"When you buy as much product as we do and process as many pounds of laundry as we do, if you can save on that initial wash it's a great help," says Clanton. He estimates Opryland purchased 160,000 pounds of terry products from Standard in 2005 which means 160,000 pounds of laundry the hotel did not have to pre-wash. He calculates this saved the hotel $25,000 and predicts they will save the same amount again when they receive their first pre-washed sheets next year.

So why do hotels pre-wash new towels and linens in the first place? According to Clanton it's to alleviate the potentially adverse health affects of the newly manufactured products.

"The terry product has some chemical residue from the original processing (chemical sizing to stiffen the yarns prior to weaving which allows the yarns to survive the harsh treatment of the weaving process) and while there's no guarantee it will have an adverse effect on guests, there's always a chance it might which is why we always pre-wash," he says. Pre-washing new products, whether towels or sheets, also makes them softer.

Bill Anderson, sales consultant to Opryland for Standard Textile, says no other company offers pre-laundered sheeting and terry and the reason Standard got into the process was because hospitals in the company's healthcare market began requesting pre-washing.

"Standard came up with the process and when they got into the hospitality business five years ago, they started doing it there too," he says.

As of January, Gaylord will be part of Standard's new Room Ready for You™ laundered with Tide program where they partner with Proctor & Gamble to provide pre-laundered terry and sheeting products to participating hotels.

"Standard sheeting products have never previously been pre-laundered, and the new technology was developed by Standard Textile engineers to make this process possible," says Stewart..