Two sets of linen per bed works until the first week the laundry can't keep up, and then a bed has nothing clean to go on. The holiday let linen calculator turns your beds, guests and bathrooms into a full shopping list on the three-set rule: one set on the bed, one in the wash and one in the cupboard. Tick any situation that calls for a fourth set and every number updates.
How to use the linen calculator
- Enter how many beds you have of each size. Count beds, not bedrooms: a twin room has two beds. Count a sofa bed or bunk under its mattress size.
- Set how many pillows go on each bed, and tick the box if you use flat sheets as well as fitted sheets.
- Enter how many guests the listing sleeps, what towels each guest gets per stay, your bathrooms, and the bath mats and tea towels you put out each time.
- Tick any of the four situations that apply to your let. Your list updates as you type.
Get your linen shopping list for every bed and bathroom
Enter your beds to see your list.
A worked example
Say your let has a double room with one double bed and a twin room with two single beds. It sleeps four guests, has one bathroom, and each guest gets a bath towel and a hand towel. The calculator uses four pillows on the double bed and two on each single.
On three sets, that comes to 3 double fitted sheets and 3 double duvet covers, 6 single fitted sheets and 6 single duvet covers, and 24 pillowcases: 12 for each room. For towels it's 12 bath towels and 12 hand towels, plus 3 bath mats and 6 tea towels. Tick same-day changeovers and every rotating item rises by a third, so 24 pillowcases becomes 32 and 12 bath towels becomes 16.
Why three sets per bed
With three sets, a clean set is always waiting in the cupboard. At each changeover the used set goes into the wash, the clean set goes on the bed, and the set washed last time takes its place on the shelf. That gives you a buffer if the laundry comes back late or a pillowcase is marked, although two delays in a row can still leave a bed short.
With two sets, every set that comes off a bed has to be washed, dried and back in the cupboard before the next changeover. That holds only while every gap between bookings is longer than your laundry time. The holiday let changeover planner shows what happens to the rest of the day when the beds have to wait for the wash.
When a fourth set pays for itself
The four situations in the calculator are the ones where the third set is most likely to be away or wet when you reach for it. If any of them applies, buy the fourth set of bedding and towels before the busy weeks start, rather than finding the gap on a same-day changeover in August.
Towels, bath mats and tea towels
Towels follow guests, not beds. The calculator multiplies the towel set each guest gets per stay by the maximum number of guests, then by the number of sets. Make sure your listing describes the same towel set, so the stock you hold matches what guests are promised.
Bath mats follow bathrooms and tea towels follow stays, so each has its own line. Pool or beach towels only belong on the list if your listing offers them.
Duvets, pillows and protectors
Duvets, pillows and protectors stay on the beds rather than rotating, so the list counts one of each per bed or pillow and adds spares for each bed size you use. When a duvet or pillow is marked, the spare goes on during the changeover and the marked one is dealt with afterwards, so the bed stays in use. The spares on the list are a minimum; hold more if items come out of use often at your let.
What the calculator leaves out
The list assumes you own your linen. If you're weighing up a hire service instead, Holiday let linen: hire or buy, and how many sets to keep for each bed sets out the questions to ask and how the two compare. The calculator also doesn't know what you already have, so count your stock and subtract it before you buy. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere, so copy or print your list before you close the page.
Next steps once you have your list
Count what's already in the cupboard and buy the difference, matching the range you already use so new sets look like the old ones. Add your linen to the property's stock record, so a missing pillowcase shows up in a count rather than at check-in; how to keep a holiday let inventory that shows what's gone missing covers how. Record the spending as you go, using a bookkeeping system for holiday lets that survives tax season, and add a linen count to your changeover routine with the changeover checklist you build for your property.