Accommodation Operations > Management of Linen

LINEN

Linen, the term is basically a type of fabric, but when used in Hotel Industry the term correlates to the various kinds of fabric, which are used for the various purposes in the hotel industry. Linen in hotel industry can be classified to various kinds such as Bed Linen, Bath Linen & Table Linen. The preferred fabric type used for above types of linen in the hotel industry is cotton due to its strength, absorption, variety in color and weave and supply. Maintenance of the same is not easy but the other benefits cover this aspect of the linen.

BED LINEN:

Bed linen comprise of the various kinds of fabric items, which are used for the making of the bed in a guest room. It comprises of :

Bed Sheet - It is preferably a cotton sheet. Size can be easily calculated for any kind of the bed by acquiring the dimension of the mattress. The calculation is done as Length of the sheet is equal to the length of the mattress plus two times the height of the mattress and also added two times the amount of fabric required to tuck under the mattress which is generally considered as 6" on each side. Similar calculation is employed for the width of the sheet.

Eg: Say the length of the mattress is 78", width is 36" & height is 6"

Thus calculating the length of the sheet is = 78 + 2(8) + 2(6) = 102"

The width of the same sheet will be        = 36 + 2(8) + 2(6) = 60"

In the above example the tucking has been taken as 6" on each side of the mattress.                                                

          In some of the international properties the top sheet of the bed is generally called out as the Night spread or the Wrinkle sheet. The reason being in the night after the turndown service it is this top bed sheet which is visible and spread on the bed. It is called as the wrinkle sheet due to the wrinkle weave which is taken so as to avoid any kind of wrinkle appearance in it after the bed cover on top of it is folded. Again the size of the night spread is always calculated in the similar way as in the case of a bed sheet.

The size of the bed sheet depends upon the size of the bed which in the hotel industry depend upon the policy of the company but the generally observed sizes of the bed in the hotels are as mentioned below:

Type Of Bed                           Length            Width 

Queen Size Bed                        78”                   48”

Double Bed                              78”                   78” / 60”

King Size Bed                          78”                   84” / 78”

Single Bed                                78”                   36”

Duvet Cover:

A Duvet is a quilt made for the guest rooms with the use of a fiber in it rather than the cotton. It is latest in the hotel industry. For the duvet the hotels use the Duvet cover (In place of the two bed sheets), which are the similar to the quilt covers. The fabric used for the cover is cotton, which can be of the designed or patterned.  The sizes of a duvet cover is calculated as the size of the duvet plus two inches extra length wise and width wise to help the smooth insertion of the duvet

Pillow Cover / Pillow Slip:

Pillow covers are again of the cotton used in the industry. The sizes of the pillow covers also vary from hotel to another hotel and is dependent upon the size of the pillow which are generally 24" in length by 18" in width to 30" in length by 21 " in width. Like duvet covers the pillow covers are an inch extra in the length and the width to help the smooth and fast pull on.

BATH LINEN:

Bath Towel:

The bath towel is made of the cotton done in Turkish weave wherein the looped piles are left on both the sides of the towel. The piles are never cut in the towel so as to avoid the opening of the weave of the towel and appearance of the holes in it.

The sizes of the bath towels is 42" in length by 30" in width but can vary up to 48" in length by 36" in width. Still even if the size of the towel is larger than the specified than the towels are known as bath sheet. The general color of the towels used in the hotel industry is white.

Hand Towel:

Similar to the bath towel in description a hand towel varies in size from 30" in length by 21" in width to 27" in length by 18" in width.

Face Towel:

A face towel is similar to the other towels in its physical appearance and weaves. It varies in size from a 10" square to 12" square. Generally the F&B Service department uses cold towel, which are like the bath linen in its appearance, but the size is 10” square.

Bath Mat:

Similar to the other towels in its physical appearance and weave this towel differs from the other towel in its strength and hardness. This towel is hard and has long life compared to the other towels used. The size of bath mat can vary from 30” in length by 24” in width to 36” in length to 24” width.

TABLE LINEN:

The general items used for the table linen are also of cotton due to various advantages above the other fabric types. The Food & Beverage Manager or the Head of the department provides the sizes for the above linen.

A general calculation of size for length of the table linen can be done as Length of the table plus two times the desired fall from the tabletop. Standard size of the Napkins is 18" square to 24" square. The cocktail napkin is of the size of 6" square. A Naprone is colored and may be of tericott fabric, which is the blend of cotton and terylene, and the size is equivalent to the size of the tabletop. The tablemats used in the hotel and restaurants differ in size from 24" in length by 18" in width to 18" in length by 16" in width. Now a days hotel prefer to purchase the table mats which are either of use and throw types or have plastic to provide the advantage of easy cleaning and less wear and tear. The runners used in the hotel industry in particular the banquets are of 16” to 18” in width and the length entirely depends upon the length of the banquet tables.