The Pressing and Laundry Standard
Five steps from the laundry bag to the wardrobe, with pressing back within an hour. A shirt that comes back late is usually the shirt for the meeting.
- Who
- Valets, room attendants and laundry staff
- When
- Every laundry, pressing or shoeshine request, day and evening
- You need
- Laundry bags and forms, garment tags, the laundry log, envelopes
- Measured by
- Pressing returned within one hour
- Laundry back the same day if in by 10:00
- Every item tagged and counted at pickup
5 steps
01
Collect
Collect within 10 minutes of the call. Count every item with the guest if they are in, or with a colleague if they are not, and write the count on the form before you leave the room.
Say this
“Mr Haddad, I have two shirts and one suit, pressing only, back by 3pm. Is that right?”
Common mistake Counting in the laundry instead of the room. If a sock goes missing, nobody can say where.
02
Read it
Read every care label and empty every pocket. Note stains, missing buttons and damage on the form, and call the guest before cleaning anything at risk: silk, leather, sequins, a stain they did not mention.
Say this
“Mrs Mensah, there is a coffee mark on the blue dress. Shall we treat it, at some risk to the colour?”
Common mistake Treating a stain without asking. If the colour runs, the hotel now owns a dress it cannot replace.
03
Tag and log
Tag every item with the room number and date before it leaves the floor. Log the time in, the service and the promised return time. Anything found in pockets goes in an envelope marked with the room.
Say this
“612 / 14 Oct / 2 shirts, 1 suit / press / due 15:00. Pen and receipt in envelope.”
Common mistake Leaving pocket contents loose in a tray. A receipt or a key card ends up in another guest’s parcel.
04
Return on time
Return pressing within one hour and laundry the same day if it was collected by 10:00. Shirts come back hung or folded, as the guest ticked on the form. Polished shoes go on a cloth by the door.
Say this
“Your shirts are back in the wardrobe, Mr Haddad, on hangers as you asked.”
Common mistake Finding nobody in and taking the laundry back down. Unless the DND is on, hang it inside and leave the note.
05
Leave a note
Leave a card on the desk listing what came back and anything you found. If an item is late or damaged, the supervisor calls the guest before they discover it, with a new time and a solution.
Say this
“Returned 14:40: 2 shirts (hung), 1 suit. A jacket button was loose, so we sewed it on.”
Common mistake Hoping the guest won’t notice the missing shirt. They will, at 7am, before the meeting it was for.
Your Laundry Promise
Fill in the times your hotel can actually keep. Put one copy in the valet room and one at the front desk so both promise the guest the same hour.
Pressing
- Last pickup time
- Return time promised
- Who collects
- Who calls if it’s late
Same-day laundry
- Last pickup time
- Return time promised
- Who collects
- Who calls if it’s late
Shoeshine
- Last pickup time
- Return time promised
- Who collects
- Who calls if it’s late
Agree the times with the laundry manager on Monday and brief them at every shift that week. Every return later than this card is logged, and the supervisor reviews the log on Friday.
The Standards Library.
No. 52 · Housekeeping
The Bathroom Standard
Five steps for cleaning and setting up a bathroom in a fixed order, top to bottom and dry last. One hair on a white tile makes a guest doubt the whole room.
No. 53 · Housekeeping
The Bed Standard
Five steps for a bed made the same way in every room, linen checked before it goes on. A marked sheet gets found at midnight, when nobody can change it.