ORLANDO, Fla. — In less than a month, The 2025 Clean Show will open here at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), bringing together self-service laundry owner/operators and other textile care professionals for four days of networking, education and professional development.
Each edition of Clean (known formally as the World Educational Congress for Laundering and Dry Cleaning) attracts all facets of the textile care industry: from single-owner coin-operated laundry and drycleaning establishments to giant industrial and institutional laundries and textile service companies.
Scheduled for Saturday, August 23, through Tuesday, August 26, in the West Hall of OCCC, it will be the first Clean Show since 2022 and return the event to its original every-other-year schedule moving forward.
In Part 1, we examined why Orlando is one of the handful of cities to host Clean, and what attendees can expect to see when visiting the massive show floor. Let’s conclude:
Educational programming organized by the partnering associations — Association for Linen Management (ALM), CLA (formerly the Coin Laundry Association), Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) and TRSA, the Association for the Linen, Uniform and Facility Services Industry — is designed to equip professionals with the tools, insights and strategies needed to navigate an evolving marketplace.
Registered attendees and exhibitors may attend any education session they wish regardless of affiliation or association membership, and at no additional cost.
“Each edition of The Clean Show raises the standard — and 2025 is no exception,” says Greg Jira, group show director for Messe Frankfurt Inc., based in Atlanta. “We’re proud to partner with the industry’s top associations to offer an education program that’s rich in content and grounded in real-world application. This year’s focus on innovation, compliance, and business growth is exactly what the industry needs right now.”
Morning sessions in OCCC meeting rooms and afternoon sessions in certain booths on the show floor during Clean’s first three days will spotlight the trends, technologies and tactics influencing the future of the textile care industry.
CLA-sponsored offerings will address top industry trends; expanding residential and commercial accounts; an economic outlook for 2025 and beyond; generational fluency; leveraging mistakes for business success; a generational shift in laundromats; AI use; starting and growing a commercial laundry business; and laundromat renovations.
“The Clean Show education program is where today’s leaders and tomorrow’s innovators meet,” says Brian Wallace, president and CEO of CLA. “Our goal is to deliver sessions that not only reflect the realities of the industry but also help businesses thrive amid change. From navigating digital transformation to understanding generational shifts in consumer behavior, the 2025 lineup will offer unmatched value.”
CLA will get a head-start on things by organizing a Friday, Aug. 22, bus tour of four Orlando laundromats. Registration apart from Clean is required to participate.
Most partner associations have scheduled special receptions and meetings on Clean Show days requiring membership or additional registration, and those interested must contact the association organizing the event for more information.
New to this year’s Clean Show are the Innovation Awards, to be presented to honor exceptional performance in the fields of research, new products and technologies, as well as applications for the textile care industry.
The awards are designed to make cutting-edge developments visible, promote unconventional thinking, and intensify dialogue between researchers, manufacturers and users.
Only those companies exhibiting at Clean 2025 were eligible to submit a novel, redesigned or substantially developed product or process for consideration. Submissions were encouraged to be shown on the show floor as well. Entries must have been released to market no earlier than Jan. 1, 2024.
A jury of industry experts and academia will select winners in four categories: Best New Application, Best New Product, Best New Technology for Sustainability, and Best New Technology for Automation. They’ll be presented to visitors and media representatives in a special presentation on Clean’s opening day.
The Clean Show has always been a platform where the latest industry innovations are highlighted, says Kristy Meade, vice president of Technical Textiles and Technology Shows for Messe Frankfurt Inc.
“We are excited to bring an array of award categories reflecting a wide range of advancement in products, technology, and services from the entire textile services industry,” she says. “We look forward to recognizing the organizations that have worked diligently to create products, equipment and solutions that advance our industry and make a positive impact in the marketplace.”
All told, The Clean Show will convene for 29 hours over four days. That may sound like a lot, but anyone who’s attended Clean before knows that its large scale and concurrent education sessions can force one to make choices. That’s where creating a personal agenda will help attendees make the most of their trade show investment.
“Do a little homework before you go,” Jira suggests. “It’s a large trade show with lots to see. Make appointments. Plan your time. Go on our website. Download the app. Look at the exhibitors and plan for what you want to do from the attendee’s side. Plan what you want to go see.
“Look at the educational content this show is going to provide. Make a plan for that. Look at the social things that the associations do, almost all of them are doing some kind of social event in the area.”
Online registration for Clean 2025 remains available through Aug. 16 by visiting https://the-clean-show.us.messefrankfurt.com/us/en/attend.html. After that date, attendees must register on-site in Orlando and pay a higher price.
Future editions of Clean are being planned for Las Vegas (2027) and New Orleans (2029).
Missed Part 1? You can read it HERE
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
