Obviously laundry is a critical part of running a successful hotel. If guests find towels or sheets not to be clean, they’re not coming back.

A recent P&G Professional consumer survey found that an overwhelming 89 percent of respondents “equate soft, bright whites to the cleanliness of the towels and bedding.” The survey found that when linens and towels “are perceived as dingy, guests will often complain to the front desk or may even ask to switch rooms.”

Here are some best practices for keeping your laundry running smoothly

Make sure you have plenty of linens. You don’t want to be washing them too frequently to where they get that fading and tearing that comes with over-laundering linens. Keep ample stock on hand.

Try to avoid hard water. As the saying goes, hard water is hard on everything - and that includes your linens. Either source soft water for the laundry or use water softeners.

Triple-check for stains. Your housekeeping staff should be checking for stains when they remove the sheets from the bed, checking again before they go in the wash and during the stain pre-treatment and then again before they go in the dryer.

Help avoid stains in the first place by placing cosmetic cleaning cloths in your rooms. This gives guests a convenient way to remove make-up that would otherwise stain your sheets and pillow cases. Use an effective stain spotter or pre-wash treatment when necessary.

If you’re advertising your property as an eco-friendly or green establishment, your laundry is a major area of compliance. There are good green detergents, stain treatment products and laundering practices available to help you live up to your marketing material.