Saturday morning, and there are no king-size duvet covers
The hotel is full, and changeovers are heavy. At ten, the room attendants find the linen store short of king-size duvet covers. The laundry's Friday delivery note says the right number was delivered. The supervisor counts what is on the shelves, rings the laundry, and borrows from the sister hotel.
At the end of the month, the laundry invoice arrives. It charges for a number of items that feels high, plus replacement charges for linen the laundry says was damaged or lost. The head housekeeper has a rough tally of what went out, written on the back of a delivery note. There is no way to argue either way.
Why the counts never agree
Contract laundry works on counts at each hand-over, and each side counts differently and at different times.
- Soiled linen is counted quickly, or not at all, before the cages go.
- The laundry counts at its end and issues a delivery note, which the hotel signs without checking.
- Linen in circulation is split between rooms, the store, the laundry and the van.
- Damaged and stained items are rejected, sometimes charged as replacements.
- How much linen you need depends on departures and stayovers, which change daily.
Without a record at the hotel end, the laundry's figures are the only figures.
What loose counts cost
You may pay for items that were never sent, or for replacement linen that was not lost. On busy days, shortages slow room turnarounds and delay check-ins, and borrowing or emergency orders cost more. At the other end, too much linen in circulation ties up money in stock you rarely use.
Housekeeping time goes on counting, searching and phoning the laundry, and disputes with the laundry drag on because neither side can prove anything.
Stock quietly disappears as well. Linen leaves the building in guests' bags, ends up as cleaning rags, or is kept in a cupboard on the third floor that nobody checks. Without a running count at the hotel end, it is impossible to tell whether linen is being lost at the laundry, in the building, or simply wearing out, and the replacement order at the end of the year is a guess.
How we build a linen tracker
- Housekeeping records soiled linen sent each day by item type on a tablet, as the cages are filled. Counts can be done by the cage, by bundle, or by a quick tally.
- Clean deliveries are recorded against the laundry's delivery note. The delivery note can be photographed and read automatically.
- The tracker compares sent and returned counts by item over time and shows what is outstanding at the laundry.
- The monthly invoice is checked line by line against the tracker's counts and the laundry's own delivery notes, with differences listed.
- Rejected and replacement items are logged with the laundry's reason, so patterns show up.
- Linen needed for the coming days is forecast from departures and stayovers in your PMS, so the order can be adjusted before a shortage.
| Item | Sent this month | Returned | Invoiced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King duvet covers | Tracker count | Delivery notes | Invoice line | Flag if invoiced exceeds sent |
| Bath towels | Tracker count | Delivery notes | Invoice line | Flag if returned is short |
| Replacement charges | Laundry reject notes | Invoice line | Check against logged rejects |
The tracker does not decide what to pay. It gives you the figures to agree the invoice with the laundry, or to take up a difference.
A weekend with enough linen
On Thursday the tracker shows that Saturday's departures will need more king-size sets than the store will have, based on what is still at the laundry. The head housekeeper asks for a bigger Friday delivery. On Saturday, the store is stocked.
At month end, the invoice check shows two small differences. She sends them to the laundry with the dates and counts. The conversation is short because both sides are looking at the same figures.
Signs your laundry counts are loose
- You sign laundry delivery notes without counting.
- Linen runs short on busy weekends.
- Laundry invoices and replacement charges are paid without checking.
- Nobody can say how much linen is at the laundry right now.
- Disputes with the laundry end in stalemate.