LOVE'S Laundry guide
How Are Restaurant Towels Sanitized?
Restaurant towels are sanitized using hot-water wash cycles with detergent, followed by a sanitizing rinse that reduces bacterial load to food-safe levels, and thorough drying to prevent bacterial regrowth. Professional commercial laundry delivers consistent, repeatable sanitation for aprons, kitchen towels, tablecloths and napkins — something that is difficult to achieve reliably with in-house washing.
Why restaurant towels need sanitizing
Restaurant towels carry grease, food residue and bacteria from raw and cooked food surfaces. A standard wash removes visible soil but does not reliably reduce bacterial load to food-safe levels. Sanitizing requires heat, the right chemistry, and adequate contact time — all of which a commercial laundry controls precisely.
The sanitizing process
- Pre-treatment of heavily soiled or grease-laden towels.
- Hot-water wash with non-toxic, biodegradable detergent to break down grease and food residue.
- Sanitizing rinse that reduces bacterial and viral load to food-safe levels.
- Thorough drying to prevent mildew and bacterial regrowth.
- Folding and bagging so towels arrive dry, clean and ready for the line.
Can commercial laundry remove grease?
Yes. Hot-water cycles with the right detergent break down cooking grease, and pre-treatment handles heavily soiled towels. The result is towels that are not only visibly clean but sanitized to a consistent standard — important for passing health inspections and protecting customers.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Restaurant towels are sanitized with a hot-water wash and detergent to remove grease and food residue, followed by a sanitizing rinse that reduces bacterial load to food-safe levels, and thorough drying to prevent regrowth.
Yes. Hot-water cycles with non-toxic, biodegradable detergent break down grease, and heavily soiled towels are pre-treated before the main wash. The sanitizing rinse then reduces bacterial load to food-safe levels.
Most restaurants wash towels daily. We schedule daily, weekly or bi-weekly recurring pickup routes so clean, sanitized towels are always ready for the line.