My Name is Elicia from Fully Booked Without Burnout - I'm a business Coach for Massage Therapists.

I help Massage Therapists and Myotherapists get business - so that they understand how grow their business and impact more people with Massage.

So why on earth am I talking about towels? Because when you have a massage business – your check list goes something like this – Qualifications, Oil, Massage Towels – in that order. Towels will be one of your biggest expenses and the most work outside of the treatment room.

Towels can make a clinic look beautiful or terrible. They can smell fresh or rancid. They can even fade and shrink in funny ways. So if this is going to be a major investment in our business, directly related to our craft, we want to make sure that we are investing wisely and taking great care of them.

First up - Colours

After 15 years and a few poor choices, there are some colours that work and some that don’t. Towels will often be displayed in your room somewhere, think about your branding and colours that will enhance the room/rooms.

Good: Light blue, cream, bone, light brown – These all fade to lighter colours of them selves

Bad: Purple, teal, navy, Black, Chocolate, White These all fade in a not a so nice way.

Second hot tip - Size TOTALLY matters

Buy the biggest towels you can find for covering your client. Bath sheets are AWESOME for this. However, they are more expensive, so I suggest a standard towel under the client for them to lie on.

How many should you buy?

This depends on how many massages you plan on doing. But your going to be washing lots and you will need to have enough for a day or 2 and then a full load of washing so that you are considering the environment etc.

What should you wash them in?

There are LOADS of people with fabulous ideas about the best things to wash your towels in. My pick of the bunch is: The Eco Store or Earth Choice laundry liquid AMAZING!

Soaking from time to time – in Cold water with Bicarb is really great as it gets rid of the stink and oil build up (which is what causes the sink.)

Always use vinegar in the fabric softener compartment – it softens the towels and makes that towel small go away.

Other suggestions include:

1 dessertspoon of washing power (more than half the suggested amount) mixed with 1 dessertspoon of bicarbonate soda. Then as a softener use white vinegar.

Using Letric Soda crystals

Using essential oils to make your towels smell nice.

Things to avoid:

Fabric softener as it clogs up the fibres over time and traps the oil in them which can cause a fire hazard in the dryer.

Drying

Washing – Use the line as much as possible – if you want to have softer towels, just finish off towels in the dryer. Trust me – there are days that I think about posting a FB status that proudly declares it to be an awesome washing day….. and then I just get on and do the washing and think of a better post…

BUT I DON’T WANT TO DO IT ALL!

Me neither! You can outsource this – you can contact a local laundry – who will wash your towels, pick and deliver them to your door they can supply you with towels (which they just charge slightly more for) but you never have to outlay the cost of that any towels and you don’t have to replace them down the track.

Another option for outsourcing it is to put a ad in a local Facebook community group, tell them how many towels that can expect have to wash and then tell them what your willing to pay. Obviously – you will require a receipt. This has worked really well for us for the last 2 years and we have found someone within hours, if we have ever needed.

How long do towels last for?

I find between 2-5 years depending on quality. Sometimes – they just get too stinky. Sometimes they get holes or that bit shrinks up and gets annoying… (you know what bit I mean!)

Where should I buy them from?

You can get them online, Spotlight, Big W, Target, Best and Less are great places to start. In Geelong, Vic, where I am from, there are 2 Manchester public outlets where I have bought bath sheets for $6 a towel at times because I was buying in bulk, you don’t get a lot of choice but for that price, who cares! Try to stay below $12 per bath sheet and $10 for a standard towels.

So, there you go, that’s everything I know about towels. I trust this has been valuable info – if you would like further information, please get in touch – I would love to see if or how I can help you in your massage business.

Thanks to Kristie Melling of Rubbed the Wrong Way Podcast for the title)