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Keeping hair off linen

Housekeeping and Maintenance

Hostellier started this discussion 10 years 10 months ago

Hi all,

So I'm sure many have this problem of hair sticking to the sheets even after wash + dry. It's usually long hair from girls (I think certain people "shed" more than others as well). After going through the wash and tumble dry, sometimes many hairs still stick to the fabric and they have to be removed by hand. Of course sometimes we miss and then the guest accuses us of not changing the sheets. It's very annoying.

I think one thing that helps is the type of fabric. I've noticed it sticks more to certain sheets than others, but I'm not sure exactly what fabric is ideal. The ones that are smoother tend to be better.

But does anyone have any tips or tricks for preventing this? I know, you can use one of those lint rollers but to be honest we launder so much linen every day, there is no way we can sit there and roll every sheet with a lint roller. I try to get my house keepers to pick off hairs while they are making the bed but like I said, many get missed.

I don't currently use fabric softener sheets in the dryer. Does that help with this? I know they are supposed to reduce static.

By the way, we have very good Huebsch washer and dryers so that is not the problem...

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Rucksack Brian

10 years

This has definitely happened to us, but oddly enough we received very few complaints about it.

We also had issues with the housekeeper's hair occasionally falling onto clean sheets while she was making the bed. Aside from wearing a hair net and doing a quick visual check after each bed was made, we didn't really come up with a solution. It's much easier for us (and for the guests) to see hairs on white sheets than on colored ones.

Dryer sheets that reduce static probably would help. We outsource our laundry now, and there seem to be fewer hairs for us to catch.

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Hostellier

10 years

You outsource your laundry? That seems odd to me. How does it work? Do they pick it up or do you have to drop it off? How long does it take? Seems to me that would be more trouble than it's worth, unless you just don't have room for machines.

Will try the dryer sheets.

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Rucksack Brian

10 years

They send a delivery van around every day to pick up the dirty linen and drop off the clean stuff from yesterday. They have big industrial washers and dryers that can do huge loads, and they iron and fold everything for us.

In the end we save space on the machinery, staff costs from the housekeeper who can focus on other tasks than laundry, and utility costs because water and electricity are both quite expensive for us. The cost effectiveness of outsourcing laundry varies greatly from location to location though, so it's not always a good choice for a hostel. It has been really convenient for us.

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rjd1983

10 years

We have our sheets professionally laundered, it's not the cheapest at £1.20 for a set of 3, but if we were to factor in the cost of a commercial washer/dryer, the maintenance, and the staffing, it isn't that much cheaper doing it yourself. When the laundry comes back, it is neatly folded and pressed. One problem we have with the company is that, any damaged sheets they don't pick up on. We have to tell them about it, and they will ask us to separate it with the rest. We get very little hairs with the sheets. Our reviews went up when we switched from in-house to out-house, and people often comment on the sheets being clean.

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John Moriarty

10 years

I am in the process of talking to a laundry here in regards outsourcing.

While in Ireland costs are high wages are also and it can startle you how much you pay someone to do laundrey.

For me last year it was taking about an hour a day or more. So if I was just to take minimum wage for one hour each day for the year and find the labour costs without other costs it quickly adds up.

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