February 20, 2019
As a company, we learned a lot after opening Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa-including a lot about laundry! Originally, we took care of all laundry without bells and whistles. Then, we got smart and moved the linens operation to a warehouse. That gave us a lot more elbow room to sort, wash, dry and fold. Just think of all the laundry a resort dirties: flat sheets, fitted sheets, blankets, pillow cases, inserts, bed scarves, bed skirts, mattress pads, bath towels, bath mats, wash cloths, hand towels, pool towels, spa linens and robes, restaurant napkins and table cloths... and I'm not even sure if this list covers it all! I spoke with the resort's laundry manager so he could explain the process. 
While there is impressive technology in the facility, our hosts are every bit as productive as the machines they work alongside as they sort, load, move, and hand-fold small pieces. Not surprisingly, the most-commonly washed items are pillow cases and towels. Last year, this laundry team sent back 1,032,819 lbs. of clean linens. Anything that was stained or torn was given to other Dollywood teams-think of our crews who work with the Dollywood Express, or our trams, or maintenance teams. Those hosts love it when the resort recycles linens! And, I just loved the tour of the laundry facility because it's amazing to see big, programmable machines knock out hundreds of pounds of laundry in less than an hour and a half. I decided I NEED a towel folding machine at my house. I have serious laundry envy. Check out this behind-the-scenes video of how our resort laundry gets cleaned.
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