Disposable towels for hotels are single-use nonwoven towels (also called single-use towels), in bath, hand, and face sizes, that a property places in rooms or hands to guests and bins after one use. In hotels, short-term rentals, and gyms they work best as a layer next to laundered terry, not a replacement: backup stock when linen runs short, individually wrapped towels for rental welcome kits and day-pass guests, and bulk-packed towels for locker-room shelves. Graminton, a Taiwan manufacturer, supplies both formats in bulk: gg-plus travel towels packed one per pack, and NIKITA professional towels in packs of 40 to 200.
This guide is written for hotel and serviced-apartment buyers, short-term rental operators and property managers, gym operators, and the distribution businesses that supply them. It covers where disposable towels fit, which sizes and pack formats to stock, how to compare cost per use against laundry, and how to plan cartons.
Where Do Disposable Towels Fit in Hotels and Short-Term Rentals?
For hotels and short-term rentals (Airbnb and other vacation rentals), disposable towels are most useful wherever laundry creates a bottleneck:
- Backup when linen runs short. Same-day turnovers, a late laundry delivery, or a fully booked weekend can leave rooms waiting for towels. A carton of individually wrapped bath towels in the linen room lets housekeeping release those rooms on time.
- Welcome kits for back-to-back stays. In rentals without a washer, or with self check-in, each guest's welcome kit can hold one wrapped bath towel and one hand-size towel. Cleaners restock the kit, and those pieces never wait for the wash.
- Face towels at the sink. Guests who remove makeup reach for the nearest towel. A stack of disposable face towels by the sink goes into the bin after use instead of the laundry bag, so the white bath towels stay free of makeup.
- Day-use and shared areas. For day-use rooms, pools, gyms, and early-arrival showers, the front desk hands out one wrapped towel, and there is no towel count to reconcile at closing.
Laundered terry still makes sense for in-room bath linen at full-service hotels with their own laundry: guests expect it, and at high, steady volume each towel spreads its cost over many washes.
Where Do Disposable Gym Towels Fit?
Gym towels do three different jobs, and each job has its own size:
- Workout towel. A 30 × 60 cm towel for wiping off sweat: NK8206 in 40-towel packs on a self-serve shelf, or the gg-plus 30 × 60 cm wrapped towel handed out at the front desk.
- Shower towel. The gg-plus 60 × 120 cm bath towel in the locker room, with NK8207 (30 × 75 cm) for drying hair and body.
- Vanity towel. At the mirror, 20 × 20 cm face towels (NK9101, NK9102) or the 30 × 60 to 65 cm long face towels (NK8201, NK8202).
Disposable gym towels fit best where towel use is hard to predict or hard to recover: day passes, guest passes, and drop-in classes; studios and hotel gyms without their own laundry; peak hours when laundered towels run out; and towels that members tend to take home. Keep equipment wipe-down on your cleaning program’s own wipes; guest towels are for drying people.
Which Sizes and Pack Formats Should You Stock?
Choose the size by the job first, then the pack format. All five towels below are for drying the face, hair, and body.
| Towel | Size | Pack | Towels per carton | Material | Typical job |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG8201 / GG8202 travel thick towels (gg-plus), bath towel | 60 × 120 cm (about 24 × 47 in) | 1 per pack | 50 | Rayon | Guest bath towel, rental welcome kits, day-use guests |
| GG8201 / GG8202 travel thick towels (gg-plus), towel | 30 × 60 cm (about 12 × 24 in) | 1 per pack | 100 | Rayon | Hand-size towel in kits, front-desk hand-outs |
| GG8213 travel thick bath towel plus (gg-plus) | 60 × 120 cm (about 24 × 47 in) | 1 per pack | 28 | Viscose | Bath towel for upgraded kits |
| NK8206 disposable towel (NIKITA) | 30 × 60 cm (about 12 × 24 in) | 40 per pack, 25 packs per carton | 1,000 | Wood pulp fiber, polyester | Self-serve shelves, workout towels |
| NK8207 disposable spa towel (NIKITA) | 30 × 75 cm (about 12 × 30 in) | 100 per pack, 11 packs per carton | 1,100 | Viscose/rayon, polyester | Hair and body after the shower |
All five are made in Taiwan and carry SGS test reports for formaldehyde, heavy metals, E. coli, and migrating fluorescent agents; the report for the exact SKU is available on request.
For the sink and vanity, add face towels: NK9101 and NK9102 (20 × 20 cm, 180 and 200 per pack, 40 packs per carton) and the long NK8201 and NK8202 (30 × 65 cm and 30 × 60 cm, 50 and 100 per pack). If you want face towels in packaging printed with your own brand, the four NIKITA face towels (NK9101, NK9102, NK8201, NK8202) can be private-labeled; see our private label face towels guide.
The pack format follows where the towel is used:
- Individually wrapped disposable towels (gg-plus, one towel per pack). For towels placed in rooms, packed into welcome kits, or handed across a counter. Each towel stays in its pack until the guest opens it, and one pack counts as one towel at stock-take.
- Bulk packs (NIKITA, 40 to 200 per pack). For shelves and counters that staff restock every day, such as locker rooms, vanities, and back-of-house areas. More towels per carton means less packaging per towel.
The gg-plus towels and the NK8206 and NK8207 towels are supplied in bulk in the pack formats above.
When Does a Single-Use Towel Beat Laundry on Cost?
Compare cost per use, not unit price. The cost per use of a laundered towel has to include everything around the wash.
| Cost line | Laundered towel | Single-use towel |
|---|---|---|
| The towel | Purchase price divided by the washes it lasts | Unit price, used once |
| Washing and drying | Water, energy, detergent, and machine time, or the laundry service fee | None |
| Labor | Collecting, sorting, folding, and restocking | Restocking and emptying bins |
| Losses | Towels that go missing, get stained, or wear out early | None after use |
| Stock in circulation | Towels in rooms, in the wash, and on shelves at the same time | Cartons in storage |
| Disposal | Retired towels | Bin liners and waste collection after every use |
Single-use usually comes out ahead when:
- use is occasional or hard to predict, such as backup stock, day passes, and drop-in classes
- laundry labor or capacity is the bottleneck, as with same-day turnovers and peak weeks
- towels often go missing or get stained by cosmetics
- there is no laundry on site, as in remote rentals
Laundered terry usually wins when volume is high and steady and the property runs its own laundry, as with in-room bath towels at a full-service hotel.
Fill in the worksheet with your own utility rates, labor minutes, and loss rate; a sample set and a bulk quote give you the single-use column. For salons, spas and barbershops, see our guide to disposable vs reusable salon towels.
How Many Disposable Towels Should You Order?
Three formulas cover most properties:
- Hotels (backup and day use): rooms or day passes that use disposable towels each month × towels per use, plus a fixed number of backup cartons in the linen room.
- Short-term rentals: stays per month × guests per stay × towels per guest.
- Gyms: daily check-ins × the share of visitors who take a towel × days open.
Two worked examples, using the carton counts above (the figures are examples only):
- A rental with 60 two-guest stays a month, giving each guest one bath towel and one 30 × 60 cm towel, needs 120 of each: 2.4 cartons of gg-plus bath towels (50 per carton) and 1.2 cartons of the 30 × 60 cm towel (100 per carton), rounded up to 3 and 2 cartons.
- A gym with 300 daily check-ins, where one visitor in three takes a towel, uses 100 towels a day, or 3,000 over 30 days: three cartons of NK8206 (1,000 per carton).
Two practical notes:
- Plan in full cartons, and check storage by towels per carton: the gg-plus wrapped towels run 28 to 100 per carton, while the NIKITA bulk packs run 600 to 8,000 per carton, face towels included.
- Trial two or three sizes from a sample set in one location or a few rooms for a few weeks before you set par levels.
FAQ
Do hotels use disposable towels?
Yes, mostly as a layer next to laundered linen: backup stock when linen runs short, wrapped towels for day-use guests and pool or gym areas, and disposable face towels at the sink. In-room bath towels at full-service hotels are still mostly laundered, so most properties start with one use and track how quickly the stock goes.
What size is a disposable bath towel?
There is no single standard. The gg-plus bath towels, the bath towel in GG8201 / GG8202 and GG8213, measure 60 × 120 cm (about 24 × 47 in), one per pack. Hand-size towels run from 30 × 60 cm (NK8206 and the gg-plus towel) to 30 × 75 cm (NK8207), and face towels are 20 × 20 cm. Samples in your own rooms are the quickest way to compare.
What are disposable towels made of?
Most are nonwovens made from cellulose fibers such as rayon, viscose, or wood pulp, often blended with polyester, and formed by spunlace, where high-pressure water jets entangle the fibers, or by airlaid. At Graminton, GG8201 / GG8202 are rayon and GG8213 is viscose; NK8206 is wood pulp fiber with polyester, and NK8207 is viscose/rayon with polyester. GG8201 / GG8202, NK8206, NK8207, NK9101, and NK9102 are spunlace, while NK8201 and NK8202 are airlaid.
Are disposable towels the same as paper guest towels?
No. Paper guest towels, often sold as linen-feel guest towels, are folded paper hand towels for drying hands in a washroom. The towels in this guide are nonwoven towels for drying the body, hair, and face. Both are single-use; they simply do different jobs.
Can disposable towels be flushed?
No. Every towel in this guide is labeled do not flush. Place lidded bins in rooms and locker rooms, and dispose of used towels as general waste under your local rules.
Stocking towels for hotel rooms, rental units, or gym locker rooms, or supplying them as a distribution business? Tell us your venues, the towel sizes you need, wrapped or bulk packs, and your monthly volume. We’ll send samples, the SGS reports for those towels, and a bulk quote.