Hotel Washcloths Are the Line Item Hiding Inside the Bath Towel Price

QINGDAO, China — The weekly hotel read for the United States turned positive again, with occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room all ahead of the same week a year earlier [1]. In the same stretch Marriott reported gross fees up at a double-digit rate, said a group of owners had written to management asking for a larger share of loyalty income, and beat the revenue-per-room guidance it issued in August [2]. Two readings, one direction: revenue is moving again, and so is the argument about how it is divided. The purchasing version of that argument is a line-by-line look at what a room costs to run, and hotel washcloths are usually the line nobody can see.

Timing matters. Most of the largest markets posted gains in the week, some lifted by a single event [1]. Marriott's weakest segment, limited service, posted a third consecutive quarter of revenue-per-room growth [2]. A renovated waterfront hotel of more than six hundred rooms in downtown Miami also changed hands, and the buyer pointed to the finished renovation as the reason to concentrate on revenue rather than capital work [3]. Once the work is done and the income is recovering, the owner looks at what the building costs to run. That is when a housekeeping budget gets re-read, and when anything bought by the case without a count behind it starts to look like a rounding error that is not rounding.

A washcloth is not a small bath towel

Hotel washcloths are bought with bath towels, stored beside them and often invoiced on the same line, but they do different work. A bath towel is used once, after a shower, by a guest drying a body. A washcloth is used at the sink, on a face, often more than once in a stay, and it is the item a guest inspects closest because it touches skin. The specifications differ too: face towels run from 20–30 × 20–30 cm at 40–100 g/m², while bath towels run from 60–80 × 100–160 cm at 40–130 g/m².

Fold the two into one line and a purchasing team loses the ability to answer a simple question about which of them moved the cost. It also loses the ability to change one without renegotiating the other, which costs more. A hotel that wants a heavier washcloth should not have to reopen the bath towel price.

Four specifications that decide how long it stays in service

Selection usually gets settled on price per piece, which is the number that says least. Four other questions do more work.

• Weight. A lighter cloth costs less per piece and carries less margin in wet strength, so ask what the supplier's weight tolerance is and how it is measured.
• Edge finish. A washcloth is folded, stacked and washed far more often per square meter than a bath towel. Ask whether the edge is ultrasonically sealed or stitched, and ask for a sample that has been through the laundry cycle the hotel actually runs.
• Lint and pilling. On a face, loose fiber is a complaint rather than a cosmetic issue. Ask how the cloth behaves after the first wash, not how it looks on the pallet.
• Shrinkage. A cloth that shrinks out of the fold the room attendant was trained on slows every room, every day.

None is exotic. They are seldom asked at a trade show.

Count consumption by occupied room, not by room count

Washcloths are consumed by the occupied room-night, and the count per night follows housekeeping policy rather than the number of keys. A hotel that changes them daily and one that changes them on request have the same room count and different annual consumption. With occupancy up year over year [1], a budget built as room count times a fixed factor understates the year, and the shortfall arrives in the months when the building is full.

The formula is unglamorous: pieces per occupied night, times expected occupied nights, plus a measured loss rate. Loss is the part teams skip. Guests take washcloths home, housekeeping discards stained ones, and the laundry loses some to wear. None of that goes to zero, so measure it for a month and put it into the reorder point instead of arguing about it at year end.

What goes on the purchase order

Three lines carry most of the value. First, a separate SKU for the washcloth, even when it ships in the same container as the bath towel. Second, the fold and the pack format, because a washcloth that arrives loose in a carton costs housekeeping time that never appears on the towel invoice. Third, the incoming inspection items: weight, dimensions after one wash, edge condition, and color consistency across the carton.

The minimum order is 40,000 pieces per SKU, so SKU structure is the real decision. Splitting washcloths from bath towels doubles the minimum before artwork is approved, which is a cash commitment dressed up as a specification choice. A single property usually answers this by holding one washcloth specification and changing it rarely. A group answers it by standardizing across properties so the SKU count stays flat while the volume grows.

What Jaroll can do

Jaroll makes guest room towels and face towels in the same plant, which helps when a hotel wants the washcloth and the bath towel to match in color and hand feel without matching in weight. The face towel range runs 20–30 × 20–30 cm at 40–100 g/m², the bath range 60–80 × 100–160 cm at 40–130 g/m².

Three things are worth settling in writing before a quote. Ask for the weight tolerance and the edge construction, because those two decide how the cloth behaves after the tenth wash. Ask how shade is controlled between production runs, since a washcloth that drifts against its matching bath towel shows up in every photograph of the room. And ask what the reorder lead time is against the renovation and peak calendar, which is usually about 20 working days from deposit and artwork approval. Jaroll answers those before a quote is issued, and with output at approximately 50 million towels per month, standardizing a group across properties becomes a scheduling question rather than a capacity one.

Sources

1. LODGING Magazine, 2026-11-05. CoStar: U.S. Hotel Industry Again Reports Positive Year-Over-Year Comparisons. https://lodgingmagazine.com/costar-u-s-hotel-industry-again-reports-positive-year-over-year-comparisons-november-5/
2. Skift, 2026-11-02. Marriott's Fees Jump 14% as Hotel Owners Seek a Bigger Cut. https://skift.com/2026/11/02/marriotts-fees-jump-14-as-hotel-owners-seek-a-bigger-cut/
3. LODGING Magazine, 2026-11-02. Gencom and White Bridge Capital Announce Acquisition of InterContinental Miami. https://lodgingmagazine.com/gencom-and-white-bridge-capital-announce-acquisition-of-intercontinental-miami/