Linen care: taking control by keeping count

Hotels pay for every piece of fresh, clean stock delivered, if there is too much linen on site there has been an overspend in relation to the number of rooms sold. If there is too little, housekeeping teams run the risk of running out of linen and towels, rooms can’t be made up and the hotel will be unable to sell rooms. It is in the interest of both a hotel and its laundry service provider to get stock levels right.

Are you on PAR?

Generally, linen isn’t owned but rented by a hotel from its laundry service provider. This means at the start of a contract the laundry usually purchases five (5) PAR for each hotel. But what is a PAR? It is a popular way to calculate hospitality ratios and is an acronym meaning Per Available Room (PAR). In this instance 1 PAR is the amount of linen and towelling need to make up every room in the hotel. The 5x PAR makes certain there is enough stock in circulation throughout the laundry cycle to ensure all the beds sold can be changed and made up each day.

Laundry use cycle for a typical hotel

Laundries are in a unique position because they can only clean what is returned to them. If a hotel is over stocked, there will be less linen and towelling in circulation. The result is unfulfilled orders, commonly known as ‘shorts’, as there is nothing to pack and nothing in stock at the laundry.

Laundry use cycle for an overstocked hotel

Issues with overstocking

Not only does over stocking at a hotel result in an overspend and waste in the housekeeping budget. It can also result in unnecessary creasing, damage to linen and crowded linen rooms become a fire risk. Also over stocking reduces the frequency of stock rotation, linen is no longer at its freshest, and we all know no one likes to sleep in stale sheets. On average it takes 11 days for a piece of linen or towelling to complete the full cycle and be returned to the laundry. But when a hotel is overstocked many items will complete the cycle more frequently resulting in overuse, wearing and faster degrading than stock stuck in storage at the hotel. Perhaps surprisingly, linen and towelling can actually spend a relatively short amount of time at the laundry, with some items being sorted, washed, dried, ironed and folded and packed in under an hour.

Optimising operations and using technology

CLEAN takes a consultative approach to its relationship with customers. We have many examples of where we have helped to rationalise operations to ensure our customers' housekeeping teams can operate more efficiently. In summary:

• Our Streamline ordering system negates the need for daily used linen counts and reporting. Streamline saves time because just one stock check is required each week.
• Customers using our RFID enabled linen systems have reduced the time it takes to manage their linen service by over 80% due to more accurate and quicker stock checks and automatic ordering
• Our account management teams work in partnership with customers to offer housekeeping teams bespoke training on good linen husbandry and best practice
• CLEAN also have a team of Asset managers who can visit hotels to help customers manage their stock levels

Understocking problems

If a hotel is understocked housekeeping teams run the risk of not being able to make up the rooms sold that night – delivery vehicles can suffer breakdowns, get stuck in traffic or be delayed due to inclement weather, and although most laundries are incredibly effective and efficient, machinery breakdowns can also cause processing delays. This is why keeping the right stock levels at the hotel is so important – a laundry service provider is not to blame if a hotel has not maintained its 1 PAR stock level within its storage facilities. Hotels should never be waiting for that days delivery to arrive before starting to service rooms.

Storage

Hotel linen and towelling storage is essential to keeping the housekeeping operation running smoothly. A hotel's linen and towelling stock is constantly moving between guest rooms and storage facilities. Allowing stock to rest in storage for at least 24 hours before it is used also provides an opportunity for wrinkles to smooth out in polycotton permanent press fabrics.

Linen is typically stored in a main linen room, or in larger hotels distribution rooms on each floor, and linen or housekeeping trolleys are used for transportation around the hotel and easy access by room attendants. This ensures that all linen and towelling is adequately stored and accessible when needed.

There are several things you can do to ensure that your linen and towelling is well-stored.

1. To prevent damage to the fabric, keep the linen storage room humidity-free with adequate ventilation
2. Invest in some good quality shelving that is smooth and snag-free to avoid tearing the fabric
3. Keep shelves clear and free of any obstructions that could damage the fabric. Organise shelves by linen type and label them clearly to make it easier to find what you need.
4. Make sure that there is enough space in the linen storage room to prevent linens from being crushed or crowded.
5. Keep the linen storage room locked at all times. This will help to prevent theft or loss.

By following these tips, will help housekeeping teams keep hotel linen not only well stored but also well-controlled and avoid the chaos as shown below.

Picture: Can you find what you're looking for? We can't say where this is, but a CLEAN representative found this disorganised ‘storage cupboard’ at a hotel served by CLEAN. We have since helped the housekeeping team reorganise and rationalise their storage

Extending the life span of linen

Many factors can influence the lifespan of linen and towelling, but when it is purchased, it’s predicted lifespan is three years. We know housekeeping teams work extremely hard to prepare rooms each day, and understand the frustration caused by having to make a bed twice, due to a stain or a tear. This is why it is vital to look after linen and towelling while it is at the hotel. Misuse costs, hotels and laundries millions of pounds each year. When we consider the energy and resources that go into growing cotton, producing yarn and manufacturer the textiles it’s more important than ever to use linen and towelling only for its intended purpose – rather than using it for cleaning or soaking up spills – chemical products will degrade and damage. Theft is also an issue; we always advise that hotels keep storerooms locked so the stock doesn’t go missing. We have seen hotel linen used in many situations where it shouldn’t be, using it to prop open doors or drag it across floors tears the fibres and causes holes, linen stored on concrete floors can suffer a burn effect that causes irremovable stains. We have even seen linen being used as a dust sheet for decorating and maintenance. But our top tip is to keep the linen dry to avoid it going mouldy, it is a natural fibre and can suffer mildew within 48 hours.

We've added a video at the bottom of this post with a few tips to avoid linen damage.

In conclusion, being organised and working in partnership with laundry service providers will result in less imperfections, everything will be whiter and brighter, the sheets will be crisper and the towels fluffier, productivity will increase, and housekeeping staff morale will improve.

Extracts from this blog post were first published in Housekeeping Today. To read the full article, click the link below, scroll down and click skip, this will launch Mar/April 2023 edition.

HOUSEKEEPING TODAY UK - Mar/Apr 2023 Edition