Camille Lapauw founded his company in 1933 in Kortrijk, Belgium, providing pumps and compressors to the world famous Flemish textile industry.

In 1950, in response to customer requests, the company developed and released its first ironer for the commercial and industrial laundry industries. Although ironers had been in production around the world for some time, this machine was unique because it was the world’s first ironer with a hinged, or flexible, chest, providing significant improvements in heat transfer, throughput, and the quality of the finish textiles.

Additional innovations followed Lapauw’s hinged chest ironer including our first washer-extractor in 1962, our 1200mm ironer in 1967, the Unicorn cornerless feeder in 1982, and the world’s first self-contained, gas-heated ironer in 1994. Others have since copied Lapauw innovations in flexible chest ironers and self-contained gas-heated ironers, but the Lapauw reputation has remained second-to-none.

In 2010, a new generation of the Lapauw family sold the company to renowned Belgian entrepreneur, Philippe D’heygere. The company has thrived and blossomed anew under the new ownership and his strong leadership. Since the purchase, Lapauw has invested heavily in engineering, research & development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. Under Mr. D’heygere, the company has been reimagined and reinvigorated, and Lapauw has once again taken its place among the world’s most respected laundry machinery manufacturers. In 2003, Lapauw was proud to have been certified under ISO 9001.

Today’s Lapauw product line has depth and breadth, and includes washers, flatwork feeders, ironers, folders, cart washers, and garment finishing tunnels, and the company is known worldwide as a pioneer in many areas of laundry machinery technology. Customers buy Lapauw equipment because it provides superior quality and excellent throughput, with industry leading low total cost of ownership. The company has sold more than 8,000 machines in more than 40 countries.

Lapauw International is still headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, at our 260,000 square foot factory. We have company-owned offices in the United States, France, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and the Asia Pacific region, all supported by our robust worldwide dealer network.

Lapauw USA is based in Warwick, Rhode Island, and is led by industry-veteran Joseph Amaral. Our Warwick team includes management, administration, and finance, and we have a warehouse for our spare parts inventory. Our North American service team is led by professionals with decades of experience in laundry maintenance, service and engineering, and they are backed up by our service professionals in Belgium, some of whom have been with the company for twenty-plus years. We will expand our sales and technical teams as market needs demand. Meanwhile, technical service is available via phone and email during normal business hours, but we also have an on-call system for emergency support 24/7/365.