Whether you have a professional cleaning service taking care of the towels used in your restaurant or you take time out of your day to wash, dry, and fold them on your own, one thing is certain — restaurants need a lot of help to stay clean! Making sure your restaurant has enough clean towels can eat into your time or take a bite out of your profits.

Luckily, there are some great alternatives. First, let’s look at the restaurant towel service options and which one makes sense for your business.

DIY laundry tips for restaurant towels

To save money, many restaurant owners choose to buy cotton towels in bulk and handle the laundry on their own or with the help of their employees. Often, this turns out to be a bigger job than simply throwing everything into the washer. That’s because the delicious recipes at your restaurant are likely to become unappetizing stains on your kitchen towels.

Here are a few tips from the pros to keep your kitchen towels bright white! First, sort towels based on the level of dirtiness. Lightly soiled towels can go straight into the washer. Wash white towels in hot water with laundry detergent and chlorine bleach to sanitize towels and remove minor stains.

Towels with food and grease stains will need to be prewashed before you put them into the washing machine. Start by pretreating towels with a stain remover. Follow the package directions for how long to leave the product on the towel before washing. If you want an eco-friendly laundry approach, you can also use hydrogen peroxide or baking soda to pretreat stains. After you’ve pretreated the stains, wash towels in hot water with laundry detergent and chlorine bleach. Avoid using fabric softener or dryer sheets with your restaurant towels. This can make them less absorbent.

Don’t leave wet towels sitting in the washer for too long. If germs and mold are allowed to grow on wet towels, they can develop an unpleasant smell. Move towels to the dryer and set to a high heat setting. Make sure they’re completely dry before you fold the towels and put them away. Also, be prepared to replace towels often because no matter how hard you work, there are some stains that are too tough to remove.

Depending on the size of your restaurant, you may find yourself spending more time in the laundry room and less time in the kitchen! If your laundry needs are taking valuable time away from running your restaurant, you may want to consider a professional restaurant towel service.

Working with a professional restaurant towel service

Say goodbye to pretreating stains and lugging loads of towels home to wash and fold for the next day! A professional restaurant towel service will keep you stocked with clean towels with very little effort on your part.

Just remember, there’s a price for convenience. Not knowing your costs is a common mistake that can get in the way of your restaurant’s success. Look at your budget and decide whether a professional towel service is a need or a want right now.

Are there alternatives to DIY or professional towel services?

Maybe you don’t like the idea of washing your own towels or monitoring the laundry techniques of a professional restaurant towel service. Enviro-Master Services’ popular paper management program may be the answer to your laundry needs.

Many businesses, including restaurants, gyms, healthcare facilities, and schools, already use our program to keep their restrooms stocked with paper towels and toilet paper. It’s a convenient and cost-effective way to make sure your customers always have what they need.

The program can also replace cloth towels in your restaurant. Multi-purpose sterile wipes in hygiene-friendly dispensers will provide your business with an easy way to clean and sanitize surfaces, with zero trips to the laundromat! Sterile wipes will also help you avoid cross-contamination of surfaces in your restaurant kitchen that comes from using dirty towels on hands and surfaces.

If you’re interested in learning more about the costs and convenience of switching from cloth towels to Enviro-Master’s hand hygiene products, complete the form below. Your local Enviro-Master owner will be in touch to create a personalized plan to meet the needs of your business.