What’s the Best Bathroom Dispenser Refilling Procedure?
If you’re running a hotel or motel, chances are you’ve asked:
“What’s the best way to refill our bathroom dispensers?”
It’s an important question, because getting the procedure right saves time, improves hygiene, and creates a better guest experience.
While the best system depends on your property setup (room numbers, layout, trolley capacity, team size), a good refilling process should always be:
- Hygienic
- Efficient for your team
- Easy to maintain
- Invisible to your guests
Below, we break down the three common approaches, along with their benefits and disadvantages.
Refilling Dispensers in the Bathroom:
This is when dispensers are refilled directly inside the guest bathroom while still mounted on the wall.
Benefits:
- Everything is already in the room, no need to transport bottles
- Doesn’t require extra storage for spares
Disadvantages:
- Bathrooms are humid, ideal for bacteria and mould growth
- Opening bottles in this environment risks contamination
- Slows down housekeeping due to task switching
- Guests may enter mid-process, reducing the sense of cleanliness
- Less efficient long term and more tiring for staff
Our thoughts:
This method poses hygiene risks and disrupts workflow. We don’t recommend it.
Refilling On the Housekeeping Trolley in the Hallway:
This approach involves refilling bottles just outside the room using larger refill containers stored on the trolley.
Benefits:
- Moves the process out of the bathroom, safer and cleaner
- Slightly improves ergonomics for housekeeping
- Can save time if well-organised
Disadvantages:
- Still visible to guests (not ideal for perception or brand)
- Risk of cross contamination with other trolley items
- Involves repeated movement in and out of the guestroom
- Trolleys may become bulky or hard to manage
Our thoughts:
A better step but still not best practice. Visibility and efficiency are still concerns.
Replacing Bottles and Refilling Back of House:
In this system, partially used bottles are swapped out during cleaning, then refilled later in a dedicated back-of-house area.
Benefits:
- Cleanest and most hygienic approach
- Protects your brand and guest experience
- Streamlines cleaning, no time spent refilling in-room
- Reduces fatigue and improves safety for your team
- Enables a consistent, documented process across staff
- Keeps large refill drums off trolleys
Disadvantages:
- Requires initial investment in extra bottles (we recommend 10–20% more than your room count)
- Needs a clean, organised refill area and slight changes to housekeeping routine
Our thoughts:
This is the gold standard. The upfront effort is small compared to the long-term gains.
Final Recommendation:
If you’re after a system that’s hygienic, efficient, and future proof, go with Option 3.
Swap used bottles during room servicing, and refill them away from guest spaces.
It’s better for your team. Safer for your guests. Stronger for your brand.
Want help making the switch?
We work with hotels and motels every day to simplify dispenser systems and make operations easier.
Talk to us, we’re here to make your life easy.