How Do Hotels Keep Towels White: Tips & Tricks Revealed 2025

How do hotels keep towels white? The hospitality industry has become quite competitive in recent years. Hotels have to step up their game to get those five-star reviews on Google Business and Booking.com.

One way hotels do this is by keeping their amenities in pristine condition. You don’t see a yellowish or moldy hotel towel when you stay at a five-star hotel, do you? The same goes for hotel bedding, too.

But have you ever thought about how hotels keep their towels white and spotless? Let’s look at ways to keep a towel soft and clean with a few cleaning hacks.

How do hotels keep towels white?

Hotels maintain the whiteness of their towels after multiple washes by using careful laundering techniques, high-quality detergents and optical brighteners.

To keep towels smelling fresh, hotels use scented laundry products, prioritize proper drying and store the towels in clean and dry spaces. They maintain the towels’ softness after heavy use by choosing soft and durable materials, using fabric softeners, employing gentle washing methods and using specialized fabric conditioners.

The best practices for keeping towels soft and white include the following:

• Sorting by color.
• Treating stains beforehand.
• Using quality laundry products.
• Avoiding excessive detergent and bleach.
• Choosing gentle washing cycles.
• Drying properly.
• Regularly inspecting the towels and washing machines.

8 Ways Hotels Keep Their Towels White

The good news is there’s no one magic trick involved in keeping towels spotless. Simply adopt the following cleaning tips to keep your towels soft and bright white.

Bleach White Towels

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that bleach is involved in keeping hotel towels white. Hotels use oxygen or chlorine bleach, depending on the type of fabric and stains.

Oxygen bleach is a form of hydrogen peroxide and releases oxygen to remove stains without damaging the fabric. You can use it as a pre-treatment before washing your towels, too. Only use bleach if you’re washing a white sheet or towel. Bleaching colored garments will fade their color.

Use Optimal Water Temperature

Do you use cold water to wash your towels? That’s probably why they’ve started to lose their color.

Towels have to be washed in hot water. Check the care label to see the maximum temperature the fabric can handle.

Hot water does a lot more than just cleaning the towels. It also sanitizes them and removes bacteria or body oils. It also leaves the towel feeling fluffy.

Use Quality Laundry Detergent

Hotels use a heavy-duty laundry detergent to wash their towels. These detergents usually come in powder formulations. They contain phosphates, which help dissolve stains and dirt better than liquid detergents.

In some cases, hotels may use a fabric softener to give towels a fluffier feel and reduce static electricity.

Avoid Overloading the Washing Machine

A common mistake people make when washing towels is overloading the machine. Since your towels don’t have enough room in the washer tub to circulate, they don’t get properly cleaned.

Hotels avoid this by using industrial-sized washers that have plenty of space for towels to move around. They also run multiple loads rather than trying to cram everything into one.

Pre-Soak Towels

What do you do when your bath towel or wash towel has a stubborn stain? You throw it in the washer and hope for the best.

Hotels don’t do that. They pre-soak their towels in vinegar or oxygen bleach. After soaking, they wash the towels with hot water and a regular detergent.

They may also use a fabric conditioner to soften the towels. Similarly, if a towel smells musty, the cleaners at the hotel may use baking soda to deodorize it.

Air Dry or Use Low Heat

Here’s another common mistake: using high heat to dry towels. When you use high heat, you risk shrinking the towel or damaging its fibers.

Have you ever noticed how your towels get dingy and rough after a few washes? That’s because the heat breaks down the fibers.

When drying towels, hotels use a low heat setting. Alternatively, they sometimes reduce the drying time in the dryer and then air dry the towels until they’re completely dry.

Air drying is the preferred method because it allows the towels to fluff up without any heat damage. You can do the same at home, too. Hang your towels in the sun or near an open window.

Treat Stains Promptly

Housekeeping at hotels changes towels and linens regularly. They keep an eye on any stains on the towels and treat them promptly.

If a white sheet or towel is stained, they use a commercial stain remover or a natural stain-fighting solution like lemon juice or vinegar. That’s why the hotel bedding and towels always look spotless.

You can use the same method at home, too. Suppose you accidentally stain the towel with makeup. Don’t delay the clean-up because the stain will set in.

Take a clean cloth and blot the stain with vinegar. Rinse with cold water and then wash the towel as usual to remove any residue. For a white towel, you can also use bleach to remove stubborn stains.

Hire Professional Laundering Services

Oftentimes, hotels don’t want to go through the hassle of bleaching, spot-cleaning, pre-soaking, washing, during, and so on. So, they outsource the laundering to a professional laundry service like Rinse.

Here’s how it helps:

• Best-In-Class Cleaning: Rinse offers top-notch laundering services to gyms, hotels, and other organizations.
• Real-Time Communication: Rinse provides real-time updates on the status of the laundry as it goes through the cleaning process. Hotels know when to expect clean linens and towels.
• Customer Offerings: At Rinse, we understand that different customers have different needs. We customize our services to meet every hotel’s specialized laundry needs.
• Single Point of Contact: A hotel may have multiple locations. Rinse offers a single point of contact for all locations to manage and coordinate laundering services conveniently.

More importantly, Rinse’s eco-friendly practices mean there is no harmful chemical waste involved in the laundering process.

Maintaining Towels White in the Long Run

One-time cleaning is often not even. You want to maintain the whiteness of towels in the long run. Here are some strategies for it.

Rotate the Towels Regularly

If you keep using one side of the towel, it will start to wear out. After a few months of regular usage, you’ll end up with an uneven white shade on your towels.

Avoid this by rotating the towels regularly. This way, you’ll use both sides of the towels, and they’ll wear out evenly.

Store Towels Properly

Don’t just throw your towels in a pile after washing them. Instead, store them in a cool and dry place. Also, fold them neatly and keep them in a designated area to prevent discoloration.

Always let your towels dry completely before storing them to avoid mildew growth.

Follow Care Label Instructions

Different towels have different fabric compositions and care instructions. Follow the care label instructions for washing and drying the towels.

If the care label has come off, go to the manufacturer’s website to find the appropriate instructions. You can also drop them an email for detailed instructions.

Wash Towels Periodically

Do your towels only come across the laundry machine once every few months? That’s a no-no. Regular cleaning is imperative for whiter and softer towels.

Schedule a day to wash all your towels at least once a week to remove accumulated dirt and bacteria.

How Do Hotels Keep Their Towels So White After Multiple Washes?

Hotels employ various strategies to maintain white towels even after repeated wash cycles to meet guests’ cleanliness and quality standards.

Hotels keep their towels bright white after multiple washes by doing the following:

• Prioritizing towel quality: Hotels invest in high-quality towels crafted from long-wearing and absorbent materials like Egyptian cotton or combed cotton. These materials offer exceptional softness and resilience, allowing for frequent washing without altering their appearance.
• Separating towels from other laundry: Hotels separate towels from other items for laundering to prevent lint transfer and discoloration caused by other fabrics during the washing process. This process ensures that the towels remain free from stains and undue wear.
• Sorting towels by color: Hotel staff sort towels according to color, washing white towels separately from those featuring colors or patterns. This process reduces the risk of colors bleeding onto white towels, helping to maintain the brightness of all the towels.
• Implementing proper washing techniques: Hotels take great care to use specific washing techniques to protect the towels’ pristine appearance, such as using warm rather than hot water to avoid yellowing or fabric damage. They also measure detergent quantities carefully to prevent excessive abrasion that leaves residue.
• Using bleaching agents carefully: Hotels may use mild or oxygen-based bleaching agents to tackle stubborn stains on towels and maintain bright radiance, but their concentration and frequency must be closely monitored to prevent fabric damage.

How Do Hotels Keep Their Towels Smelling Fresh?

Hotels use effective strategies to ensure the towels they provide their guests have a fresh and inviting scent, creating a positive experience and upholding high standards of cleanliness.

Hotels keep their towels smelling fresh through the following practices:

• Routine laundry: Hotels prioritize routine laundry to prevent bacteria, sweat and unpleasant odors from building up on towels over time. By sticking to a laundry schedule, hotels ensure their towels always smell fresh.
• Thorough drying techniques: Hotels understand the significance of proper drying to avoid dampness or musty odors in towels before storage or use. Hotels use commercial-grade dryers or air-drying methods to ensure each towel is completely dry before being stored.
• Quality laundry products: Hotels use top-of-the-line detergents and fabric softeners. Our products remove unpleasant odors while leaving the towels smelling fresh.
• Separation of laundry: Hotels separate towels from heavily soiled or strongly scented laundry items to reduce the transference of odors.
• Subtle fragrance enhancements: Some hotels add subtle fragrance enhancements to elevate the pleasant scent of their towels. For example, they may use scented sachets or keep natural essential oils like lavender or eucalyptus in their storage area.

How Do Hotels Keep Their Towels Soft After Heavy Use?

Hotels use established practices to guarantee their towels remain soft and fluffy after heavy use. Below are a few strategies that hotels employ for this purpose:

• Controlled detergent use: Hotels use an appropriate amount of laundry detergent. Excessive residue left by too much detergent can leave towels stiff and coarse. By choosing an optimal amount of detergent, hotels can prevent buildup while protecting the softness and comfort of their linens.
• Gentle washing techniques: Hotels use gentle laundry practices to extend the life of towels. They use delicate cycles and avoid harsh processes that could harm fabric fibers and compromise their softness.
• Fabric conditioners tailored specifically for towels: Hotels often use fabric conditioners or softening agents designed to keep towels soft despite years of heavy use. This strategy helps to maintain their soft texture even in extreme use conditions.
• Proper storage procedures: Hotels store their towels in an environment free of moisture to preserve the towels’ luxurious texture and achieve maximum softness. Careful folding or hanging will reduce creasing and maintain surface texture for maximum softness.

What Are the Best Practices for Keeping Towels Soft & White?

Here are a few strategies that will ensure towels stay soft and white:

• Choose towels made of high-quality materials such as long-staple bamboo or cotton fibers that feature soft yet long fibers for plushness to achieve maximum softness and comfort.
• Pretreat towels that have stains.
• Experiment with innovative laundering techniques, such as using ultrasonic cleaning devices or adding laundry pods designed to whiten fabrics. These often feature detergents containing enzymes to remove dirt, grime and discoloration while maintaining softness in fabric fibers.
• Enhance your laundry experience with aromatic essential oils known for their antibacterial and soothing properties, such as lavender, tea tree or eucalyptus oils. Add a few drops into the fabric softener or dryer balls to give towels an inviting fragrance.
• Take an intentional approach to folding and storing towels. Avoid overstuffing linen closets because too much stuffing can cause towels to lose their plushness.