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The Guide To Choosing Table Linen

Table linens offer an aesthetic appeal to your restaurant. First impressions are everything and nothing beats the feeling of wowing your customers as they first walk in. When choosing table linen for your restaurant, it’s worth researching the different styles. This blog will guide you in choosing the best table linen.

Choosing table linen for your restaurant
Photo from Pexels.com

Size

Before choosing table linens, consider factors such as size. Measure your tables and choose the table linen size that fits best.

Shape

The shape of the table linen does make a difference to customer experience; customers want comfort when they are eating at the table. The rule of thumb is to choose the shape of your table linens in accordance with the table. If your table is round or oval, go for round table linen. If your table is rectangular, choose rectangular table linens.

Colour

Is your restaurant strict with brand colours? If yes, go with the colours that represent your brand and theme. Consistency goes a long way in restaurants. Consider the setting for your restaurant too. White table linen would work in a formal setting but make sure it’s stain resistant in case of any wine spillage!

Material

A table linen’s material is crucial not just for the looks but also when it comes to caring. Stains are bound to happen so make it a goal to get the best materials that are best for laundering and dry cleaning. As a safe option, go for cotton as it is absorbent, durable and strong.

Photo from Pexels.com

Different Types of Table Linen

Polycotton

Commonly used in pubs and restaurants, polycotton is a great choice when buying table linen. It’s great for preserving the colour, doesn’t shrink and is long-lasting.

Cotton

If you’re on a budget, cotton table linens are great options for you. A huge benefit to cotton table linen is that it can be used for stock rotation which helps if you’re a busy restaurant.  In addition, they do have great durability and can last for a long time which again, is sustainable for your restaurant. The only downside is that it can shrink during the dryer.

Polyester

Although popular in events and weddings, polyester table linens are becoming common in cafes and restaurants. Its benefits include quick to dry, durable, price-friendly and can be put in the washing machine. The only major difference between cotton and polyester is that polyester doesn’t shrink during the dryer.

PVC Table Linen

If budget is a factor when choosing table linens, we recommend PVC. This table linen doesn’t cost a lot and it is also made for wiping instead of laundering. Commonly seen in local pubs and cafes. PVC is durable and their patterns and styles do have a great look on your table.

Maintaining the quality of your table linen

After deciding to choose your table linen, consider the best ways to maintain its quality. One of the best ways to maintain the quality of your table linen is by partnering up with a laundry service.

At Laundryheap, we do offer laundry services to restaurants. Instead of washing your table linens in-house, you can book a service with us, and we’ll clean your table linens to perfection!

We will go the extra mile to make the process seamless as we will return your table linens back within 24 hours.

We hope this guide has helped your restaurant in choosing the best table linen!

Laundry service for your restaurant

To learn more about Laundryheap, visit our website or download the free app on iOS or Android.


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What Are The Uses Of Washcloths?

There are many variations of towels such as gym towels, bath towels and chef towels. Washcloths are also included in the list of towels. They are generally much smaller than the traditional towels and the uses of washcloths are different too.

 In this blog, we are going to explore the uses of washcloths.

uses of a washcloth

Personal Use

Due to their small nature, washcloths aren’t as big as bath towels to dry your body with after showering. Instead, they are primarily used to dry your face. It’s important to use separate towels because it keeps you organised and avoids the spread of bacteria and germs!

Kitchen Use

Don’t underestimate the use of washcloths in the kitchen because they can also be used to dry your cutlery, cups, and mugs, and wipe any small stains on the surfaces. You should also maintain a habit to wash kitchen washcloths after using them to avoid mould and bacteria growth.

How Often Should You Wash Your Washcloth

This depends on how many times you are using your washcloth on your face. To stay on the safe side, we recommend you wash or launder your washcloth daily. Using an unwashed washcloth can cause acne to form on your facial skin.

It also depends on how people use their washcloths; some people use them to wash off their make-up and if this sounds like you, you should be washing it almost daily to avoid make-up stains on your washcloths.

Whether it’s washcloths or normal towels alike, they do need to be taken care of. Our laundry services do offer laundry for your towel needs. If you aren’t sure about the best ways to clean your towels, just book a service with us! We’ll collect your towels and deliver them all clean and fresh within 24 hours!

Laundry service app

To learn more about Laundryheap, visit the website or download the free app on iOS or Android!


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Airbnb Kitchen Essentials

Your Airbnb should feel like a home to your guests.  After all, home is where the heart is and to make your guests fall in love with your Airbnb, you need to be certain you have the kitchen essentials.

To help you hit the mark for your Airbnb, we’ve made a list of kitchen essentials needed for your guests.

1. Cooking Device

What separates Airbnb from hotels is that they provide guests with the freedom to cook what they want. For some, cooking allows them to save money and stick to their diet better. Prepare a kitchen essentials checklist and ensure you have a stovetop, microwave, oven, and toaster.

It’s best to also include oven mitts and hot pads for safety reasons.

Airbnb Kitchen Essentials.- microwave

2. Cookware, Cutlery and Utensils

Make life easier for your guests by providing them with the essential cookware and utensils. For starters, put a cutting board in a kitchen to make cooking easier for guests whenever they want to cut up onions, tomatoes or other vegetables.

Secondly, have pans for your guests as well. If they want to fry eggs, this will come in handy. It’s always recommended to include a variety of utensils in the kitchen, such as a whisk, big spoon, spatula etc.

Don’t forget basic cutlery! It may sound small, but it goes a long way in reminding your guests that you’ve thought about the finer details of your Airbnb kitchen essentials.

Airbnb kitchen essential - cookware

3. Fridge and Freezer

A kitchen is incomplete without a fridge and freezer. You never know how long guests will be staying in your Airbnb. Sometimes they’ll go grocery shopping and want to store their shopping items in the fridge or sometimes they have leftovers. The best Airbnb hosts are prepared for every guest.

Fridge with strawberries

4. Hand Towels and Kitchen Cloths

The kitchen can be quite a messy place for guests and that’s why you’ll need to equip the kitchen essentials like hand towels and kitchen cloths. If you need fresh and absorbent kitchen hand towels, just get in touch with Laundryheap Linen to book an order! We also offer you kitchen cloths – giving your guests the choice to dry dishes effectively and to wipe spills!

table cloths

5. Cups and Plates

When thinking about cups and plates, the golden rule of thumb is that it depends on the number of guests. The higher the guest count in a room, the higher number of cups and plates. However, if there is a family staying, make sure you have plastic cups and plates. 

Cups and mugs. Airbnb kitchen essentials

6. Kettle and Coffee Machine

Lastly, it’s best to have the option of a kettle and a coffee machine. People staying in an Airbnb usually have busy lifestyles and a cup of coffee will keep them going! Have sugar and milk in place and a variety of tea choices, not just English Breakfast tea.

coffee machine

Hosting guests is one of the most rewarding things from a host’s perspective. You are providing comfort and all the kitchen essentials they need to feel right at home.

At Laundryheap Linen, we appreciate the work of Airbnb owners and that’s why we offer freshly cleaned bed linens to Airbnbs to make guests stay extra special and comfortable.

laundry service app

Happy Hosting!

To learn more about the services of Laundryheap, visit our website or download the free app on iOS or Android.


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5 Hygiene Rules For Your Restaurant’s Kitchen

Hygiene is the heart of the hospitality industry. Restaurant owners need to make sure they are meticulously following all protocols to keep their kitchens clean. To help you, we’ve listed 5 hygiene rules in the restaurant kitchen that you need to follow.

1. Maintaining Personal Hygiene

When it comes to listing hygiene rules for your restaurant, kitchen staff maintaining their personal hygiene is at the top. Good hygiene always starts with the staff first. The restaurant kitchen itself is a hotspot for dirt, bacteria, and germs but to reduce that, always wash hands regularly, tie your hair, wear hair nets, and make sure the towels are always cleaned.

Hygiene Rules For Your Restaurant Kitchen - Washing Hands

2. Check Temperature Regularly

The restaurant industry’s main purpose is to serve delicious quality food. Therefore, constantly checking the fridge and the freezer temperature is critical to maintaining hygiene rules for your restaurant. If the temperature is not meeting the criteria, then you must investigate the issue further otherwise the bacteria will multiply within the food.

Restaurant Kitchen

3. Clean As You Go & Avoid Cross-Contamination

The restaurant kitchen is a busy place to be in when the hour’s peak and customers are waiting for their food. Train your staff to get into the habit of always cleaning as they go. Wipe the kitchen surfaces down if they see a stain or clean the dishes immediately. Always make sure staff are using the correct detergents when starting up the dishwasher.

Furthermore, make sure you clean the utensils and cutting boards for different food types. Everyone has different food diets and preferences so clean thoroughly to avoid cross-contamination.

Wine Glasses in dishwasher

4. Book A Laundry Service

Running and managing a restaurant can get intense and sometimes, restaurants could use some help. That’s why Laundryheap offers commercial services to restaurants. We’ll clean your staff uniform, kitchen towels, table linens, tablecloths etc. Not only that but we also rent towels to your restaurant.

All you need to do is visit our website, book a service with us and we will collect your items for cleaning!

Maintain Hygiene Rules For Your Restaurant with Laundryheap - Laundry service

5. Food is Stored Correctly

Storing food correctly is essential, especially in a restaurant. Following this 5th hygiene rule for your restaurant would ensure food is kept in good condition and it won’t be left to rot. For instance, always stock food and drinks using the FIFO method (first in first out) and always make sure you are keeping tabs on the expiry date.

Restaurant food

These 5 hygiene rules for your restaurant are important to a successful hygiene review. Customers as a result would be keener to visit your restaurant because a well-looked-after restaurant builds trust.

To learn more about Laundryheap, visit our website or download the free app on iOS or Android.


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The Benefits of a Laundry Service For Your Restaurant

Restaurants have enough on their plates when it comes to business responsibilities. There are a lot of organisations involved, ordering food, preparing food, serving customers, cleaning and so on. Restaurants do need a helping hand, and this is where a laundry service comes in.

Here are the benefits of a Laundry Service for your restaurant!

1. Reduces Pressure on Staff

The nature of a restaurant is fast-paced and stressful. Every staff involved is on their feet for most of the shift and even when they finish their shift, the worry of cleaning their work uniform, aprons, kitchen linens or towels looms over their head.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. To reduce the pressure on your staff, a laundry service can help your restaurant take care of the laundry and deliver it back to you within 24 hours!

Laundry services results in happier employees

2. Cleaner Items, Better Results

Booking a Laundry service will maintain the highest level of cleaning standards while maintaining the quality of your kitchen linens and chef gowns. Restaurants aren’t only judged for their food quality but also for how their staff are presented and with Laundryheap, we are there to help your restaurant stand out with professional cleaned and well-ironed kitchen work gear.

Not only will your kitchen laundry items look good, but this will also help enhance your restaurant’s hygiene image!

Laundry Service Results in cleaner environment

3. Saves Costs and Time

Running an in-house laundry adds extra costs to your restaurant. Not only are you paying for the machines, but you are also drowning your staff with more tasks. Purchasing laundry equipment isn’t cheap and neither is finding the staff to run these tasks consistently.

However, the proof is in the pudding; Paying for a laundry service will save you cost, time and stress because all you must do is book the date and schedule a collection and your laundry will be delivered back to your business within 24 hours. It’s as easy as 123!

Laundry service saves time

4. Better Preparations

Restaurants need to be prepared for the busiest days and seasons. By booking a laundry service, your restaurant can prepare and focus on other crucial business matters such as maintaining a high-quality food service. Next time, you get birthday parties or Christmas dinners at your restaurant, you’ll expect busy hours but with a laundry service, you’ll have that peace of mind that you can prepare better because Laundryheap will clean your kitchen aprons, and table linens etc. for you.

Laundry service means better preparations

5. Convenient

It goes without saying that convenience is the one major thing that customers and businesses aim for. We understand that laundering kitchen gowns, aprons and table linens take time but booking a laundry service brings convenience. at Laundryheap, no pile is too big for us, and we’ll get everything cleaned to a professional standard and deliver them back to your restaurant within 24 hours conveniently. 

Convenient for restaurant!

Laundryheap has worked with other businesses in different types of industries. We are always here to make work easier for businesses.

To get started, book a service with Laundryheap on our website or download the free app on iOS or Android.


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Guide To Cleaning Aprons

Cleaning Aprons is a big duty after you’ve left the kitchen. They take care of us, by protecting our clothes from germs and stains, so it’s only fair we take care of them. If you spent a lot of time in the kitchen, you’ll know why it’s essential to keep aprons clean.

What’s The Best Way to Clean Aprons?

Whether you’ve cooked, brewed coffee, or owned a restaurant, we could imagine how messy the kitchen gets and naturally, aprons will get dirty. Cleaning aprons can be a daunting task but fortunately, there are ways to make this easier for you.

Hand washing

If your apron isn’t very dirty and you just need a few stains to be removed, handwashing would be the solution. Simply start off by filling a bucket with hot water and soak your apron in it. Afterwards, pour lemon juice and table salt on the dirty stains.

You always want to be prepared – check if the weather is warm and hang your aprons outside. If it starts to rain, leave your aprons to dry in a drying rack.

Finally, rinse the apron once again with water to remove any salt remaining and dry it once more to ensure the fabric remains of good quality!

Cleaning Aprons - Hand washing and drying

Laundry

When it comes to cleaning aprons, laundry can also be effective.

As a rule of thumb, always read the Apron label to see if its material is suited for laundry, ironing or dry cleaning. For Nylon and PVC aprons, we advise against machine washing.

Using the washing machine when cleaning aprons needs careful planning and awareness. We recommend washing the aprons separately from other clothing. Separate white aprons from bright or darker clothing or aprons to avoid colour mixing.

Cleaning Aprons may need their own special laundry day to avoid strings tangling with other clothes or aprons. However, you can always tie the apron’s strings together in a bow as a solution.

For better results, always read labels on the cleaning liquids to make sure they match the apron colour. Brightly coloured or darker aprons are cleaned with colour-safe liquids to maintain quality.

As a general rule, aprons are laundered for 30 minutes.

A reminder that all apron materials have different washing needs. Cotton Denim and Cotton Canvas are better washed separately as colours may latch on each other.

We offer laundry, ironing and dry-cleaning services to help you out if your work or business gets too busy.

Cleaning Aprons - Laundry

How often should Aprons be cleaned?

Every Apron tells a hundred stories. Some need cleaning attention while others can remain in the kitchen. When cleaning aprons, take into consideration how long you have used your apron. Usually, if the apron is used after two or three times then it needs to be cleaned.

LaundryHeap - Laundry, Ironing and Dry Cleaning services

We hope your Apron needs are fulfilled. Cleaning Aprons is important not only for you but for people around you.

A reminder that if your laundry or responsibilities piles up, our services can help you!

Whether you’re a business or just someone who needs their Apron cleaned, visit our website to book with us or download our free Laundryheap app on iOS or Android!


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How to care for your kitchen textiles

Photo by Charlotte May from Pexels

Surrounded by food and drink, it’s no surprise that our kitchen textiles can become filthy fast. Which is why we need to make sure that we are taking the proper care to both clean and disinfect them. 

  • Tea towels
  • Aprons
  • Oven gloves
  • Tablecloth
  • Napkin 

Tea towels 

Tea towels can always be relied upon to mop up spills and wet areas. They come into constant contact with a number of different bacteria throughout the day, which is why they should be washed at the end of every day. 

Tea towels are often made from linen, which is a very durable material. As such, you can wash them in your washing machine on a regular setting, at a temperature anywhere between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius. It is best to use a biological detergent to wash your tea towels as they contain enzymes that will help break down proteins, fats, and starches. After washing your tea towels, dry them completely, either by tumble drying them or leaving them to air dry, before reusing them. 

Photo by Alex Green from Pexels

Aprons 

Similarly to tea towels, aprons are prone to having food and drinks splashed onto them. If you wear your apron every day, you should wash it every other day, unless something spills on it that could stain in which case wash it immediately. 

Before washing your apron, first pre-treat any stains that you may have. Food stains, for example, can be incredibly stubborn and therefore hard to remove, so it’s best to pre-treat those before putting your apron straight in the washing machine. After pre-treating your stains, tie your apron strings together and place it in a mesh laundry bag. This will help prevent your apron strings from becoming tangled in your other washing. If your apron is white, you may want to use liquid chlorine bleach to maintain the crisp whiteness of your apron. If not, or if your apron is any other colour, then use an oxygenated detergent on a cold wash setting. Completely dry your apron before re-wearing. 

Photo by Klaus Nielsen from Pexels

Oven gloves

Oven gloves protect our hands when handling hot trays. In order to do this, they are made from an array of heat proof materials which need to be cared for when washing. To maintain the cleanliness of your oven gloves wash them every month, or when they become heavily stained. It’s important to always check your oven glove care label before washing.

To lift dried food stains from your oven gloves, begin by adding half a cup of mild laundry detergent to a gallon of warm water. Soak a dish cloth in the detergent, and then wring it out so it is damp. Gently dab your oven glove with the dish cloth, focusing on any particularly dirty spots. Continue dabbing until you are satisfied that all the dried food stains have been lifted, and then leave your oven glove to dry for 30 minutes.  

After 30 minutes, wash your oven glove in the washing machine per the care label instructions. If your oven gloves are particularly greasy, you may want to add baking soda to your washing machine. 

Image by renierveldman posted on Pixabay

Tablecloth

Tablecloths are often used to decorate and protect a table from food and drink stains. As such, they should be cleaned every month to avoid them becoming dusty, or when they become heavily stained. 

If your tablecloth requires pre-treatment, e.g. if it has food stains on it, use your fingers or a soft bristled brush to rub heavy duty laundry detergent into the stains. Leave your detergent to sit for 15 minutes before putting your tablecloth in the washing machine. 

To machine wash your tablecloth, set your washing machine to a cool cycle and, if your machine has one, use a permanent press cycle. This will help reduce wrinkles on your tablecloth. Using a heavy duty laundry detergent will help to lift any stains on your table cloth, and fabric softener will provide a protective coating to your tablecloths fibres which will prevent food and drink stains from penetrating the fabric as quickly. 

To dry your tablecloth either tumble or air dry, however, if you are using a tumble dryer use a low heat setting. Make sure that your tablecloth is completely dry before putting it back on your table. 

Photo by Eli Verenich from Pexels

Napkins

Linen napkins are much more pleasing to the eye than the paper alternatives. They will often become heavily stained with food and drink, so it’s always best to hand wash them after every use to ensure that all stains are fully removed. 

To hand wash your napkins begin by filling a sink with warm water and adding a gentle laundry detergent. If your napkins are white, you may also want to add a small amount of bleach, or natural alternative, to maintain their crisp whiteness. Add your napkins to the water, and gently swish them in the water with your hands, rubbing and squeezing them to ensure that the detergent is being fully absorbed. You may want to use a soft bristled brush to scrub any particularly tough stains. Continue this until you are satisfied that your napkins have been cleaned and all stains have been removed. Remove your napkins from the detergent water and rinse them with clean lukewarm water. Continue rinsing until there is no detergent left. 

To dry your napkins, use a low heat setting on your tumble dryer or lay them on a flat surface to air dry. Make sure that all of your napkins are completely dry before reusing them. 

Photo by mali maeder from Pexels

If you are having difficulty cleaning your kitchen linens, let us do it for you. Laundryheap does not only wash and dry clean clothing, we also care for bed and kitchen linens. Book your Laundryheap order by heading to the Laundryheap website or downloading the free Laundryheap app.