Wash Cloths Ruined

[Cherilyn4]

Hi, Everyone!  

We provide one body towel, hand towel, and washcloth per guest.  Most of our bookings are 2-3 night stays.  We have been running into an issue with people constantly ruining/staining the white washcloths with make-up.  I chose white because I thought we could bleach as needed and to cut down on loads of laundry since we have white towels.  But many times the makeup stains just will not come out.  We have some days with turnarounds so there is no time to soak things for hours.  

Should I ask guests to bring their own wash cloths/shower poof?  Do I buy dark wash cloths that might hide the stains better?  Do I ask guests to bring their own make-up removal cloths/supplies?  

How do you all handle this?  Constantly replacing wash cloths is costly!!!  

Thanks for your help!

[Yvonne191]

Hi Cherilyn

I supply my guest with Makeup remover Wet Wipes. It's less expensive then buying more facecloths and saves time removing  laundry stains.

Best regards,

Yvonne. 

[Helen3]

I provide packs of make up removers @Cherilyn4 

[Roberta2]

I have a little box in the room with makeup remover wipes and cotton pads, sanitary pads, moisturiser, deodorant, dental floss, a "dental kit" (toothbrush + little toothpaste from airplane / hotels). Just once a guest CLEARED the box.

I also provide a towel, face towel and wash cloth (I have sets in dark green and dark grey).

No issues with stains.

[Cherilyn4]

You sound like an awesome host!  Our rentals are on an island in Lake Erie known to be a party town.  We gets lots of Bachelorette parties.  Our houses sleep eight guests.  So, it seems I would need to provide a minimum of 16 make-up remover wipes per weekend.  That could get costly, but if I buy them in bulk, maybe it won’t be as costly as replacing wash cloths.  I’ll look into it.   I’ll think about the dark colored wash cloths, too.  Thanks!  

[Yvonne191]

Hi Cherilyn

The wipes I purchase are usually in a package of 50 so you would be goog for a few weekends I guess. 

[David3267]

that's quite a kit!

[Juli12]

I have it as part of my house rules, I have signage up to that effect AND I have three navy blue face towles for each guest to use. Oh and I have lots of bleach. Guests can be a**holes so there is no getting around some of this, but it sure has helped me and I haven't had to replace in about a year.

[Sarah977]

@Cherilyn4  Google black make-up washcloths. Hosts have posted photos of them here, I just don't know where to find that thread. They actually have "Make-up" printed on them, and can be ordered online.

Make-up wipes are fine, except that hosts have had problems with guests flushing them down the toilet and stopping up the plumbing.

[Cherilyn4]

Thanks!  Good to know!

[Christine615]

I trave a lot and noticed a lot of hotels are now supplying black washclothes that say "makeup" or some such notice on them. That might be an option. So far I'm not having issues but I don't supply white towels, I supply light blue and dark blue ones.

Try Chlorox cleaner with bleach (the kind you use for general clean-up around a house). I have found it very good at removing stains, even those in my linens I didn't catch before they went through a wash/dry cycle. Then I do a quick wash and dry to remove the solution.

But yes - I'm going to buy black washcloths. In the meantime I leave a decorative container of pretty paper napkins and those seem to be popular for use.

[Debra300]

You may also want use Shout  (or a similar laundry stain remover) to remove makeup stains from towels and linen.

[Cherilyn4]

Thanks everyone!  I bought some of the black washcloths embroidered “Makeup” on them and I will give that a try.  

[Jim-And-Deb1]

One thing I recently discovered are black wash clothes with the words 'Make up' embroidered on them in white. I went totally white with everything like sheets, duvets, towels, etc, so we can bleach when necessary. But from experience, make up removal really mucks up the white wash clothes permanently. So I put my white towels on the bed for each guest, and each lady gets a make up wash cloth on her pile too. I think it shows you're going the extra mile to provide your guests needs, and it's eco friendly as well.