From animal skins to flax, cotton, satin and other fabrics, bed linens have gone through many changes since our ancestors first slept on the cold, hard ground. Today you can check into almost any hotel and find the beds made with only white linens. Did you know this has only been the case for the past 25 years?
Fabric Weaving and the Invention of Linens
For over five millennia flax has been cultivated for one extraordinary fiber. Linen, as it is known, actually becomes softer with use. It was one of the first fabrics used to make bed sheets, hence the term ‘linens’, and remains a popular choice even today. Separating the linen from the flax is difficult, however, and the invention of the cotton gin made cotton the fabric of choice for linens. This remains true for hotel bed linens to this day.
What’s in a Color?
As bedding evolved over the years, various trends in color and design went in and out of popularity. Luxury has been associated with different colors, intricate designs, and different fabrics along the way. By the early 1990’s, hotels used mostly colored bedspreads as they are easier to keep clean. However, it was around that time that designers at Westin Hotels began testing to improve its bed linens.
What they found convinced them that the all-white bed is the best way to go. By just changing the color of the linens to white, guests would often feel that the room had been renovated. As it turns out, white signifies luxury and people identify it with a good night’s sleep. They found the best experience comes with sheets that are clean, white and with a high thread count.
Today most of the leading hotel brands feature an all-white bed as the centerpiece of the ideal room experience.
Hotel Bed Linens: Luxury as Easy as a Change of Color
Guests feel they are getting the best night’s sleep when they feel they are sleeping in luxury. Giving them the best, most luxurious sleeping experience can be as simple as changing your bed linens to all white.
Wilkins Linen offers linen management services to Houston area hotels and other companies in the hospitality industry. Contact Us for information on outsourcing your linens and how you could offer the luxury of white linens to your hotel guests too.
