How the Swiss army does its laundry

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The army's laundry is delivered in wooden crates. Keystone

Dirty laundry is transported to the textile centre in rolling carts. Keystone

A worker sorts the dirty laundry into bags. Keystone

The uniforms are washed in giant machines. Keystone

The laundry bags are hung to dry. Keystone

Uniforms head down a conveyor belt for sorting and repair. Keystone

The clothing is hung before being inspected and repaired. Keystone

Hanging camouflage suits Keystone

Experts repair the uniforms at special stations. Keystone

Screens show the uniform's pattern. Keystone

Securing a seam Keystone

Woolen military blankets are also washed and hung to dry in a separate room. Keystone

Fixed and ready, the uniforms continue on their way back to soldiers. Keystone

A machine folds the uniforms. Keystone

Some manual labour is required on the ironing and folding machine. Keystone

Folded and pressed uniforms continue on their journey. Keystone

Bundled uniforms are ready to be worn before the cycle starts all over again. Keystone

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When Swiss men come together to do their military service, mountains of washing pile up. Here's a look inside the Swiss army's hi-tech laundry in the town of Thun.

Military personnel skulk through forests, crawl through mud, climb mountains and march for kilometres. As a result, their uniforms get sweaty, dirty and torn. And that’s not all that army clothes go through – there’s also contact with countless sleeping bags, tents and cooking materials.

Most of the washing, mending and altering goes on in the new complex at Thun, which was renovated at a cost of CHF22 million ($22.4 million).

The Swiss photographer Christian Beutler visited the laundry – considered the most modern in Switzerland – and documented the workflow from delivery of clothes to the cleaning and ironing, via repairs and the folding of the freshly washed clothes.

(Text: Gaby Ochsenbein/swissinfo.ch)