VASKA Introduces Green Chemicals to Commercial Laundry Industry

BERKELEY, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- VASKA, a Berkeley based producer of
green, botanically based laundry care products for the commercial,
institutional and consumer markets, is pleased to announce that it has
successfully turned the first major commercial laundry plant in the United
States (and possibly the world) green! Royal Laundry of South San Francisco is
the largest privately owned commercial laundry on the West Coast, washing one
million pounds of laundry a week for more than a hundred Northern California
hotels using VASKA's green laundry solutions in its three state-of-the-art
tunnel systems.

Royal Laundry has been a major commercial laundry service provider in the Bay
Area for 47 years. When Royal began to encounter challenges with their
previous chemical supplier, Royal's president Don Luckenbach, decided to look
for alternatives. Don toured major plants across the US to look for formulas
that would meet his quality and performance criteria and asked for proposals
from the top contenders. When VASKA's CEO Julia Fry proposed tests using her
green formulas, he was skeptical. After a highly successful 10-day test on
their largest tunnel, he was ready to give the go ahead. Months later the
changes at Royal are tangible to Luckenbach, "Now when I walk into the plant
in the morning I am greeted by the smell of lavender, and it makes me feel
good that I am making a contribution to the health of our employees and the
environment."

Washing millions of pounds to the high standards of Royal's luxury hotel
customers in the San Francisco hospitality industry requires complex chemical
formulas that have traditionally contained phosphates, petroleum-based
surfactants, and toxic solvents. VASKA has changed the rules of commercial
laundry by introducing a plant-based 'herbatergent' that was honored with the
EPA's SDSI (Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative) designation and other
environmentally responsible biodegradable products that clean as effectively
as traditional chemicals without damaging linens in the process. According to
Mike McFillin, VASKA's head of technical sales, "We are competing load for
load on price and quality with traditional chemical approaches, and the fact
that we are not dumping petroleum-based detergents and solvents into the plant
outflow makes a significant contribution to improving local water quality."

Julia Fry, VASKA's CEO and founder, is proud of her company's commitment to
provide the most effective, safest laundry products for each of its markets.
She states, "VASKA is passionate about cleaning without poisoning the planet.
We've proven that green chemistry can provide quality superior to toxic
laundry chemicals. There is no reason to continue damaging linens, workers'
safety, and polluting the Bay, when there are safe, viable options. We're
deeply committed to health, safety, and linen quality, and it shows in our
results."

For more information contact:
Isaac Cronin
510-644-9517
Isaac@icpr.biz
www.vaskaproducts.com

SOURCE VASKA

Isaac Cronin, +1-510-644-9517, Isaac@icpr.biz, for VASKA