What Does Restaurant Linen Hire Cost? A Real Breakdown for North West Venues

Hiring your linen instead of buying and washing it in-house is usually the cheaper option once you count staff time, water, and machine wear. But the honest answer to "what does it cost" is that it depends on what you hire, how often, and how much of it. This guide breaks down the real factors, gives starting prices, and shows what three different venues actually pay.

What Affects the Cost of Restaurant Linen Hire

Four things move the price. Get these clear and you can estimate your own bill before you even ring us.

The type of linen you hire

Napkins are the cheapest item and the one nearly every venue takes. Tablecloths cost more because they use more fabric and take longer to press. Kitchen linen sits in the middle, and chef workwear is priced per garment.

How often you need collection

Most venues run on a weekly route. A high-turnover restaurant might need twice-weekly collection in peak season, which raises the total but keeps you from ever running short. A quieter site can drop to biweekly.

Your volume

A pub taking 150 covers a week needs a fraction of the stock a 500-cover restaurant does. You pay for what you use, so the bigger the site, the bigger the order, but the lower the effective cost per cover.

The quality you choose

A hardwearing everyday napkin costs less than a heavier, finer-woven one for fine dining. We hold a range, so you match the linen to your room rather than paying for a finish you do not need.

Starting Prices at ProLinen

These are starting prices, per item, per week. The final figure depends on your volume and the quality you pick, which is why we quote each venue individually rather than selling a fixed package.

Napkins — from £0.15 per item

Tablecloths — from £0.45 per item

Chef workwear — from £0.65 per garment

Oven cloths — from £0.25 per item

Tea towels — from £0.20 per item

Glass cloths — from £0.20 per item

Our minimum order is £45 per collection, on either a weekly or biweekly schedule. That threshold keeps the route viable for smaller venues while still giving you a fixed delivery day and a named account manager.

A bar or café taking napkins only

Plenty of venues already own their tablecloths, or do not use cloth at all, and only need napkins laundered each week. This is the simplest arrangement and usually sits around the minimum order until volume climbs.

A restaurant taking front-of-house linen

The most common setup: napkins and tablecloths together, sometimes slip cloths and overlays. A mid-sized restaurant running a few hundred covers a week builds a predictable weekly bill from these two items.

A full-service venue taking everything

Restaurants with their own kitchen often hand over the lot: napkins, tablecloths, oven cloths, tea towels, glass cloths and chef workwear on one collection. One van, one invoice, one account manager covering front of house and kitchen.

Why Hiring Usually Beats Washing In-House

The sticker price on hire is only half the comparison. Washing linen yourself means buying the stock, running the machines, paying for water and detergent, and paying staff to sort, wash, dry and press instead of serving customers. It also means storing it and replacing it when it wears out.

With hire, all of that sits with us. Everything is washed at our own facility, not subcontracted, on a 48-hour turnaround. You get a fixed weekly or biweekly collection, wash process documentation for your EHO inspection, and a rolling contract with no minimum term. Volumes go up for December and back down in January without renegotiating.

How to Get an Accurate Price for Your Venue

The starting prices above give you a floor, but the only accurate figure comes from your actual covers and table sizes. Tell us how many covers you run, what you currently spend on washing, and which items you want off your plate, and we will send quantities and a weekly price, usually the same day.

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