Linen control involves four phases: routine checking of linen appearance and hygiene, quantity control of daily linen flow, periodic stocktaking, and documentation. Key aspects include inspecting fresh and soiled linen for quality; maintaining records of linen distribution, collection, and inventory; and analyzing discrepancies to minimize linen loss. Proper linen control ensures high standards and efficient linen management.

1. Linen Control
This is carried out in four phases
• Routine checking of linen for appearance
and hygiene standards.
• Quantity control of the daily flow of linen
stock/linen exchange procedure
• Stocktaking or physical inventory of linen
• Proper documentation of line through the
master linen inventory control sheet

2. Routine checking of linen for
appearance & hygiene standards
• The executive housekeeper must emphasize the inspection
of fresh and soiled linen not only by linen room staff along
with other staff handling linen
• Stringent checking should be carried out by the linen room
staff
• In an OPL, the function of inspecting linen may be carried
out by the laundry staff
• If the laundry is contracted out, the onus falls on the linen
room staff
• Spot checking of linen should be carried out by supervisor
in areas
• If the inspection of all articles are carried out thoroughly, a
high standard of linen quality is maintained and the chance
of a guest finding a torn or stained article in minimal

3. Quantity control of the daily flow of
linen stock/linen exchange procedure
• It is the quantity control of linen sent from the
floors & departments to the linen room for the
dispatch to the laundry.
• To maintain an initial record of par stock of linen in
each department, on each floor an indent is to be
made by floor supervisor & the department
incharge.
• The original copy of the indent is given to the linen
room while the duplicate remains on the floor or
with the concerned department.
• If the extra linen items issued to the floor or
department are returned, signature of linen room
supervisor is obtained on the duplicate copy.

4. Control of linen in the linen room is
carried out as following
• The daily supervision of the work done by the linen room
attendants
• Using linen room entry book : the linen room entry book
contains daily records of the soiled linen brought to the
linen room from various floors and department as well as
the amount of soiled linen sent to the laundry
• There is no duplicate records and is used as a
reference
• It is signed and maintained by the linen room supervisor
and helps in tracking the day to day movement of linen
• It is a cross checking for the amount received against
dispatched to the laundry

5. Stocktaking/Physical Inventory
• Stocktaking of linen is a physical verification, by counting, of the
stocks of all linen items at all points in the cycle
• It is carried out at periodic intervals or at the time of ‘closing of books’
for evaluation purposes.
• Accurate recording of entries to evaluate the overages & shortages
• It is conducted after 3 months & is known as ‘quarterly inventory’
• While counting, all the items-including discards-are segregated &
grouped.
• Items in circulation and items kept in store are counted up separately
and the totals are added together
• The discard are stamped ‘condemned’ and set aside.
• Now the counted total should tally the last inventory figure plus the
issued items received after that.
• The inventory should be conducted in presence of housekeeper
where the stocktaking for uniforms, room linen & restaurant linen
being done on separate days.

6. Proper Documentation of Linen
• The master inventory control sheet helps the
executive housekeeper to analyze the result of
physical inventory.
• Linen loss can be accurately be calculated by
subtracting the counted total for each linen
article from the expected quantity
• Linen loss is the difference from the total
obtained during the previous inventory
• If the difference between the actual and the
expected is high, then further investigation is
required
• The physical does not reveals, why these losses
have occurred.

7. • The executive housekeeper should make
sure that the par levels are brought back to
the level originally established for each
linen item.
• The par number for each item are recorded
• Thus this gives a clear picture of linen
discarded, the linen lost, the amount that
needs to be ordered and the amount that
has been ordered
• The F&B table linen is also handled as the
room linen.