Hotel cleaning supplies are the perfect example of an element of your overall guest services operation that you don’t give much thought to – until something goes wrong.
When things are going well, you have the luxury of not thinking twice about your laundry program chemicals, and it isn’t until sheets and towels aren’t as soft as they should be and dingier than you’d like.
If linen quality or general cleanliness issues have you considering a switch, here are some tips for the purchasing and storage of hotel cleaning supplies.
Choose Eco-Friendly Chemicals that Align to Your Needs
Your property has its own unique set of challenges based on, among other things, location and climate. Pool towels and other outdoor linens that spend the majority of their daylight hours being subjected to sunlight, sand, sunscreen, pool chemicals or saltwater present their own cleaning hurdles.
You need a laundry and cleaning program that can clear those hurdles as well as anything else guests throw your way, which is why it’s important to work with a cleaning supplies vendor who understands what you need for laundry and beyond, preferably with a track record of working with similar properties.
And, of course, eco-friendly chemicals are the superior choice. Gone are the days when harsh toxins were required to get a deep clean. Chemicals that are biodegradable, free of NPE, phosphate, EDTA, NTA and aromatic solvents are both effective and gentler on the environment and on your staff.
Store Cleaning Chemicals Far from Your Linens
No matter how gentle your cleaning chemicals, they still have the potential to stain or damage your linens if they’re stored too close together and spills happen.
To decrease the chances of an accident, your guest-facing sheets, towels and other linens should be kept in a climate-controlled environment that’s far from cleaning supplies.
To make sure everyone is on the same page, incorporate protocol into your hospitality training program and consider adding a section on linen storage to your hospitality training manual.
Provide the Right Tools for the Job…
If your property has recently undergone a renovation or refresh or if you haven’t done an audit of your hotel cleaning routine in a while, it’s worth revisiting your housekeeping regimen to make sure staff currently have everything they need to do their jobs.
Do a walkthrough of each kind of guest room and consider how housekeeping would clean each item. Will one set of microfiber cloths be sufficient? If there are dishes in the rooms that they’re expected to clean or replace, do they have detergent and cloths? Would a reusable mop system work better than buckets?
Ask housekeeping staff to lead your tour and provide their honest input. You may be surprised about how they’ve been making do without having everything that they need.
…In the Right Quantities
And while it’s important for staff to have the right cleaning equipment, it’s equally important that they have enough of it to last.
Housekeeping and maintenance staff who run out of cloths and rags will turn to – you guessed it – your guest towels to sop up messes and polish equipment.
Decrease Your Need for Chemicals by Outsourcing Your Laundry
There are some hotel cleaning supplies that you’ll always need to have onsite, but one way to drastically reduce the amount you need is to outsource your laundry to an eco-friendly linen service.
Your laundry vendor becomes responsible for maintaining linen quality and deciding what chemicals are the best fit. They’ll also have a commitment to the environment incorporated into everything they do.
Save Time and Money with the Right Supplies
Having effective hotel cleaning supplies you can trust means staff will spend less time looking for stains and more time on other parts of the guest experience. A few key steps in purchasing and storage will allow you to return to not giving your chemicals a second thought.
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