Controlling Towel & Tissue Overuse

In this article, industry manufacturers answer common questions asked by building service contractors.


Q: How can cleaning contractors help control towel usage and prevent occupants from using more product than they need?

The key in reducing towel consumption by users is offering a good quality towel, which is absorbent and strong. Hygienic hand drying is all about dry hands…avoiding the potential of cross-contamination from hard surfaces.

By offering a good quality towel, which does the job with one portion of 16 to 20 inches per hand-dry is usually much more cost effective than lower quality towels when the price differential is accounted for. This is because users take another portion of towels if their hands are still damp or wet, increasing consumption per hand-dry. The benefit to operators is that they can increase end-user satisfaction by supplying a good quality towel, while reducing overall costs.

— By Mark Ray, director of marketing, Away From Home, Kruger Products, L.P., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada


Controlled systems can control costs vs. universal alternatives, through lower cost-per-use and reduced labor cost. Such systems limit consumption through more absorbent toweling, which reduces the number of towels used per hand dry. Also, the electronic version of the dispensers provides the cleaning contractor with the ability to program sheet length and delay.

Cleaning contractors can even download paper consumption statistics on their PDAs. Since these systems dispense towels one at a time, users are less likely to waste towels as they often do with folded towel dispensers, which offer no portion control.

— Élaine Tassoni, communications and sustainability advisor and Steve Ott, product manager, Cascades Tissue Group, Waterford, N.Y.


Q. Do you see touch-free toilet tissue as a trend that will take off with end users?

There are several benefits to using touch-free dispensing for bathroom tissue. End users appreciate the hygienic benefits such as only touching the tissue you use and building services contractors appreciate the systems’ hassle free performance and long battery life. In addition, touch-free toilet tissue dispensers can eliminate the “lost tail” issue, reduce consumption, and support ADA compliance.

— Howard Connell, global sustainability leader for Kimberly-Clark Professional, Roswell, Ga.


Many bath tissue dispensers provide touchless service if loaded correctly (a tissue handle or end is present) as users can touch only the tissue and not the dispenser. Electronic touchless bath tissue systems potentially can pose battery cost and disposal issues, which we see as inhibiting market acceptance.

— By Mark Ray, director of marketing, Away From Home, Kruger Products, L.P., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada