A linen order is one of the largest single purchases a new hotel or motel makes — and one of the easiest to get wrong. Buy too little and housekeeping runs short on a full-house weekend. Buy the wrong grade and you're rebuying within a year. Buy without a spec and you end up with mismatched whites that never quite look right across the property.
This checklist walks through the five decisions that determine whether a bulk linen order works for years or causes headaches for months: PAR levels, quantities, item specifications, standardisation, and supplier vetting. Work through them in order and you'll place an order you don't have to second-guess.
Why PAR levels are the foundation of the order
PAR level is how many complete sets of each item you keep circulating per room. The hospitality standard is 3-PAR: one set on the bed, one moving through the laundry cycle, and one in reserve on the shelf.1 Get this number right and everything else in the order follows from it automatically.
Three is the floor. Properties with high occupancy, a single daily laundry cycle, or off-site laundering with longer turnaround should run 4-PAR so a delayed wash never strands a room. Going below 3-PAR to save on the initial spend is the classic false economy — it guarantees shortfalls on exactly the busy days when you can least afford them, and it wears your linen out faster because every set is washed more often.
| Property profile | Recommended PAR | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small motel, on-site laundry | 3-PAR | Same-day wash turnaround keeps the reserve set sufficient |
| Mid-scale hotel, high occupancy | 3.5–4-PAR | Full-house weekends need a deeper buffer than three sets allow |
| Off-site / contract laundry | 4-PAR | Longer turnaround means more linen in transit at any moment |
| Resort / spa with pool & treatment use | 4-PAR + separate pool stock | Pool and spa towels cycle independently of room linen |
The five-step buying checklist
Define your base set per room
A base set is one complete make-up of a single room: fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillowcases per pillow, plus bath towels, hand towels, face washers and a bath mat per bathroom — and a quilt with washable cover. Write it down per room type; a king suite and a standard twin have different base sets.
Calculate total quantities
For each item: base-set quantity × PAR level × number of rooms. A 20-room motel at 3-PAR with two bath towels per room needs 20 × 2 × 3 = 120 bath towels. Do this for every line item and you have your complete order in one table.
Specify GSM and blend by item
Match each item's weight and fabric to its job and your star rating. Towel GSM drives both guest feel and laundry cost — heavier feels more premium but takes longer to dry. Sheets balance crisp presentation against wash durability. (Full spec table below.)
Standardise sizes and colour
Use the fewest bed sizes your room mix allows, and go all-white. White is interchangeable across rooms, can be hot-washed and bleached for hygiene, presents as unambiguously clean, and makes replacement straightforward because every new piece matches. Coloured or patterned linen fades unevenly and locks you into reordering exact matches.
Vet the supplier before committing
The cheapest unit price is worthless if you can't reorder the same product in six months. Confirm consistent restock availability, lead times, minimum order quantities, GSM verification, and trade pricing before you place the bulk order. (Supplier questions below.)
Specification table: what to buy by item
These are the commercial-grade specs that balance guest experience against laundry durability. Adjust GSM up for higher star ratings. Our GSM guide explains the weight tiers in full, including which GSM suits which property class.
| Item | Recommended spec | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bath towels | 500–650 GSM, white, cotton | 500–550 for motels; 600+ for 4–5 star. Higher GSM = more premium feel, longer drying |
| Hand towels & face washers | 500 GSM, white | Cheap per unit — stock generously, they're high-touch and high-turnover |
| Bath mats | Heavy cotton, white | One per bathroom per set; frequently under-ordered |
| Bed sheets | Poly-cotton percale (budget–mid) or cotton-rich (premium), white | Poly-cotton resists wrinkles and survives more washes; cotton feels more luxurious |
| Pillowcases | Match sheet blend; 2 per pillow position spare | Wear and stain fastest — over-stock relative to sheets |
| Quilts & protectors | Washable quilt + waterproof mattress & pillow protectors on every bed | Protectors are essential insurance against mattress damage |
Questions to ask before you order
Treat a bulk linen order like any other supplier relationship — the answers to these questions matter more than a few cents on the unit price:
- Is this a stocked, repeatable line? Can you reorder the identical product in 6 and 12 months to top up your PAR?
- What's the lead time on a restock order? This determines how deep your reserve PAR needs to be.
- What's the verified GSM and blend? Ask for the actual specification, not a marketing description — "luxury" isn't a number.
- Is there a minimum order quantity? Important for both the initial buy and ongoing top-ups.
- Do you offer trade pricing? Bulk and ongoing wholesale rates should be well below retail for a property-scale order.
- What are the shipping terms across Australia? Freight on bulky linen orders adds up — confirm it upfront.
The Australian Linen Operations Toolkit
A branded PDF with a PAR-level calculator, a per-room order worksheet, a GSM specification table and a supplier-vetting checklist — built for Australian hotel and motel operators.
Request the Toolkit →Buy for cost-per-use, not unit price
The single biggest procurement error is buying on sticker price. Budget linen looks like a saving until you count how often you rebuy it — commercial laundering strips cheap towels and thins cheap sheets within a year, while commercial-grade stock lasts several times longer under the same conditions. Over a full year the commercial-grade option almost always costs less per use and presents better.
We worked through the actual numbers — cheap versus commercial-grade over a year of hotel laundering — in our cost-per-use analysis. It's the calculation that should drive a bulk order, not the line price on the quote.
Plan replacement into the buy
Your opening order isn't a one-time event — it's the start of a replacement cycle. Build a quarterly inspection into your housekeeping routine using the six field tests in our linen inspection & discard guide, and reorder against PAR whenever inspection drops you below it. Batching replacements this way keeps your whites visually consistent and stops you discovering shortfalls mid-season. For the rhythm of how often each item typically needs replacing, see our replacement frequency guide.
The final word
A good linen order is just five decisions made in the right order: set your PAR, calculate quantities, specify each item, standardise on white and minimal sizes, and vet the supplier on restock reliability. Get those right and the order serves you for years; skip any one and you'll feel it on your busiest weekend or in next year's budget.
If you're opening a property, refurbishing, or switching suppliers, tell us your room count and mix and we'll build the complete order — PAR-calculated, spec'd by item, at wholesale pricing. Browse our commercial linen range, see how we supply hotels and motels, or apply for a trade account for ongoing wholesale rates.
Placing a bulk order?
Tell us your room count and mix — we'll PAR-calculate the whole order and quote it at wholesale pricing. No minimum order, free Australian shipping over AU$100.
Request a Quote →Sources & Further Reading
- Standard Textile, "Par Level Calculator" — the 3-PAR hospitality inventory standard. standardtextile.com
- Vision Linens, "Linen and Textile Care: A Breakdown of Lifespans and Wash Cycles," visionlinens.com
- The Linen Factory, "How Often Should Hotels Replace Pillows, Sheets & Blankets?" thelinenfactory.com
Disclaimer: This guide summarises industry practice for general guidance and is not a substitute for advice specific to your property. For a property-specific order assessment, please contact us.