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Count five places at the same hour

Explainer

Finding the loss

In this article

Before the count
The five locations
The count sheet
Reconcile the same day
Make the next count faster
What the count is for

Short answer: pick a quiet afternoon, stop all linen movement for two hours, and count five places at the same time: rooms, floor pantries, the main store, the laundry and the reject pile. Add them up, compare with last month, and investigate the difference that day.

Before the count

Day before

Tell the laundry, print one sheet per location

Hour 0

Freeze all linen movement

Hours 0 to 2

Count all five locations

Same afternoon

Add up, compare, ask where the gap is

Choose the time. After checkout cleaning is finished and before turndown. Low occupancy helps.
Tell the laundry. You need their count of soiled and clean stock at the same hour.
Freeze movement. No deliveries, no collections, no restocking trolleys for two hours.
Print one sheet per location with the same item list in the same order.

The five locations

Count five places at the same hour

Front of house

Guest rooms

Floor pantries and trolleys

Today's totalper item

Back of house

Main linen store

Laundry, clean and soiled

Rejects and discards

Location	Who counts	How
Guest rooms	Floor supervisors	Count by room standard: rooms x pieces per room, then adjust for exceptions
Floor pantries and trolleys	Room attendants	Count every shelf and every trolley
Main linen store	Storekeeper and one witness	Count by stack, in tens
Laundry, clean and soiled	Laundry supervisor	Count clean stock, weigh or count soiled
Rejects and discards	Housekeeper	Count and record the reason

Rooms are the quickest. You don't open every door. If 100 rooms each hold 2 bath towels, that is 200, less any rooms out of order or set up differently.

The count sheet

Item	Rooms	Pantries	Store	Laundry	Rejects	Total	Last count	Difference
Bath towel
Hand towel
Face towel
Bath mat
Bathrobe
Flat sheet, each size
Pillowcase
Duvet cover, each size

Reconcile the same day

Finding the loss

Last count

Purchases received

Pieces discarded

Today's total

Loss

Expected stock = last count + purchases received - pieces discarded.

Loss = expected stock - today's total.

If 30 bath towels are missing, ask where while memories are fresh. Was a delivery from the laundry short? Did the pool borrow room towels? Did a function use them?

Make the next count faster

Standard stack sizes. Always shelve in tens.
A fixed place for each item in every pantry.
Colour-coded stock for pool, spa and gym, so it is counted separately. See colour-coding towels by use.
Count monthly. A count that happens often gets quick.

What the count is for

The count gives you three of the five numbers that matter: par level, loss rate and what to reorder. See the 5 linen numbers every housekeeping manager should track.

For ways to cut what the count reveals, read how to reduce linen loss. When the count says you are below par, the par level calculator gives the shortfall, and you can send us the list.