Selecting the Right Towels Helps Remove Common Complaints

Steve Hanson

No matter what type of building your business is cleaning, it needs hand towels for the rest rooms.  Even if your janitorial cleaning business does not supply paper products to your customers, they may ask you about the right hand towel for the job.  With so many choices available - where do you begin? 

Start by looking at the different types of hand towels.  There are roll towels in varying lengths available, as well as three types of folded hand towels: single-fold, c-fold, and multi-fold. All hand towels come in either white or natural. Some building owners may want to consider using hot air dryers.  Dryers do cut down on paper use, but studies have found that most people prefer paper towels over hot air dryers.  Most people don't have the patience to wait for the dryer to work and end up wiping their hands on their pants as they walk out the door.

A clean, well stocked restroom has a lot to say about the image a building projects.    To make sure the restroom is projecting the image the building owner wants and that meets the user's needs, consider the following:

·         Does the restroom need to project a high-class, luxury image?  Then consider using a high-quality, name brand towel.

·         Is this a high traffic restroom?  High traffic areas like those in movie theaters or restaurants may need a longer roll towel that doesn't run out too fast.

If using folded towels, make sure that you are using a type that correctly fits the dispenser. Some 1-ply multi-fold towels tear when pulling them from dispensers if they're filled too tightly, and c-fold towels aren't used as much any more because of awkward dispensing. Multi-fold towels are the most popular choice because it's easy to grab the tail end that hangs down from the dispenser.

Roll towels are best for high traffic restrooms.  They offer higher capacity at a lower cost.  In addition, roll towels cut down on overuse and lowers the risk of theft.  If image is more important and price is less of an issue, then folded towels are a better alternative.  Using folded towels also removes potential problems with dispensers that have moving parts.

Roll towels also offer cost savings because of the large capacity they hold - from 350 feet to 1000 feet. If you need a high capacity, consider using 1,000 foot roll towels.  These larger rolls provide more paper than the traditional 800 foot rolls without a larger roll diameter, which means the 1,000 foot paper towel rolls fit in the same dispenser.

Think about how many towels are actually used and the "true cost".  Many times people will grab more towels than they need or many pull out extra multi-fold towels because of poor towel quality or a poorly designed dispenser.  Determine the true cost by considering the following factors:

·         Total towels per case -  some may contain 4000, some only 3500

·         Towels used per day

·         Waste per hand dry

·         Hand dries per case

A good tool to use for calculating paper use is the Paper Usage Calculator available here: http://www.thejanitorialstore.com/public/department120.cfm

After deciding on which hand towel to use, you'll need to choose the proper dispenser. If image and style are important, recommend a quality dispenser that fits in with the overall atmosphere  - perhaps brushed stainless steel. On the other hand, if price is important, look for dispensers that are constructed out of hard-wearing plastic that is easily replaceable. If hygiene and sanitation is important, then a touch free dispenser may be the best choice.

Selecting the right hand towels and dispensers for restrooms will help to remove common complaints like supplies running out, which keeps building owners and managers happy. And that's good news for you as a building service contractor!

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Jean Hanson is co-founding member of TheJanitorialStore.com, an online community for owners and managers of cleaning companies who want to build a more profitable and successful cleaning business. Sign up for Trash Talk: Tip of the Week at http://www.TheJanitorialStore.com and receive a Free Gift. Read cleaning success stories from owners of cleaning companies at http://www.cleaning-success.com/.