Cost-Effective Paper Towels – Making the Right Choice

Paper towel rolls
Paper towel rolls from Wassau Paper

Even with everyday items, you have options to save money. When choosing a type of paper towels to buy, it’s important to think about the varieties available and make an informed decision. Cost is a major factor when purchasing your janitorial supplies and it’s wise to consider what will be most cost-effective for your business, warehouse or public building.

The types of paper towels you’re looking at may be either in roll or in folded form. In general, paper towels on a roll will equate to people using fewer towels because they tend to pull folded towels from a dispenser by the handful! Sometimes they even take stacks of them to their desks or work areas to clean spills. Roll dispensers can help control the amount of paper used.

Reasons that roll paper towels are cost-effective include the way they’re made. Manufacturing paper towel rolls is faster because it doesn’t involve cutting and folding operations, and usually there’s less packaging. Roll towels are wound onto a core to a specified length and then slit to the necessary width. Some are wrapped before being put into cases, others are not.

Towel dispensers holding 800 feet rolls of paper are very cost-effective items, but sometimes replacing any existing dispensers made for folded towels isn’t possible. But the short-term cost of replacing dispensers is less than the long-term savings. Changing from folded commercial towels to roll towels saves labor – they need less-frequent replacement – and could eliminate as much as 1/3 of waste. If you know how much you’re paying every year, you know that’s a big deal!

Roll towels also need less storage space. This could be a key factor in locations where space is limited.

So when placing a paper towel order, consider all your options. Are roll paper towels better for your building’s restrooms? The benefits could be fewer “run-out” incidents, less refilling, more dispensing control and less waste. Ultimately choosing the best, cost effective paper towel is up to you!