Single-Use Toiletries vs Dispensers – What’s Best for Me?

Before you buy toiletries for your hotel’s guest bathroom you’re most likely wondering what the best option is?

Bathroom amenities vs Bathroom dispensers?

Single-use vs Bulk?

A question we often get asked by hotel operators is, “I know bulk dispensers are better for the environment but what about the time, hygiene and other factors I need to consider?”

The toiletries (eg. guest amenities, bathroom amenities) you provide in your guest bathrooms are a personal and important touchpoint. When a guest walks into a room for the first time they will often sit on the bed to see what it’s like and then head to the bathroom to check out the products. Let’s face it, nothing gets more personal than when your guest is showering and using the amenities you offer. This is why choosing the right solution is so critical - the experience they have here can affect their overall experience at your hotel.

There are many aspects to consider when deciding between small individual toiletries or a bulk dispenser system. Here is an unbiased view of the advantages and disadvantages of each system to help you make a decision and choose what’s best for your property and guests.

 

Small Toiletries:

Advantages:

• Personal Guest Experience
• New, Unused Toiletries
• Room Setup – Low Cost and Quick
• Low risk of bacteria in liquids
• Easy to change brands

Personal Guest Experience:

Having individual tubes, bottles or sachets provides a personalised experience for your guests. Some will take the toiletries with them, which is a good thing because it’s something they will remember your hotel by, especially if you have a well-known and memorable brand.

New, Unused Toiletries:

When your guest checks in they will have new or unused toiletries in the bathroom. Although every tube or bottle may not have been put in fresh each time (because the previous guest didn’t use them) they will of course be unused. The unused amenities left from the previous guest should be sanitised to ensure hygiene standards are met. This gives your guests the peace of mind that everything is “just for them” which is important to some.

Setup – Low Cost & Quick:

Since small toiletries don’t need wall brackets you eliminate the additional setup or investment costs, apart from the tubes themselves. While some dispenser wall brackets can be provided free of charge by your supplier some systems do require investment. Setting up small toiletries is quick, easy and ultimately save your team time and your business money.

Low Risk Of Bacteria In Liquids:

As your toiletries are unused the seal will not be broken. This means there is no risk of bacterial build-up in the liquids or any other foreign entities contaminating the product.

Easy to Change Brands:

The great thing about small toiletries is it allows you to change brands on a semi-regular basis without the hassle of changing wall brackets or dispenser systems. If you have a high number of returning guests this can be a great way to surprise them or change up the experience for them.

Disadvantages:

• Ongoing Labour Cost
• Cleaning Up Soap scum
• Higher Waste With Single-Use Plastic
• High Cost

Ongoing Labour Cost:

When your guests check out and leave the room your housekeeping team needs to spend time on getting the toiletries ready for the next visitor. This takes time;

- Retrieve the used tubes and soaps from the shower and hand basin
- Determine which tubes have and haven’t been used
- Sanitise the unused tubes to prevent contamination for the next guest
- Get replenishments from the housekeeping trolley
- Setup the tubes and soaps in the correct order on the display area

Cleaning Up Soap Scum:

99% of the time a bar of soap will be included in your range of small toiletries. This can be a pain for your housekeepers because bars of soap leave scum on the hand basin, bath and shower walls. Unlike liquid soap which does not leave scum residue at all, bars of soap do require additional time to clean off. When your housekeepers are stretched for time to clean anyway it's these small things that can have a big impact.

High Waste:

Your small toiletries are usually in a tube or bottle that contains 15-40ml. Studies have shown that your guest will use approx. 7-10ml of liquid from any product per room night. Therefore, even though your guest only uses ¼ or ½ a tube it needs to be disposed of as it cannot be left for the next guest. Therefore, this means that your plastic waste becomes high. Although this can be minimised through end-to-end recycling programs like The Hotel Weka, it is still single-use plastics, which guests notice and are becoming more aware of.

High Cost:

When you compare like-for-like products, single-use toiletries will always be more expensive than a bulk dispenser. This is simply because more packaging is used for a small tube or bottle compared to a large dispenser bottle. Labour costs associated with filling small bottles vs dispenser bottles is also higher. Using small bottles or tubes also increases freight costs. Shipping a box of small toiletries compared with the same liquid volume in bulk toiletries is significantly higher.

 

Bulk Dispensers

Advantages

• Less labour
• Reduce Cost
• Less Waste
• Telling your story of your commitment to sustainability

Less Labour:

It takes less labour from your housekeeping team to service a room with dispensers – especially if you are using a cartridge system. All your team need to do is:

- Check the liquid levels of the dispensers

- Replace any bottles that are low (this will be on average every 3-12 weeks, depending on the product and system)

- Sanitise the dispensers with a spray and wipe

Reduce Product Cost:

Your bulk dispensers have a lot less packaging than single-use toiletries, requires less labour to manufacture, and is more cost-effective to ship – all of which reduce the cost of the product.

Less Waste:

Bulk toiletries will always have less plastic and liquid waste than single-use toiletries. A bulk dispenser will last 3-12 weeks before it needs to be either refilled or replaced. Let’s take a 300ml dispenser as an example, there is almost no liquid waste - you may dispose of 20ml of liquid, over a 300ml bottle which is very little. Whereas with small toiletries you can dispose of 20ml in 1 night with a single-use tube.

Telling your story of your commitment to sustainability: 

As we all know, storytelling is a critical part of your guest experience these days. So as soon as your guest walks into your bathroom to check out the toiletries it is clear to them that you are committed to sustainability when they see the bulk dispensers on the shower wall. It is well-known that guests instantly associate bulk toiletries with a positive move to being more sustainable.

 

Disadvantages

• Setup Time and Cost
• Appearance
• Guest Perception

Setup Time and Cost:

Some systems do provide wall brackets for your bulk toiletries free of charge. However, some don’t and can cost anywhere from $40-80 per room to set up. You also have the cost of the bracket installation by either your team or a contractor. Adhesive brackets need to be left on the wall without the bottles for 24-48 hours, so this means you can’t sell this room during this period.

Appearance:

The dispenser bottles can last 3-12 weeks in the shower which means they can look well-used. This is more likely with a bulk-refill system where the bottles are refilled for many weeks before the actual bottle is replaced. This can be overcome by introducing strict replacement policies to your housekeeping procedures to ensure the bottles are replaced every 4 months, which is recommended as best practice.

Guest Perception:

Some guests may be wary of using the same shower products as your previous guests. This can be overcome by having the right tamper-proof dispenser system along with explaining the setup and sanitising policies in your compendium. You can also put a label across your dispensers to inform your guests that the dispensers have been sanitised and on what date.

 

Key Takeaways:

• Advantages and disadvantages of Single-Use Toiletries:
  

  Small toiletries are great if you need to set up your hotel in a hurry, as there is no setup time or cost. Your guests will also have unused toiletries during their stay. However, the cost to the environment with single-use plastic is high, and sanitising and replacing the toiletries after every stay is time-consuming.

 

• Advantages and disadvantages of Bulk Toiletries:

  Bulk toiletries are the way the industry is going, due to the clear environmental advantages. They have also been proven to save time for your team, and have a lower long-term cost. However, the initial cost and time to set up is higher, and a guest's perception of using toiletries that someone else has previously used.

 

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