile strength EN ISO 13934-1 WARP WEFT
(for woven fabrics only)
≥ 400 N ≥ 400 N
EN ISO 12952-1, Shall not ignite
Burning behaviour
EN ISO 12952-2,
(where specified)
EN 16779-1
Pilling EN ISO 12945-1 (10 h)
EN ISO 12945-2 (2000 rubs)
≥ 4
Prior treatment: EN ISO 6330,
3 washing cycles programme
9N, plus drying process F
Thermal resistance EN ISO 11092 ≥ 0,35 m2 K/W
Additional properties References Recommendations
Dimensional stability The manufacturer should state the expected
dimensional change as a percentage of the original
dimension
Health, safety properties According to European and/or national regulations

Making up + Accessories ISO 4915; ISO 4916 Construction, accessories and making up should be

appropriate to product and its intended use. Coloured
EN 12590
threads to be colourfast to the same level as the basic
EN ISO 13936-1 and
product. Industrially launderable.
EN ISO 13936-2
Surface disinfection Applicable disinfecting agents should be identified by
the manufacturer

Where burning behaviour properties are not inherent, the producer shall certify the durability in laundering

and the test method used.
Entire product.
---------------------- Page: 12 ----------------------
kSIST-TS prCEN/TS 14237:2021
FprCEN/TS 14237:2021 (E)

Table 3 — Children’s cot duvets (excluding duvet covers): Relationship between design

characteristics and hazards (according to EN 16779-1:2018)
Hazards Inherently safe design
Mechanical and physical hazards
plastic transfer or coated
4.1.1.4
Suffocation hazards A.3.4
fabrics
Cutting, puncture,
4.2.3 4.1.6
fabrics and filling materials
abrasion hazards
Chemical hazards
Harmful substances A.4.1 refer to A.4.1
Migration of certain
4.3.1
refer to 4.3.1
substances
4.3.2
Formaldehyde refer to 4.3.2
4.3.3
Flame retardants refer to 4.3.3
Thermal hazards Dimensions 4.1.1.3
4.4
Ensemble of cot duvets 4.1.2
Fire hazards 4.5
refer to 4.5
Hygiene hazards 4.6
refer to 4.6

Further information relating to the design hazards, mechanical and physical hazards, chemical hazards,

thermal hazards, fire hazards, hygiene hazards, supplementary information on thermal hazards, specific

marking, purchase information and user instruction, guidance for the cot duvet dimensions and topics

for further investigations (thermal comfort, cot duvet characteristics) can be found in EN 16779-1:20

...