A guest room can look spotless, but if the housekeeping cart runs out of liners halfway down the hall, the whole floor slows down. The right hotel housekeeping supplies keep rooms turning on time, keep staff comfortable, and help your team handle trash, linens and lost items the same way every shift. This checklist focuses on the disposables that get used up fastest: trash liners, gloves and aprons.
A well-stocked cart keeps room turns on schedule.
Hotel Housekeeping Supplies: Start With a Room-by-Room Plan
Before you order anything, walk through a typical room and list every bin and every task. Most properties end up with four groups of supplies:
- Guest room liners – small bins in the bedroom, desk and bathroom.
- Cart and corridor bags – large bags on the housekeeping cart and in service closets.
- Back-of-house liners – laundry room, kitchen, lobby and staff areas.
- Staff disposables – gloves and aprons for cleaning tasks.
Once you know how many bins each room has, you can set a par level per room and multiply by your room count. Our trash can liner size chart is a handy reference while you measure.
Guest Room and Bathroom Bins
Guest room bins are usually small, so the goal is a liner that fits neatly, looks clean and is quick to change. Two styles work especially well.
Waste Top bags for small cans
Our Waste Top trash bags are HDPE star-seal bags, 0.4 mil, 50 per roll. Popular sizes for hotel rooms include the clear 10 gal, 24 x 24 in and the black 10 gal, 24 x 24 in. For slightly bigger bins, there’s a black 12–16 gal, 24 x 33 in C-fold option.
Flap-tie bags for easy closing
Flap-tie bags have built-in flaps that tie into a knot, which makes them quick to close and carry. The T-flap star seal bag, size S, 6–7 gal, 18 x 26 in, 13 mic suits small room bins. Read our guide to flap-tie trash bags to compare styles.
Many housekeepers place a few spare liners at the bottom of each room bin. When the bag is pulled, the next one is right there, which saves a trip back to the cart.
Housekeeping Cart and Corridor Bags
The cart bag collects trash from every room on the route, so it needs to be large and sturdy. Bags in the 33 to 56 gal range are common.
- 33 gal – the clear 33 gal, 33 x 39 in, 1.5 mil bag (20 per roll) is a common pick for cart hampers and service closet cans.
- 56 gal – for bigger carts and back-of-house cans, choose the clear 56 gal, 43 x 47 in, 1.35 mil or the black 56 gal, 43 x 47 in, 1.35 mil, both 10 per roll.
- 55–60 gal – for laundry rooms and loading docks, our LD black trash bags in 38 x 58 in come in 1.5, 1.7 and 2 mil.
Clear 33 gal, 33 x 39 in, 1.5 mil bags come 20 per roll.
Why Clear Bags Help With Lost and Found
Guests leave behind phones, chargers, jewelry and paperwork, and some of those items end up in the trash by accident. Clear bags let staff see what’s inside before the bag goes to the dumpster, which makes a quick lost-and-found check possible. Some properties use clear cart bags on every floor for this reason, while others use clear bags only for checkout rooms.
Clear bags can also help with recycling programs where your hauler or local rules call for see-through bags. Check your local rules and your hauler’s requirements before you change bag colors.
Black bags still have a place. They hide contents in public areas like the lobby, pool deck and restaurant.
Bags for linens and laundry
Soiled sheets and towels usually travel in cloth laundry bags or carts, but some properties also keep large liners on hand for bagging linens from a messy room before they go to the laundry. If you use an outside laundry service, ask how they want linens bagged and sorted, and set up your carts to match.
Gloves and Aprons for Housekeeping Staff
Housekeepers handle trash, cleaning products and used linens all day, so disposable gloves are a must. Thin TPE gloves come in M, L and XL, in boxes of 100, 200 or 500, which makes them easy to stock on every cart. For deep-cleaning tasks, CPE gloves are a thicker option at 22 mic. Our bulk disposable gloves guide covers how to buy for a team.
Disposable aprons help keep uniforms clean during bathroom cleaning and laundry work. Our HDPE aprons measure 27 x 46 in at 16 mic and come 100 per roll, in natural, blue, white or red. Some properties use one color for housekeeping and another for the kitchen to keep supplies separate.
HDPE aprons, 27 x 46 in, 100 per roll.
Small room bins work best with liners that fit snugly.
Setting Par Levels Per Room
Par levels keep you from running out and from overbuying. A simple way to set them:
- Count the liners used per room per clean, including bathroom and desk bins.
- Multiply by the number of rooms cleaned per day, then by 7 for a weekly figure.
- Add cart bags per floor per shift, plus back-of-house liners.
- Add gloves per housekeeper per shift.
- Add a cushion for busy weekends, events and holidays.
Review your par levels every month and whenever your occupancy changes. Keeping your hotel housekeeping supplies in one locked storeroom, with a simple sign-out sheet for each floor, makes it easy to see real usage and spot waste early.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size trash bags do hotel rooms use?
Most guest room bins are small. Bags around 10 gal, such as 24 x 24 in, or flap-tie bags in the 6–7 gal range are common choices.
Should hotels use clear or black trash bags?
Many use clear bags on carts for lost-and-found checks and black bags in public areas. Check your local recycling rules too.
How many gloves does a housekeeper need per shift?
It depends on your procedures. Many teams change gloves between rooms, so count rooms per shift and add extra.
Stocking a new property or resetting par levels? Request a wholesale quote for liners, gloves and aprons.
