Why Gyms Need Towel Service

Created: Friday, 29 March 2019 17:08

Give your gym guests the luxury and care they deserve by providing them with clean, fluffy towels. A towel service tells your patrons you are concerned for their comfort and health. Towels provided by the gym offer multiple advantages over alternatives. Be a part of the rising number of gym owners who are making going to the gym an experience people will enjoy. Supplying gym towels is only a small way to do that.

What Does Towel Service Mean at a Gym?

What is a gym towel service? To know the answer, you need to understand what the towel service means for your business. You need to change some aspects of the way you operate your gym to accommodate towel service. However, if you successfully bring this service into your business, you can both promote and enforce a cleanliness image for your gym. When planning a towel service, allow budget and space for purchasing, storing and cleaning the towels. You will also need to reduce loss.

1. Purchasing Towels

When you run a gym and want to have towels available, you will need to find a budget-friendly outlet for obtaining those towels. Because you need to buy towels regularly to replace lost or damaged linens, find a towel seller you trust with the right balance of low cost and quality products.

When selecting the towels for your gym, though, don't just buy the cheapest towels available. If you opt for the lowest cost towels, you may find yourself wasting money by having to replace them more often. Quality towels you buy less frequently will also convey to your guests that you value them enough to supply them with high-quality, absorbent towels.

2. Storing Towels

After buying towels, you will need space to keep them until you put them on the floor. Not all the towels you own will be out for guests at the same time. Some will stay in storage until guests need them, while you clean other towels. The amount of space you allow for storage depends on how many towels you have.

Some gyms purchase 600 to 1,000 towels. A gym that has 1,000 towels usually only puts 500 on the floor, which means the facility needs space to store the remaining 500. A shelving system or drawers will keep your cleaned towels neat and organized until you rotate them out onto the floor.

Also, have a system in place for storing used towels until they get washed. The system could rely on your employees who collect used towels and deposit them into a central hamper. You could also ask the guests to return used linens to baskets after they finish using the cloths. Regularly check these towel return locations throughout the day to collect used towels for washing. Ideally, you should wash towels the same day of use to prevent the growth of germs on the material. Keeping your towels clean reduces odors in the hampers, protects the cleanliness of your establishment and ensures the health of your guests.

3. Cleaning Towels

When it comes to cleaning towels, you have two options. You can send them to a cleaning service or wash and dry them yourself. To determine which option fits with your gym's budget better, compare how often you'll send towels to a cleaning service and its cost over time to the cost of purchasing a commercial washer and dryer. With a 50-pound washing machine and dryer set, you can clean up to 75 towels per load. The cost of laundry soap and operating the washer dryer could easily offset the price of sending your towels to a cleaning service.

Regardless, you need to clean towels daily. Using bleach with the towel loads kills any germs the material may have picked up. If you have your washer and dryer set, you can control how often you wash and dry the towels and the type of bleach and laundry detergent used. With a laundry service, your business is at the mercy of the efficiency of the launderers. To have control over your towel cleaning, you may get more benefits from owning a commercial washer and dryer.

If you own a commercial washer and dryer system, never leave towels in the washing machine overnight. The wet towels, though clean, can still grow mildew overnight. Dry, fold and put away the last load of towels before closing your facility. Doing so ensures you have a fresh set of towels for the guests the next day.

4. Preventing Loss

Unfortunately, loss happens in all businesses, and it is not always intentional. With towels, guests can accidentally bundle them with their gym clothes, not realizing the mistake until much later. Regardless of whether a guest meant to take a towel, now your facility is short a towel. Repeat the process over time, and you will find your supply dwindling. Many other gyms have this same problem and have discovered unique ways to solve it.

If you have extra staff to operate a towel check, you can use that to reduce losses. With a towel check, members turn in a towel card to check out linens during their stay at the gym. Once they return the towel, they get their card back for use the next time they come. This system may slow down people entering the gym floor during peak times. Additionally, you will need to have a person at the check desk during operating hours.

To reduce the need for extra staff, consider asking members to return towels during "no questions asked" roundups. These events give patrons the opportunity to anonymously return the towels they've taken without fear of reprisal. It can be a way to restore your lost towel inventory. While some gyms have had high success rates with this program, you have no guarantee of similar results.

If your budget allows, consider towels lost during the year as a part of the cost of doing business. You will need to replace the lost stock regularly, though. Consider tracking the amount of loss to know how many towels you will need to order to replace those lost.

Depending on the demographic you serve, your gym patrons may accept a minor fee to rent towels during their stay. Charging for towels while guests use them helps offset the cost of purchasing and cleaning the towels. The amount you need to charge will depend on how many people visit your facility and how many towels you must care for. Some facilities charge a small amount per towel. Other facilities incorporate the cost of towel service into the membership fee.

The personnel you have available and your budget will determine how you choose to recover your towel losses. Planning on preventing loss should be a factor in your decision to supply towels to your guests. Even without towels going missing, you will still lose towels over time from the material wearing out or getting torn from use.

Advantages of a Gym Towel Service

For gyms, providing towels for guests upgrades the experience. This towel service is not as common as you might think. In fact, the majority of large chain gyms don't provide free towels for their patrons. By setting out towels for your guests' use during their visits, you will set your facility apart from others.

1. Cleanliness

The cleanliness of a gym is a deciding factor for 90 percent of members when they determine whether to renew their memberships. While keeping the restrooms and facilities clean are a significant component of the overall impression of the healthfulness of a gym, providing towels is another part.

When you supply the towels your guests use, you have more control over the level of cleanliness. Towels brought from home by guests have no guaranteed level of sanitation. Some guests may even keep the same towel in their gym bags for multiple uses. Because the towels harbor germs, they can also transfer those germs to the surfaces of your equipment. Providing clean towels you've laundered at your facility helps to reduce the number of pathogens moved around your facility from towels brought by guests.

Maintaining a clean atmosphere will require you to supply clean, quality towels continually to your guests. Discard any worn, stretched, ripped or frayed towels to keep them out of circulation. Having clean, intact towels further enhances the impression of a clean facility.

2. Environmentally Conscious

Supplying towels for your gym patrons is a more environmentally conscious decision than putting out paper towels. Though biodegradable, paper towels contribute to landfill waste. The used paper towels also increase the chance of litter accumulating around your gym. If you have your guests drop their towels into hampers after use, you'll decrease the appearance of a cluttered facility while making it easier to collect the towels for cleaning.

Cleaning towels in bulk at your facility is also a greener option than having guests wash their towels at home. The larger the loads you can clean, the fewer washings you have to do, which reduces water and electricity use. When you control the washing and drying of your towels, you also can select the cleaning products you use for the towels to be greener options.

3. Improved Customer Relations

Since fewer large gyms offer towel service, having it as one of the amenities of your gym makes you stand out. Since 2012, the number of gyms in the United States has risen steadily, totaling 38,477 gyms in 2017. With so many choices, you need to have something unique to offer your guests and potential members.

By not having to remember to bring clean towels or worry about what to do with used towels when they leave, guests at your gym won't have an excuse to not come to your facility. A ready supply of towels indicates a higher level of care and service that you give to your guests, and they may continue to return to your facility due to this and other extras they cannot find elsewhere.

Gym Towel Etiquette

Post the etiquette expected of gym towel users in your facility to ensure even newcomers will use the towels properly:

• Check out a clean towel: Encourage patrons to use a clean towel from your facility.
• Wipe down equipment: Encourage guests to use their towels to wipe down equipment before and after use to keep themselves and others healthier by getting rid of sweat on the surfaces.
• Get rid of sweat: Gym towels are absorbent to soak the sweat off your body. Instruct visitors to use the towels to clean off sweat because 75 percent of people dislike seeing sweat on another gymgoer.
• Cover benches: Tell visitors to cover benches with a towel before sitting down, especially in the changing room.
• Return used towels: Whatever towel return system you have, remind your guests to use it to ensure the towels at your facility get cleaned and sanitized.

Attributes of Quality Gym Towels

Quality gym towels must be absorbent to soak sweat. They also need to have resistance to bleach so you can adequately sanitize them during washing. Softer towels feel more luxurious, but these towels will take longer to dry and require more storage space. If your facility has a heavy emphasis on service, consider premium plus gym towels, especially for the shower area. These towels maintain their fluffy nature after multiple washes. For a more economically-minded facility, consider economy towels to blend convenience and lower cost.

Be sure to stock hand towels near equipment and bath towels in the shower and pool areas. Hand towels provide the guests with a small, easy-to-use material to wipe sweat from their bodies. Bath towels are much larger for drying off the entire body after a swim or shower.

Colorful gym towels are a boon to your health club. Your employees can find the towels on the floor with less trouble, and towels with a distinctive color will make it harder for guests to mistake the towels for their own. When selecting brightly colored towels for your gym, check for bleach resistance. Without this attribute, the towels will not retain their hue after several washes, and faded towels will detract from your facility's reputation of providing customers with the best services.

Get Wholesale Gym Towels for Your Facility

Buying towels for your gym will upgrade your facility to an in-demand boutique workout center. Even if you don't want to dive completely into the luxury service industry, towels at your gym are a small amenity you can offer to entice guests to your facility. With an increasing number of chain gyms cutting down on their offerings to boost their profits, having a towel service will set you apart.

When you choose a wholesale towel provider, you will work with that company for years to come. Your gym towels will eventually wear out and need replacement. At Towel Super Center, we offer bulk towels to gyms like yours, and you can get wholesale prices on high-quality, durable towels that will enhance the feeling of luxury your guests feel at your gym. Check out our selection of towels of all sizes and colors specially designed for the rigors of gym use.