Upwardly mobile washrooms make it worth spending pennies
June 1st 2006

A growing number of away-from-home washrooms are turning to upmarket washroom systems and state-of-the art dispensers. Why are they upgrading, and how can luxury towels and smart metallic dispensing systems prove cost-effective? SCA Tissue Europe's Peter Broom finds out

Away-from-home washrooms have certainly smartened up their act over the years. But considering their humble beginnings, this was hardly difficult to achieve. As little as 30 years ago it was the rule rather than the exception to come across grubby, graffiti-covered washrooms in public places. Soap supplies usually consisted of a cracked and soiled bar while hand drying had to be achieved by means of a soiled length of roller towel.

As for toilet tissue, well "tissue"was hardly the word. Loo rolls were shiny, harsh and totally non-absorbent and frequently absent thanks to the perennial problem of pilferage.

But while shamefully inadequate washrooms still exist in some public places, most away-from-home loos in places such as retail stores, service stations, catering establishments and airports have improved beyond recognition.

Health awareness and technology grow together

There are several reasons why this has occurred, and the first is a growing awareness of the importance of hygiene.

MRSA, E.coli, SARS and a spate of other health scares have alerted us to the need for scrupulous hand hygiene. As a result the public is no longer prepared to put up with sub-standard washroom facilities, and the grubby soap bars and communal textile towels of yesterday have gradually been replaced by liquid soap dispensers and hand drying systems designed to avoid cross-contamination.

At the same time, new technology has made systems such as automatic toilet flush and hand towel dispensers possible. These increase hygiene standards while avoiding the problem of dirty fingermarks on the units.

Organisations such as the British Toilet Association have become the voice of our collective outrage over washroom standards. By means of their constant campaigning and the Loo of the Year Awards, the BTA has helped to raise washrooms standards throughout the country. The World Toilet Summit is achieving the same aim on an international level.

Meanwhile the managers of hotels, bars and restaurants have realised that a pleasant washroom environment can have a major effect on the public's perception of their premises.

Upmarket systems prove cost effective

This growing demand for better washrooms has prompted manufacturers to offer a wider range of upmarket systems. Many washroom managers have moved away from the C-fold towels traditionally provided in away-from-home washrooms and have begun to provide higher quality interfold, zigzag-fold and roll systems with portion control functions instead.

Soap bars have been replaced by pleasantly perfumed liquid soaps, while jumbo toilet rolls in attractive dispensers have appeared in the place of traditional loo rolls.

So in today's difficult business climate, how have hotels, restaurants and other premises managed to afford to upgrade their washrooms? The truth is that upmarket washrooms can actually prove to be more cost-effective than scruffy ones.

For example, the design of C-fold dispensers actually encourages the user to take out hand towels in clumps. C-fold towels themselves are sometimes small and relatively flimsy, and the user consequently feels the need to take out more than one towel to dry both hands.

By replacing C-fold towels with higher quality interfold, roll towel and zigzag fold towels, washroom managers have found that fewer towels are used and washroom costs are actually reduced. These benefits are only increased when the softer towels are housed in dispensers designed to give out only one towel at a time, rather than allow the towels to be withdrawn in clumps.

Smart, lockable dispensers are less likely to be targets for vandals and pilferers than scruffy ones that are easily opened. And dispensers that are easy to clean and top up also cut down on maintenance bills because fewer checks need to be made on the premises.

As washroom managers become increasingly aware of the benefits of trading up, a growing number of manufacturers have upped the ante by offering state-of-the-art dispensers such as the stainless steel ones increasingly being seen in smart hotels and offices.

SCA Tissue Europe believes it is one of the driving forces behind the upmarket surge. For example, SCA has recently upgraded its complete toilet tissue offering and launched décor embossed hand towels which are softer and more luxurious than traditional towels. The company has also decided to offer a high-image alternative to ABS plastic dispensers, but understand the reluctance of some washroom managers to pay the high price of stainless steel.

This is the thinking behind SCA's new range of brushed aluminium dispensers to bridge the gap between ABS and steel. These are available at a much lower cost than stainless steel and have other advantages such as a more lightweight, stable construction and exterior surfaces that are resistant to dirty fingermarks and are therefore easier to clean.

Today's consumer is becoming increasingly demanding, meaning upmarket washrooms are probably here to stay. But since the bottom line is an important consideration, the role of washroom hygiene manufacturers will be to rise to the challenge of equipping and furnishing tomorrow's upmarket washrooms at attractive prices.

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