Linen & Napery Tracker
Linen & Napery Tracker manages the cycle of tablecloths, napkins, runners, chair covers, placemats and staff aprons between your restaurant, the laundry, and storage — recording stock levels per item type, logging laundry runs sent and returned, flagging damaged/retired pieces, and alerting you when in-house stock drops below what you need for the next service.
Overview
Each linen item has a Name, Category (Tablecloth, Napkin, Table Runner, Chair Cover, Placemat, Side Cloth, Staff Apron, Other), size/description, colour, a Par Level (minimum needed for service), Total Owned, In-House count, At-Laundry count, and a Damaged/Retired count.
A Laundry Run logs a batch sent out: date, quantity per item, the laundry vendor, and an Expected Return date — marking a run as Returned updates the underlying In-House and At-Laundry counts automatically.
A red low-stock banner appears whenever an item's In-House count drops below its Par Level, so you catch a shortage before a service is short on clean linen.
This is distinct from Equipment Maintenance (kitchen/FOH equipment service records), Table Setup Checklist (per-table readiness), Kitchen Requisitions (dry goods from the storeroom), and the Wastage Log (food waste) — linen is tracked separately as its own physical-goods cycle.
Print a stocktake report for a physical count reconciliation, or a laundry dispatch slip to hand to your laundry vendor with each run.
Before You Start
- You must have the Ingredients feature enabled on your plan.
- Set a realistic Par Level per linen item based on your typical daily cover count before relying on the low-stock alert.
Step-by-Step Guide
1 Register a new linen item
- Click "Add Item" and enter its Name, Category, size/description and colour.
- Set the Par Level and enter the Total Owned and current In-House count.
- Save — the item now appears in the register with its stock status.
2 Send a batch to laundry
- Click to log a new laundry run.
- Select the item(s) and quantity being sent, the laundry Vendor, and an Expected Return date.
- Save — the sent quantity moves from In-House to At-Laundry on the affected items.
- Print the laundry dispatch slip to send along with the batch.
3 Mark a laundry run as returned
- Find the run in the list (overdue runs past their Expected Return date are flagged).
- Mark it Returned — the affected items' In-House and At-Laundry counts update automatically.
4 Log damaged or retired linen
- Open the affected item and mark the appropriate quantity as Damaged/Retired (stained, torn, or otherwise no longer usable).
- This reduces the item's usable stock so the low-stock alert reflects reality.
5 Reconcile with a physical stocktake
- Print the stocktake report.
- Physically count each linen item and compare against the printed system counts.
- Correct any item whose recorded counts don't match what you physically have.
Every Field & Button, Explained
| Field / Button | What it does |
|---|---|
Par Level | The minimum In-House quantity needed for the next service; falling below it triggers the low-stock banner. |
Total Owned / In-House / At-Laundry / Damaged-Retired | The four counts that together should reconcile against your total purchased stock for each item. |
Laundry Run (vendor, quantity, expected return) | A batch sent to laundry; marking it Returned moves quantity back from At-Laundry to In-House. |
Overdue run | A run still marked At-Laundry past its Expected Return date — flagged so you can follow up with your vendor. |
Tips & Best Practices
- Set Par Level per item type based on your busiest expected service, not an average day, so the low-stock banner gives you real warning before a peak.
- Mark laundry runs Returned promptly — the low-stock and overdue calculations both depend on In-House/At-Laundry counts staying current.
- Log damage as it happens rather than in a periodic batch — an accurate Damaged/Retired count is what keeps your usable stock (and the low-stock alert) trustworthy.