When visiting a hospital or staying in a hotel, you are likely to see white bed and bath linens. Not so strange, since white seems to be the general colour choice throughout the healthcare and hospitality sectors. Apparently there are good reasons for this primary use of white.
First of all, hygiene is more important than colour. Hospital patients and hotel guests need hygienically clean linens, regardless of the colour. Secondly, white appears to be cleaner. If something looks to be pure white and without blemishes, it also appears to be free of dirt. Another reason is that white looks more professional. Since we are used to white linens in hotel and hospitals, but also doctors wear for instance, white is being considered the standard of professionalism.
Last but not least, there is the matter of professional cleaning. White linens are easier to clean in a commercial facility. The linens can be made hygienically clean – without having to use precise processes that prevent colours to bleed or fade – knowing that they will look bright and beautiful after the cleaning. Other colour choices may be possible, but they simply make a hospitality and laundry manager’s job a lot more difficult!